Aretus Dunn

In the death of Aretms Dunn, of which brief mention was made in The Register of the 6th lnst., Ann Arbor has lost a citizen whose character and eareer deserve a more extended notice. Mr. Dunn wa8 born in St. Albans, Vermont, March 23, 1814. In his childhood his parents removed to Batavia, N. Y., where his boyhood was passed. Just when the youth was entering manhood a new removal brought the family td Michigan, and most of the time aince, a period of 64 years, he was a resident of Ann Arbor. The stock of whieh he came was cbaracterized both physically and intellectually by vigor, enterprise, and efficiency, as wa evinced not only in hi o wn life and in that of his brothers but alio in that of a family of their cousins wblch furnish presidents for tbree important colleges. Deprived in his youth of adueational advantage, the native force of Aretus Dunn aerted itself in his wise employment of sucb opportunities for reading and observatiou S were afforded him in the course of the arduous and diversiiied business life U whieh he was devoted. It came to pas, s a reult of his intelligent reading, ana rf his cultivated hablt of aeeing with bis eyes and hearing witb his ears, whatevftf seenaed to him wortby of attention, tht his practical judgment of men and thing, and his informatiw eoJieerning histoïi-cal and current evDte of geueral impOFtance were remai'fcble for scope incï acouracy. In this respect he was surpansed by few men of Ms generation whatevOT advantages they had had in iterary training. In early msnhood hc was maí.fíecl to Miss Hattie Bolden, who died ifr her ;youth. The one ehild oí this marríage lso died in iniancy. la 1850, ho went to California in th tortora hope of finding in that climate relief ívtxa a pulmonar disenso that was the his l.He, and from which he" never íully recovíed. The f-hangc hoivw'sr proved decid'Wily ben'öcial, and h remainod in CaHfornia soweral years: Durin this period lie wa assooiated:-a pari f the timey in fcie';iship t'i4b the Honv Lelani StanfoftHünd' C! P. Huntington ; ; with brWh of whew his eordlki relations were tnafataiwed Swrwuehoutflheir sequent conspicuo' financia! areer. Soveral y ars ago ' Mr, StanfonÜ ui-ffed his oíd fripnfl--to resi Californinyoífering, if hewould deserto put a#hd service for thwpurpose,-.)Usown pi'iate "r; but the ffiö healthi sí Mr. DuAniílürbade the longjourneyi ín 18ó6, with héalth ■ somewliiat imftitrwed, he retumeO to' Am Arbor jwheire he re&Mtwl con'finuoiasly to his Ib1 1862;. Üe was paam-ied to Mrs. Polly Ahn Otis?. (HMow tjfOscar Otis, who survives hitt' : Uüiuiüï all of these latten yttam. thotigh. onstantly in feebte bealth, ü beem in quiet and ioOoAsploaoaw wajs. ono ai the most respectad anduseful membens of this comniuuity. Hiwidi' mfwtnation, experience in affaire, sagacityv and unswerving ÜJtegrltJ; made him.aiooveted and trusted counselor in public ad private matters. He ever made any. "pt-ofession of ion, but h&thought and spoke reverently of God and of his obligations to God; and hte-ppacttoal righteuuness exceeded that of the Seribes and PhariBeea. Ib manaam, whooly unconventiona), in spirit and performance he was ti-ue and faithful ia all of his hunan relations. flis hoart at once adopted as its own lis wife's and. son by her former marriago, and all that a father could doforhisown be did for them; and the y responded to his affeetion with he love and honor due te a father -"'rom the beginning, and without any ormal areement upon the subjot, the hiep- ieature of the relationship was so completely isrnored by every roeiaber of the tamlly that strangers had. no suspicion of its existence. Hls patriotiam was anarlent passion )urinS the war lor the Union bis sph-H aroaned because his ])hysical condition made it impossible for him to enter the army. But he availed himself freely, of Buoh compensation for that disability as was aflorded by opportunitie$ for minlatering to the comfort of the families of those who had gone to be soldI iers. And to the end of his life the fact that a man had been a Union soldier was. to him, a raantle to cover a multi - tude of shorteomings in other directions. He was lo.yally proud of the f ame of the üniverulty, and delighted in the faeilities it ofïered to the grovvth of today for the acquisition of learning which had been denied him. He was throrghly intercsted in the cause of temperance, and sfeowed practical sympathy with every moveinent that he judged wisely adapted to oxtend or to deepen a public sentiment to secure the suppression of the liquor trafilo. His watchful interest in every public movement that bore upon the welfare of humanity continued without abatement to the end. He loved life, and for many years maintained a most heroic struggle with discase to hold on to life; but he did not fear death. Wonderfully patiënt and through those years of constant suffering, he sought as much as possible to avoid becoming a burden of care to others. And when he saw the inevitable end fast approaching, notwithstanding the utmost that the physician's skill could do and that the affectionate devotion of wife could inspire he said simply, "I have tried to live like a man, I will try to die like a man." And so indeed he died. - honored by all who knew him well- loved by all who knew him best.