Cilley’s Shadow
Nathaniel Dunn was born in Poland, Maine, in 1800. He spent his childhood in Poland, near Josiah Stover Little and George Washington Lane, who grew up in neighboring towns. Unlike many of his Bowdoin peers, Dunn was not from a wealthy family and a biographer described his childhood as a “constant struggle.” However, Dunn’s parents were able to send him to both Hebron Academy and Gorham Academy to prepare for college. While at Gorham Academy, Dunn was likely classmates with Lane and Seward Wyman, whom he would follow to college. Dunn matriculated at Bowdoin as a sophomore, at the age of 22.
His first year of college, Dunn boarded alone at Joseph McKeen’s residence. He was fined once for an unexcused absence, but far less than most of his peers. He also became a part of the Athenean Society. Junior year, Dunn lived in Maine Hall with Charles Snell. He stayed in this dormitory for his senior year, this time rooming with Arthur Thompson. Dunn is notable for being the only student of his year to ever get a fine reduced by the Executive Government. He was charged $8.25 for a fortnight’s absence from school, but this was reduced to $3.50 after Dunn explained that he left for reasons of ill health. This must have come as a relief to Dunn, who already had to take out a significant amount of debt to pay for college. Dunn was one of the better students of his class. He spoke at both Class Exhibitions in 1824. First he participated in a conference with Joseph Jenkins Eveleth and Edward Joseph Vose about the pleasures of studying art and nature. Then he took part in a discussion with George Washington Pierce about, “The Influence of Essay Writing on Taste and Morals.” At Commencement, Dunn and Jonathan Cilley both received the ninth rank in the class. Together they held a discussion on “The Effect of Fictitious Writings on Morale.”
Unbeknownst to the two recent alumni, their shared graduation exercise would be a turning point in their lives. Shortly after graduating, John Ruggles, a prestigious judge and politician, invited Dunn to become his pupil in Thomaston, Maine. Dunn seriously considered this offer, but burdened by debt, he had to decline in order to seek more lucrative employment. Then, Ruggles offered the position to Cilley, who accepted the offer. He became Ruggles’ pupil and later used the judge’s influence to catapult his political career and become a United States Congressman. In this way, Dunn and Cilley’s lives reflect mirrors of what the other’s could have been had they made a different choice.
After turning down Ruggles, Dunn accepted a job as a science teacher at Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Simultaneously, Dunn enrolled at Brown University for his Master’s degree. He graduated Brown in 1828, and, in 1829, left Massachusetts for New York City. There, he opened up his own school that he ran until 1835. From 1835 to 1840, Dunn tried his hand as a New York merchant. However, he decided this career did not fit him and moved to Tarrytown, New York, to open another school. Four years later he took charge of a seminary on Long Island. Around this time he also received an M.A. from Bowdoin. In 1849, Dunn returned to New York City yet again, where he opened a third school. It seems as if Dunn enjoyed opening schools more than running them. In 1856, Dunn quit the field of education administration and became a travelling lecturer. He moved through the United States speaking about chemistry and other scientific topics. In 1869, Dunn stopped travelling to accept a position as a chemistry lecturer at Rutgers College. A few years later he finally retired and decided to focus on writing. In 1875, Dunn published a well-received poem called “Satan Chained and Earth Redeemed.”
Outside his confusing series of school openings and theological poems, Dunn also had an enriching personal life. In 1827, he married his first wife, Charlotte L. Tillinglast. Charlotte and Nathaniel had five children, but only two of them, Andrew and Charlotte Elizabeth, would survive beyond childhood. In 1839, the elder Charlotte would pass away, leaving Dunn a widow. He remarried just two years later, to a woman named Judith Elizabeth Rogers. Judith bore Dunn three more children, a daughter, a son named Nathaniel Jr., and a third child who died young. Both of Dunn’s sons became lawyers, one in New York and one in Minnesota. Outside of his career and his family, Dunn focused on his faith and was a committed Methodist. He was also an abolitionist and a friend of William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Philipps. Dunn was one of the thirteen members of the Class of 1825 who attended their 50-year reunion. He passed away at his New York home in 1889, at the age of 89.