Ashley's mother, Jennie (Rhodes) Dunham died when he was less than a month old, so was raised by his father's sister Aunt Mary Eliza (Dunham) & husband Uncle Joseph Ponsford who had no children at the Ashley Homestead Ranch near Gann Valley, South Dakota. The area was settled by homesteaders; located near a Crow Creek Indian Reservation and close to Fort Defiance on the Missouri River.
Due to lack of local schools and their desire for him was to be well educated so they sent him to Waterloo, Iowa for his education. He returned and married Emily 'Katie' Wellman on Nov 27, 1901, in Buffalo Co, Gann Valley, SD.
Ashley and Katie Dunham were prominent members of the community. There they had one son, Regnold 'Roy' and four daughters, Thelma J., Dorothy Winifred, Doris Norene, and Rae Hunter Dunham. In the 1920's they moved to Long Beach, California where he worked the oil fields. Katie died in 1931 in Long Beach after about a year's illness.
Ashley married 2nd, Olive Levinia ( ? ). They moved to Avenal, CA, before 1940 where Ashley was the construction foreman on the discovery well in the nearby Kettleman Hills Oil Field. He died in 1954. 'Ollie' lived another thirty years eventually being cared for by her step-daughters, Dorothy & Rae in their Nice, Lake County, California guest home. She died there in May 1984.
Ashley was a member of "The Improved Order of Redmen", America's oldest Fraternal Organization and chartered by Congress. Originally called Sons of Liberty, the organization was founded in 1765; and patterned its democratic governing body after the great Iroquois Indian Nation. Many of our Nation's founding fathers and several US Presidents have been members.
Due to lack of local schools and their desire for him was to be well educated so they sent him to Waterloo, Iowa for his education. He returned and married Emily 'Katie' Wellman on Nov 27, 1901, in Buffalo Co, Gann Valley, SD.
Ashley and Katie Dunham were prominent members of the community. There they had one son, Regnold 'Roy' and four daughters, Thelma J., Dorothy Winifred, Doris Norene, and Rae Hunter Dunham. In the 1920's they moved to Long Beach, California where he worked the oil fields. Katie died in 1931 in Long Beach after about a year's illness.
Ashley married 2nd, Olive Levinia ( ? ). They moved to Avenal, CA, before 1940 where Ashley was the construction foreman on the discovery well in the nearby Kettleman Hills Oil Field. He died in 1954. 'Ollie' lived another thirty years eventually being cared for by her step-daughters, Dorothy & Rae in their Nice, Lake County, California guest home. She died there in May 1984.
Ashley was a member of "The Improved Order of Redmen", America's oldest Fraternal Organization and chartered by Congress. Originally called Sons of Liberty, the organization was founded in 1765; and patterned its democratic governing body after the great Iroquois Indian Nation. Many of our Nation's founding fathers and several US Presidents have been members.
Ashley's mother, Jennie (Rhodes) Dunham died when he was less than a month old, so was raised by his father's sister Aunt Mary Eliza (Dunham) & husband Uncle Joseph Ponsford who had no children at the Ashley Homestead Ranch near Gann Valley, South Dakota. The area was settled by homesteaders; located near a Crow Creek Indian Reservation and close to Fort Defiance on the Missouri River.
Due to lack of local schools and their desire for him was to be well educated so they sent him to Waterloo, Iowa for his education. He returned and married Emily 'Katie' Wellman on Nov 27, 1901, in Buffalo Co, Gann Valley, SD.
Ashley and Katie Dunham were prominent members of the community. There they had one son, Regnold 'Roy' and four daughters, Thelma J., Dorothy Winifred, Doris Norene, and Rae Hunter Dunham. In the 1920's they moved to Long Beach, California where he worked the oil fields. Katie died in 1931 in Long Beach after about a year's illness.
Ashley married 2nd, Olive Levinia ( ? ). They moved to Avenal, CA, before 1940 where Ashley was the construction foreman on the discovery well in the nearby Kettleman Hills Oil Field. He died in 1954. 'Ollie' lived another thirty years eventually being cared for by her step-daughters, Dorothy & Rae in their Nice, Lake County, California guest home. She died there in May 1984.
Ashley was a member of "The Improved Order of Redmen", America's oldest Fraternal Organization and chartered by Congress. Originally called Sons of Liberty, the organization was founded in 1765; and patterned its democratic governing body after the great Iroquois Indian Nation. Many of our Nation's founding fathers and several US Presidents have been members.
Due to lack of local schools and their desire for him was to be well educated so they sent him to Waterloo, Iowa for his education. He returned and married Emily 'Katie' Wellman on Nov 27, 1901, in Buffalo Co, Gann Valley, SD.
Ashley and Katie Dunham were prominent members of the community. There they had one son, Regnold 'Roy' and four daughters, Thelma J., Dorothy Winifred, Doris Norene, and Rae Hunter Dunham. In the 1920's they moved to Long Beach, California where he worked the oil fields. Katie died in 1931 in Long Beach after about a year's illness.
Ashley married 2nd, Olive Levinia ( ? ). They moved to Avenal, CA, before 1940 where Ashley was the construction foreman on the discovery well in the nearby Kettleman Hills Oil Field. He died in 1954. 'Ollie' lived another thirty years eventually being cared for by her step-daughters, Dorothy & Rae in their Nice, Lake County, California guest home. She died there in May 1984.
Ashley was a member of "The Improved Order of Redmen", America's oldest Fraternal Organization and chartered by Congress. Originally called Sons of Liberty, the organization was founded in 1765; and patterned its democratic governing body after the great Iroquois Indian Nation. Many of our Nation's founding fathers and several US Presidents have been members.
Inscription
Ashley A. Dunham
1881 - 1954
Gravesite Details
Redman (Indian silhouette) symbol
Family Members
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