New Series, Vol. VI, No. 4, October 1921
DUNN, --"Information wanted of Capt. Hugh Dunn of Middlesex county in the Revolution." R.
[One of the staunch patriots of Middlesex county was Capt. Hugh Dunn. At the outbreak of the Revoluntary War he was living in a newly completed house in Piscataway township, which is still to be seen at the end of a long lane running from the turnpike, about one mile east of New Brunswick. When the enemy overran Middlesex he was forced to give up his new dwelling to British Officers and move his family into the kitchen part of the old house, in the main body of which was quartered a company of Hessians. He lost considerable furniture, cattle, grain and other personal effects, among them being, as he recites in his statement to the authorities at Trenton: "A new coat for my negro." He and his wife paid dearly in another way, however, for about then a baby was born to them, and, when the little girl began to talk, a stammering tongue and an impeded speech, which lasted through life, told the story of the excitement and fears of that turbulent period. Hugh Dunn's convictions were of the strongest character. After the famous Boston tea party he never again permitted himself to take the "cheering cup." He even held a near relative in contempt, who, at the outset of the War, sold his farm and moved to Canada. Many years afterward, when the same relative sent him from the British Possessions a present of a barrel of fish he would not even grant it storage, but set it out on the roadside, giving all passersby permission to help themselves. The Dunn line goes back to a Hugh Dunn of New Hampshire, who came to Piscataway township in 1666, and died there in 1694. -- Editor].
