STAIRWAY OF STARS

Following his years of service, Dunn began his career in education. He enrolled at Hillsdale College in 1865 and graduated in 1870 with a degree in Law. Following his graduation, Dunn moved to Maryville, Missouri, and began work as the town’s school principal and superintendent. He was hired for 8 months and with a salary of $800. He was instructed to reorganize the school and take in an additional 50 students. In 1872, he was hired on permanently, and his salary raised to $1000. Later in the year, he bought a plot of land in town to live on. On June 25, 1873, Dunn married Ida Saunders, one of his former students. Dunn continued to work for Maryville Public Schools until 1875 when he bought the Maryville Republican and began work as a journalist. Later that year in August, the Dunns welcomed their first son, Roy Bryon Dunn. Following work for the library association and a run for state representative in 1880, their second son Theodore Saunders Dunn was born in November of 1881. They went on to have 8 children in total, 6 of whom survived to adulthood. Dunn continued work in the newspaper business while also continuing political endeavors, becoming a delegate for the Republican county convention in 1886 and running once again for office later that year.