The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: NJ
Qualifying Service: Lieutenant Colonel / Patriotic Service
Cemetery is located in a neighborhood between two houses on Baldwin Rd, Box numbers are #8 & #12
Author: Mark Andrew Davis
Azariah “Aza” Dunham was born on 9 February 1718 at Piscataway Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, the son of Jonathan and Jane (Pyatt) Dunham.
According to Howard C. Rice in his book: Road Maps (1762, 1766, 1781, 1802) - Princeton University Library (published 1970), Azariah Dunham was appointed line surveyor between the two counties in 1765. The goal of the survey was to define the line, on a map, of the old road.
In the early hours of 24 April 1775, a horse rider arrived at the town of New Brunswick with news of the events happening in Lexington and Concord. Azariah Dunham was one of the three Committee of Observation members who received the information, and he knew he needed to warn the town of Princeton. The New Brunswick express rider followed the road shown on Dunham's revised map and reached Princeton at 6:00 a.m. By 9:00 a.m., the Princeton rider, in turn, brought the news to Trenton, where another Committee relayed it to Philadelphia.
From 1775 to 1776, Azariah served as Deputy in the Provincial Congress of New Jersey from Middlesex County. On 16 January 1775, he was named Chair of the Committee of Safety and Inspection for Middlesex County. The county and town committees resolved that the Declaration of Independence should be read in public. On 5 February 1776, the Continental Congress decided to create an additional Battalion of the Continental Army, and Azariah Dunham was among four men chosen as Muster-masters to review the new Companies and administer an Oath to the Captains.
He received an official appointment as Commissary and Paymaster to the artillery company in the Eastern Division and for any new battalions when raised. A week later, it was resolved that “Colonel Dunham” of the New Jersey Eastern Division be recommended to the Honorable Continental Congress as a qualified person to be appointed joint Commissary with Colonel Lowery of the New Jersey Western Division for the new Third Battalion. In August of 1776, Lieutenant-Colonel Azariah Dunham of the 2nd Battalion informed the New Jersey House that he was engaged in the Office of Commissary and could not discharge the duty of his military office; and desired to resign his commission. His request was accepted.
From 1777 to 1783, Dunham was New Jersey’s Superintendent of Purchases, which supplied the Army with supplies. It was to Dunham that General George Washington wrote in 1780, desperate for food for his troops, “this is a circumstance so alarming.”
Following the War, in 1784, Azariah Dunham was appointed the first Mayor of New Brunswick after the new State of New Jersey charter was signed. He continued to be active in politics as a member of the General Assembly. In 1788, he lobbied hard to have the new Capital of the United States located on the Raritan banks in New Brunswick. However, Mayor Dunham didn't live long enough for the decision of the final location was announced in July 1790.
Azariah was first married to Mary Tuxton; He was married second to Mrs. Mary (Ford) Stone on 17 May 1753 in New Jersey.
His known children were:
David “Squire” was born on 5 August 1745.
Mary was born on 20 April 1747 (wife of John Conger).
Jane was born on 20 February 1748 (wife of Joseph Thixton).
Lewis was born on 31 March 1754.
John was born on 4 January 1756.
James was born on 12 October 1757.
Elizabeth was born on 24 October 1759.
Nancy was born on 8 March 1761.
Hannah was born on 17 February 1764 and died on 17 September 1764.
Sarah was born on 27 August 1765 (wife of James Hankenson).
Jacob was born on 30 September 1767.
Moses was born on 5 July 1770.
William was born on 27 June 1772.
Hannah was born on 17 January 1774.
The Patriot died on 22 January 1790 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, buried at Dunham Washington Park Memorial Cemetery. An obituary called him “a patriot of eminence, and a gentleman of probity.”
Sources:
Revolutionary War Pension file S995
Heitman, Francis B., Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution, 1775-1873, Washington DC: Rare Book Shop Publishing Company, 1914, page 207.
New Jersey, Revolutionary War slips: single citations of the NJ DOD materials, FHL roll #569450, mss #839, 10308, 10645.
Minutes of Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of State of New Jersey, New Jersey. Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879, pages 42, 43, 117.
Marriage Records. New Jersey Marriages. New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey.
Dunham, Isaac Watson, Dunham Genealogy. Deacon John Dunham of Plymouth, Massachusetts: 1589-1669: and his Descendants, Connecticut. Hartford: Bulletin Print, 1907.
New Jersey, U.S., Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817, Vol. 36, page 71.
Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey [1775-1776], New Jersey. Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879.
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