William Dunbar (November 18, 1749 – October 16, 1810) was a Scottish-born American merchant, plantation owner, naturalist, astronomer, and explorer.
Early life and education William Dunbar was born on November 18, 1749, in Duffus. His family's roots can be traced back to at least the tenth century. His father, Sir Archibald Dunbar, 4th baronet of Northfield and Duffus, married his cousin Helen Dunbar, with whom he had at least one girl and three boys: Archibald, Robert and Alexander. Helen died in 1748 and in 1750 Anne Bayne became Archibald's second wife. They had three children: William, Thomas and Peggy. William's father thought him a sissy and worried about his health, because he was quiet and serious-minded, unlike his half-brothers, who hunted, fished, and drank. Archibald did not recognise William's brilliance. William entered King's College in Aberdeen in autumn 1763, and graduated with a Master of Arts degree on March 30, 1767. After his return to Elgin, William continued his study and research in the natural sciences. The deaths in 1762 of his two eldest half-brothers, Archibald and Robert, brought William from fourth to second in line to inherit the family estates, but William's father Archibald died in 1769, leaving him only about 500 pounds. His remaining half-brother, Alexander, as the oldest surviving male, inherited the full rights to all of the estates – he became Sir Alexander Dunbar, 5th baronet of Northfield and Duffus. William probably could have expected assistance from his father in making his way in Britain, but not from a half-brother with whom he had never really been close.
Career In spring 1771, William Dunbar sailed from London to Philadelphia to try his luck in America. He initially became a merchant in Philadelphia, transporting goods he brought with him from London in an effort to enter the Indian trade. In 1773, he formed a partnership with John Ross, another Scottish merchant from Philadelphia, in the British province of West Florida. He then went to Pensacola and obtained a grant of land near Baton Rouge, which was at the time called Fort New Richmond, from the British governor. He was a Judge of Probate in 1780. In 1784, he established, together with Ross, a plantation near Natchez, Mississippi called "The Forest", where he cultivated Indigo and cotton. The mansion was reportedly constructed beginning in 1792, and was described in 1915 as "a magnificent home of great architectural beauty and fine proportions. This house became the precedent, for many homes built later on, with its wide halls and stately rooms, and the galleries extending entirely around the house on the upper and lower stories and supported by fine Corinthian columns. Monticello, the Shields' home was built on this plan...This home was burned in 1856 and unfortunately no sketch exists of this lordly Dunbar mansion with its winding carriage way, imposing entrance and delightful galleries." Dunbar was also the patriarch of a lineage in Natchez known as the "city Dunbars", distinguishing them from another unrelated Dunbar family in Natchez called the "country Dunbars". After Ross' death in 1800, he bought out his interest from Ross' heirs. In 1785, he married Dinah Clark from Whitehaven, England, with whom he had nine children. By 1803 Dunbar owned some 4,000 acres (16 km2) – he also owned "The Grange" and other lots within Natchez given him for his service to the Spanish Government as surveyor. In 1807 he wrote Charleston merchants, Thomas Tunno and John Price, to purchase a shipload of African slaves excepting those from 'the Iboa nation' and those 'nearer the coast, such as Bornon, Houssa, Zanfara, Zegzeg, Kapina, Tombotoo, all or near the river Niger'. Dunbar died in The Forest on October 16, 1810.
Scientific achievements William Dunbar was known for his engineering and scientific talents, which he employed in plantation work. He invented a screw press and introduced the square baling of cotton, and was the first to suggest the manufacture of cottonseed oil. He was Surveyor General for West Florida in 1798 and made the first meteorological observations in the Mississippi Valley in 1799. Dunbar built an astronomical observatory in Union Hill near his Natchez home and opened it to the public. In 1799, Daniel Clark introduced Dunbar to Thomas Jefferson (then Vice President) through a letter, saying "for Science, Probity & general information [he] is the first Character in this part of the World". Through Jefferson, Dunbar would be introduced to the rest of the American scientific establishment. Dunbar met Jefferson for the first time in person two weeks before his death, but the two corresponded for many years, and Jefferson asked him to lead the Red River expedition in 1804 and to organize another one in 1806. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1800 and contributed twelve articles to the Society Transactions on subjects in natural history, astronomy and American Sign Language. In 1803, Dunbar, with others, established the Mississippi Society for the Acquirement and Dissemination of Useful Knowledge. After returning from the expeditions, and until his death in 1810, he devoted himself to scientific inquiry, gathering a significant collection of data on Indian vocabulary, as well as using chemical analysis in geology, seasonal river levels, fossils, astronomical phenomena, and utilizing a method of finding longitude by astronomical means.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
