Before I went, I did a surname search on the Idaho State Historical Society's website. The hits it came up with were all for court cases in Owyhee County, which is where Samuel Crandell Dunn, Sr. & family lived for quite some time. There are also quite a few books and newspapers on microfilm at the archives, but those aren't organized by surname like the court cases. That's why I started with those. Plus, they seemed intriguing. Some of the court files had just one or two sheets in the folders. The archivist said they had gone through many of the files and purged all but the most basic information. Of course, the last case I looked at was the thickest folder in the whole box (almost 3" thick). I didn't have time to read everything, so I pretty much skimmed over the files and tried to summarize the cases as I understood them. (And some of them were hard to follow; I had to re-read a lot of things due to all the legal jargon.) Hopefully I'll do these summaries justice (no pun intended).
Case #1 - C.A. McMaster v. Dunn
C.A. McMaster, Plaintiff v. S.C. Dunn, Defendant
Complaint filed 14 Aug 1920
Judgment (verdict) filed 18 Apr 1930
Summary of Case: The plaintiff, C.A. McMaster, claimed that in Twin Falls County during July 1919, he delivered 4 cattle to the defendant, S.C. Dunn, at Dunn’s request, and that Dunn promised to pay him $1100.00 for them. Defendant denies that he requested to buy said cattle or any cattle at all, and denies that he promised to pay him any sum for any cattle.
Other Documents of Importance: Affidavit by J.F. Martin dated 25 Aug 1920 states that Martin has known Dunn for the last 2 years, and in that time he’s always lived in Three Creek and not in Twin Falls. (The trial began in Twin Falls County, and was later transferred to Owyhee County).
Evidence: 2 letters from Dunn to McMaster
(which I can provide scanned copies of to anyone who's interested - they are in S.C.'s handwriting)
Exhibit 1: Letter from S.C. Dunn to C.A. McMaster, dated 30 Jun 1919.
Mr. C.A. McMaster, Twin Falls Ida.
Dear Sir,
Your letter of 22 inst [meaning "of the current month"] to hand & note after looking at the 4 bulls that was left in a field at 3 creek for me, I have this to say, that you will have to get down consiterable on your price if you sell them to me - the bulls are not in any shape to go on the range on account of the condition of their feet. I will take the bulls if you will make the price right & if not you will find them in place they were left in by the man that drove them out
Yours truly,
S C Dunn
Exhibit 2: Letter from S.C. Dunn to C.A. McMaster, dated 25 Feb 1920.
Mr. C A McMaster, Twin Falls Ida.
Dear Sir,
I would like to get about 5 or 6 head of yearling bulls some time in April if you will put a price on them, that a man can afford to pay. I would also like very much to come to some understanding on price of the 4 you sent out last summer, you told me that we would get them 8 bulls for less than cost Three hundred dollars a head is too much to pay for bulls to turn on the range
Yours truly,
S C Dunn
Verdict: Jury ruled in favor of Dunn, finding that he had not agreed on an amount for the bulls in question, and was not responsible for payment.
Case #2 - Dunn v. Reynolds
S.C. Dunn, Jr., Plaintiff vs. A[llen] C. Reynolds et al., Defendants
Action for Foreclosure of Mortgage
Summary of Case: On 1 Jan 1919, in Rogerson, Idaho, A.C. Reynolds, a single person, obtained ranch land and stock from Samuel C. Dunn, Jr. in the amount of $17,000.00 to be paid in 6 years, with annual interest of 7%. Apparently, several years into this agreement, Reynolds realized he would not be able to meet this obligation.
“The defendant, A.C. Reynolds, is without means of caring for said property longer than the first day of March next [1923]; that he has no feed nor the means of securing feed and declares to the plaintiff that he will not be able to run the cattle any longer and to properly care for them nor to take care of the ranch…; that unless the court takes possession of said property, through its receiver, great and irreparable damage will be suffered by this plaintiff for the reason that the defendant, A.C. Reynolds, has no other property out of which to make good any loss suffered.”
Dunn sought, and was granted, foreclosure of the mortgage so that he could try to sell the property to someone else at auction and at least recoup his court costs and pay off whatever other debts he could. He received and sold the property, which was as follows:
40 Head of horses branded UX of Ï’ (frying pan A) on left stifle;
12 head of steers, more or less, one year & older;
83 head of cows, more or less, one year & older;
25 head of calves, more or less, under one year;
7 head of Hereford stock cattle;
South ½ of the Southeast Quarter of Section 20;
Northeast ¼ of Section 29;
Northwest ¼ of Section 28;
Township Fifteen, South Range 12, East of the Boise Meridian in Owyhee County, State of Idaho.
Verdict (filed 3 Apr 1923): “That the plaintiff herein, S.C. Dunn, recovered a judgment of foreclosure in the above entitled court against the defendant, A.C. Reynolds, which judgment was rendered on the 3rd day of April 1923, and thereupon an order of sale was issued…It was among other things ordered that Samuel C. Dunn the appointed receiver of certain cattle and ranch property in the section above referred to, with powers and duties set forth in said order, and that he be vested with the rights and powers of such receiver by filing a bond for the faithful performance of his duties in the penal sum of Two Thousand Dollars.”
Samuel C. Dunn, Jr. was at that time residing in the City and County of Twin Falls, and A.C. Reynolds in Rogerson, Twin Falls County. So, you could say he won, but not really. He apparently lost out on quite a bit of money as a result of the situation.
So we know this case is definitely about Samuel C. Dunn, Jr. However, the name A.C. Reynolds also rang a bell with me when I saw it. Samuel Jr.'s younger sister Neva (2 years younger than he) was at one time married to Allen C. Reynolds. I found a marriage record for them in 1905 in Mountain Home, Elmore, Idaho. They were married by a minister of the Congregational Church, and Neva was 18 years old at the time of marriage. I'm not sure about Allen's age. Apparently, it didn't last, since in 1919, Allen is listed as a single person. It seems Samuel Jr. had a somewhat strained relationship with some of his younger siblings. The 5 siblings older than him had all died relatively young, so he was essentially the oldest for most of his adult life. This probably was just one contribution to the conflict that existed between them. Another cause of dissension between them was likely due to the lifestyle choices of some of his siblings, as evidenced by the case below.
Case #3 - Three Creeks Land & Livestock Company v. Dunn
Three Creek Land & Livestock Co., Plaintiff v. S. V. Dunn and James Dunn, Sr., co-partners; S.C. Dunn & James Dunn, Jr., Defendants
Complaint brought 3 Aug 1938. Attorney for Defendants (none given); Attorney for Plaintiff: Chapman & Chapman, Twin Falls)
“Plaintiff is now and…was the owner of…the following described livestock, to wit:
Two dark brown geldings [work horses], about 7 and 9 years of age, respectively, weighing around 1400 pounds each, branded ‘7U’ on left stifle and branded ‘W’ on left shoulder;
that the value of said team of horses is $300…On the 31st day of July, 1938, the defendants without right and without the consent of plaintiff, took possession of said horses above described and have since detained and do now detain possession thereof against the will and without the consent of the plaintiff.”
So, yes, it does appear we have horse thieves in the family. However, the case was (inexplicably) dismissed by the plaintiff 10 Apr 1940.
Case #4 - First National Bank v. Dunn
First National Bank of Idaho, Plaintiff v. S.C. Dunn, et al.
Action for Foreclosure of Mortage
Complaint brought 24 Oct 1934. “On motion of plaintiff, it is hereby ordered that the above entitled cause be, and it is hereby, dismissed.” Dated September 20, 1937.
The Farm Directory for Owyhee County, 1918/1919 lists the amount of property owned by some of the family members, which is neat.
Dunn, C. - Owns 587.4 Acres in Sections 10, 15, 21, 22, 27, and 28, Township 15 South, Range 12 East Boise Meridian. Assessed at $8,740.00. Improved - $400. (Improved means something was done to the land, like putting up a fence, digging a well, building a home or barn, etc.)
Dunn, S.C. - Owns 856.29 Acres in Secs. 4, 6, 7, 9, and 18, Township 16 South, Range 11 East Boise Meridian. Assessed at $13,280. Improved - $500. Personal property valued at $17, 430.
Dunn, Stewart - Owns 160 Acres in Secs. 25 and 36, Township 15 South, Range 10 East Boise Meridian. Assessed at $2,550. Improved $300. Personal property valued at $3,350.
Once again, it's a little ambiguous as to who the first two people refer to. I thought that Samuel Sr. often went by his middle name, "Crandell." That is how he is listed on his wife Martha's death certificate. Samuel Jr.'s wife, Lettie, always refers to him as Sam in her letters to family. However, one would think that Samuel Sr. would have more property than his son. Also, in the case of Samuel Jr. v. Allen Reynolds, the land mortgaged to Reynolds included Sec. 28 and Township 15 South Range 12 East, which apparently were the property of "C. Dunn." So if I had to make a decision, I'd say "C. Dunn" is Samuel Jr. and "S.C. Dunn" is Samuel Sr.
Just for fun, I entered the value of their property into a historical currency conversion website to see how much these amounts would equal in today's dollars.
C. Dunn's property, valued at $8,740 in 1918 would amount to $130,650 today.
S.C. Dunn's property, valued at $13,280 in 1918 would amount to $198,515 today. His personal assets, valued at $17,430 in 1918 would be $260,552 today.
Stewart's property, valued at $2,550 in 1918 would be $38,119 today. His personal assets, valued at $3,350 in 1918 would be $50,077 today.
Not sure how accurate that is, but fun to think about. Or maybe not. I could be the only one who finds this interesting...
Anyone with additional input/corrections/etc., please feel free to comment.
