"The Temple of Justice" Has Been Moved. Tombstone of Prominent Ray County Judge Moved JUDGE GEORGE WASHINGTON DUNN The handsome tombstone of Judge George W. Dunn had sat quietly on Dunn's Lane in Richmond, Missouri since 1893. Eventually the iron fence surrounding the graves of George W., his wife Susan, and their five children disappeared along with four or five smaller stones that once graced this cemetery. In the 1980's a developer built a house on the lot where the cemetery is located, leaving the large monument intact close to a cedar tree in the back yard. In 2007, the large gravestone ordered in 1893 and one smaller stone still remained on the old Dunn property. Click here to view the photograph. In 2010, new owners went to court to request permission to move the stone. Evidence that the seven members of the Dunn family are interred in this spot was not presented and they received permission to move the stone approximately 12 yards from the original location. Judge Dunn's will clearly states that he wanted an iron railing fence "erected around my family burying ground on the premises where I now reside and where my children are buried" and suitable stones erected for himself and his children. This will can be found at the Ray County Court House. ----------- The Ray County Genealogical Association and other interested citizens are exploring options to see what can be done to have this cemetery and stone restored to its original condition when the property was purchased in 2010. The Honorable George Washington Dunn was born October 15, 1815 and died October 24, 1891. His five children pre-deceased him and his wife, Susan, died in 1895. January 26, 1893 - Richmond Conservator A Fine Monument John P. Bedwell last Friday set up in Jos. S. Hughes’ lot in the city cemetery the largest and handsomest monument in Ray county. It is of American white marble, and while it only stands 8 feet high, it is very solid and massive. The dimensions are as follows: Stone base 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 1 foot 2 inches thick; marble base 4 feet long, 2 feet 10 inches wide and 1 food 2 inches thick. On this base is carved the name “Hughes” in handsome raised letters. The die is 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2 feet 6 inches thick; the plinth is 4 feet long, 2 feet 4 inches wife and 2 feet thick. Around the edges of the base, the plinth and the cap are beautiful tracings and on the north side of the marble base is the inscription. The completed monument weighs 18,000 pounds and cost $700. Mr. Bedwell has contracted for a smaller monument of the same design for the grave of the late Judge G.W. Dunn. He will also put up in the Lexington cemetery, over the grave of the late Col. C.A. Cavanaugh, a fine granite monument. contributed by Jenna Zunker The Ray County Genealogical Association, along with others, are trying to accomplish having the stone replaced to its original location so that it may once again mark the graves of the Dunn family. Ray County History, 1881 Pages 502 - 506 HON. GEORGE W. DUNN George Washington Dunn, the present judge of the fifth judicial circuit of Missouri, was born near Harrodsburg, Mercer county, Kentucky, October 15, 1815. His father, Major Lemuel Dunn, a pioneer farmer of Kentucky, was the son of Michael Dunn, of Irish parentage, but a native of Virginia, and a noble defender of his country in the war for the independence of the American colonies. The mother of the subject of this sketch - whose maiden name was Sarah Read Campbell - was also a soldier in the war of the revolution. Major Dunn died in 1829, leaving his family in limited circumstances, on a farm, when George was only fourteen years old. Young as he was, he worked diligently through the summer, and attended school during the winter. He acquired such education as the family's finances would allow, at Cane Run Academy, Mercer county, excelling in mathematics. Although unable to take the full course at one of the higher institutions of learning, his unquenchable thirst for knowledge led him to eschew the usual pastimes of youth, and to devote every spare hour to study; and this his ardor, close application, and self-denial made up for what his poverty disallowed. His mental tastes were of a very high order, far exceeding that of ordinary young men, and leading him into the advanced classics, law, general literature, and especially into the flowery fields of poetry, enabling him to "Touch the heart, or fire the imagination at will." At the age of nineteen he engaged as clerk in a dry goods store, at Nicholasville, Jessamine county, Kentucky; but he carried with him his books, which he continued, at every opportunity, to closely read and carefully study. At twenty, he began the study of the law, with the determination to allow no obstacle not absolutely insurmountable to prevent him from becoming, at least, a respectable lawyer. He continued the study of law with unyielding tenacity for three years, only interrupted by regular intervals of school teaching, which he was compelled to follow for a support. In that time he attended the law department of Transylvania University, and was a member of the class of 1836 and 1837. Among his classmates were Beriah McGoffin, afterward governor of Kentucky; Richard Yates, afterward governor of Illinois; the present Hon. Otho R. Singleton, of Mississippi; Reverend Jonathan E. Spillman, of Kentucky, and the present Hon. Samuel H. Woodson, of Missouri. At the close of the term he was licensed to practice law, by Judges Robertson and Marshall. In the spring of 1839, Mr. Dunn settled in Richmond, Ray county, Missouri, and, opening a law office, practiced his profession in all the counties of the fifth judicial circuit. In the spring of 1861, he was appointed circuit attorney to fill a vacancy, and in 1844, was elected to that office without opposition, and filled it until 1848. During those seven years, besides being the prosecutor in all criminal cases in the circuit, he satisfactorily attended to a large practice in the civil cases. Judge Dunn had as his contemporaries at the bar many of the most eminent lawyers in the west, among whom were the following: Colonel A.W. Doniphan, Hon. David R. Atchison, Hon. Wm. T. Wood, Governor Peter H. Burnett, Hon. James H. Birch, Governor Willard P. Hall, Hon. Robert D. Ray, General B.F. Stringfellow, and others. In 1848, he was appointed judge of the fifth judicial circuit as successor of Hon. Austin A. King, who was that year elected governor of the state. He was elected judge of the same circuit in 1851, and again in 1857. In 1861, Judge Dunn retired from office, declining to take the test oath required of officers by the state convention of that year, and resumed the practice of law. In 1863, he was again elected judge of his old circuit by a large majority, and remained on the bench until 1865, when he, with others was thrown out of office by the vacating ordinance of the state convention. He again returned to the practice of his profession, and followed it until 1874, when he was elected without opposition as judge of the fifth judicial circuit, which position he now holds, having been again elected at the general election in November, 1880. Whether as advocate or judge, few layers of this country hold higher rank than does Judge Dunn. The prime of his life has been spent at the bar and on the bench, and his contests have been with the most eminent lawyers of his time. His success as a lawyer, and his standing as a citizen are attested by his long continuance in office, in the affection of his fellow-attorneys; in his reputation throughout Missouri for ability and integrity, and in the universal confidence reposed in him by the people of his district. A late writer said of him: "He only sought the honors of the law." The compliment is only half true. While no lawyer is insensible to "the honors of the law," Judge Dunn has striven to honor the law more than to seek its honors. As a judge, he comprehends at once the law and facts of the case; and his analytical honors enable him to develop the points with such clearness and force, that his decisions commend themselves alike to the bar and to the people, being always fortified by both the law and the facts. In politics Judge Dunn has always been a democrat, faithfully adhering to, and supporting the principles of his party in its darkest days. He is not a partisan, however, and freely accords the right of individual opinion, holding the man all the more honorable for a candid, outspoken, but respectful expression of his honest convictions. Granting that the judiciary is not a "political" office, in the vulgar meaning of that term, Judge Dunn has never been a candidate for any political position. He was a member of the state convention of 1861, called to consider the relations existing between the state of Missouri and the federal government. In that body he voted against secession, as well as against all other radical measures. Judge Dunn has ever exhibited a deep interest in the cause of education, and has been a warm friend of all educational institutions. When a young lawyer he became a member of Richmond Lodge, No. 57, A. F. & A. M., and at different times has held various important offices in that body. He is also a member of the Presbyterian Church. On the 19th day of May, 1841, at Nicholasville, Kentucky, George W. Dunn was united in marriage with Miss Susan Martha Henderson, daughter of Bennett Henderson, and grand-daughter of Colonel Joseph Crockett, an officer in the Revolutionary war. They have had five children, only one of whom, John Henderson Dunn, is now living. Judge Dunn has always evinced a taste for literature, which he has cultivated to a high degree. He has divided his affections between the goddess of justice and the fair nymph of poesy, and without having slighted either, shows that he has knelt at the shrine of both. He has given to the public many poetical effusions; gems in verse, of rare beauty and acknowledged merit. Judge Blackstone, on taking up the law, bade "farewell to his muse," but Judge Dunn continued to woo the winsome goddess; and while he will long be remembered as one of the ablest jurists of his day, he will not be soon forgotten as one of the genuine verse writers of the land, and the only poet who has found in the prosy proceedings of a court of justice, themes for poetical song. "The Temple of Justice," written by him a few years ago, and dedicated to the bench and bar, has been widely published and admired, and we deem it eminently appropriate to reproduce it here: THE TEMPLE OF JUSTICE DEDICATED TO THE BENCH AND BAR There stood in Eden once, as legends tell, A regal temple bathed in heaven's own light; But when our happy parents sinned and fell, That temple felt the avenging curse and blight; And would have sank in deep and endless night; But God in mercy had its fragments thrown O'er all the earth; and now they greet our sight, Where'er we go in every clime and zone; Each fragment of that temple is a precious stone. In after ages on Moriah's brow King Solomon a wondrous temple raised; Built as was shown upon the mount; and now We do not marvel that the nations gazed Entranced; or that the Queen of Sheba praised The master architect; for ne'er before Had earth's admiring millions stood amazed In view of such a structure; never more Perhaps will such a temple greet us on time's shore. But we are workmen on a temple too, A glorious temple shielding human rights; And if we labor as good men and true, Our consciences will bring us such delights As duty faithfully performed invites. Then bring for this grand temple precious things - Sapphires and rubies, emeralds, chrysolites. We do not build on vain imaginings; We trace the streams of truth to their celestial springs. Through coming ages will our temple stand, The grandest product of man's mind and heart. Its dome and spire point to the better land; Its walls and towers attest the builder's art. I only ask to bear an humble part In fashioning the work - to have my name Inscribed upon its walls ere I depart; I ask but this, and make no other claim To that which heroes bleed for and the world calls Fame. Richmond, Missouri, April 10, 1875 We close this sketch with another of his gems, showing that the robe of ermine fits him no more gracefully than does the chaplet of poesy: THE ERMINE AND THE HARP The Ermine's hue of spotless white Invokes th ewearer's earnest ken, As law and equity unite To shield and bless the sons of men; For heaven-born truth by right prevails And baffles every crafty scheme, When justice holds the impartial scales And mercy's tears bedew the beam. Fraud writhes beneath the jurist's feet, And falsehood from his presence flies; Twin sisters these that dare not meet The piercing glances of his eyes; And fetters that the strong apply To feeble limbs are snapped in twain, And wrong's foul emblems scattered, lie Around the bondsman's broken chain. O, bring my harp! Its chords shall send Exultant notes to greet all ears, Notes whose rich harmonies will blend With music sounding from the spheres; For right has triumphed over wrong, And justice holds unbroken sway; The victory demands a song, A sweet song that will love far aye.