# John Dunjee > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/John_Dunjee > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/John_Dunjee.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dunjee > Source revision: 1293698804 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **John William Dunjee** (also **John Dungy** or **John Dungee**) (1833 – April 19, 1903) was an American missionary, educator, [Baptist](/source/Baptist) minister, publisher, agent of [Storer College](/source/Storer_College) and founder of Baptist churches across the United States. ## Early life and education John William Dungy was born into enslavement in [New Kent County](/source/New_Kent_County)/[Charles City County](/source/Charles_City_County), Virginia, in 1833 to the Ferrell family. His family asserted that President [John Tyler](/source/John_Tyler) was his father and Dungy's mother was a slave.[1] John William's absentee owners, the Ferrell family heirs, hired him out to former Virginia governor [John Munford Gregory](/source/John_Munford_Gregory), and while working for Gregory in the winter of 1859 inside the family's house, Dungy learned that the Ferrells were going to take him to Alabama shortly.[2] He then decided to make his escape to freedom in Canada through the [Underground Railroad](/source/Underground_Railroad) with the help of [William Still](/source/William_Still) (who later published an account of Dunjee's escape) and others, landing in the port of Philadelphia in February. Dungy arrived on the 15th of that month in [Hamilton](/source/Hamilton,_Ontario), [Canada West](/source/Canada_West), where he stayed for several years, worked as a [barber](/source/Barber), and studied at night.[3] He returned to the United States at the conclusion of the Civil War, revisiting Richmond. He then studied at [Oberlin College](/source/Oberlin_College) in Ohio, where he changed his name to "Dunjee" when he was informed about the "correct" spelling. William Still's daughter, Dr. [Caroline Still Anderson](/source/Caroline_Still_Anderson), also studied at Oberlin during this period. Dunjee left Oberlin to seek cheaper tuition and better educational opportunities in Maine. From 1866 to 1868 John Dungy studied at [Bates College](/source/Bates_College) (also known as the [Maine State Seminary](/source/Maine_State_Seminary)) in [Lewiston, Maine](/source/Lewiston,_Maine), where he lived in Parker Hall with other former slaves, Alexander Sanders and Hamilton Keyes[4] (later a student[5] and incorporator of Storer College[6] and member of the Storer Singers in 1873).[7] Due to the connection of Bates and the Freewill Baptists with founding [Storer College](/source/Storer_College) in West Virginia, Dungy moved to West Virginia to pursue missionary work and recruitment efforts through Storer.[8] ## Career Dunjee also played a particularly prominent role in supporting [Storer College](/source/Storer_College) as an agent for the school, a Freewill Baptist College for African Americans in [Harpers Ferry, West Virginia](/source/Harpers_Ferry,_West_Virginia). [William Still](/source/William_Still), the abolitionist, who helped facilitate Dunjee's escape from slavery, also served as a trustee of Storer. After his work at Storer, Dunjee next became a minister with the [Baptist Home Missionary Society](/source/Baptist_Home_Missionary_Society). He traveled throughout the country from [New England](/source/New_England) to [the South](/source/Southern_United_States) to the [Midwest](/source/Midwest) preaching and starting new Baptist churches for African Americans in mainly rural areas. Dunjee was also an involved supporter of many other African-American educational institutions, such as [Spelman College](/source/Spelman_College), Shaw College, [Hampton College](/source/Hampton_University), and [Langston University](/source/Langston_University). His friends included such well-known figures as [Frederick Douglass](/source/Frederick_Douglass). Additionally, Dunjee founded the *Harper's Ferry Messenger* in 1882 and served as business manager.[9] His children [Drusilla Dunjee Houston](/source/Drusilla_Dunjee_Houston), a historian, and [Roscoe Dunjee](/source/Roscoe_Dunjee) later contributed to the *Messenger* and were editors of the *Black Dispatch* in [Oklahoma](/source/Oklahoma). ## Personal life While in Canada, Dunjee married Lydia Ann Taylor. Together, they had 2 children.[10] - [Drusilla Dunjee Houston](/source/Drusilla_Dunjee_Houston) (February 20, 1876 – February 8, 1941), who became a writer.[11] - [Roscoe Dunjee](/source/Roscoe_Dunjee) (June 21, 1883 – March 1, 1965), who became a civil rights activist and journalist.[12] ## See also - [List of Bates College people](/source/List_of_Bates_College_people) ## References 1. [[http://library.buffalo.edu/exhibits/ForeverFree/events.htm](http://library.buffalo.edu/exhibits/ForeverFree/events.htm) Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation at library.buffalo.edu/exhibits/ForeverFree/index.htm 1. Still, *Still's Underground Rail Road Records*, p. 543. 1. Still, [*Still's Underground Rail Road Records*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KD9LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA541), p. 542. 1. Timothy Larson, [*Faith by Their Works*](http://www.bates.edu/faith-by-their-works.xml), Bates College Thesis, Chapter 2 (2005) 1. [*The View*](https://www.harpersferryhistory.org/sites/harpersferryhistory.org/files/uploaded-images/TheView_Spring2017.pdf) (Harpers Ferry Park Association), Spring 2017, p. 3. 1. [Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia](https://books.google.com/books?id=h4VCAQAAMAAJ) (West Virginia 1868), p. 206. 1. [*Storer College: An American Phoenix | Gallery 2*](https://wvday.lib.wvu.edu/pdfs/WVDayExhibit2015Gallery2.pdf), West Virginia Day Exhibit, 2015 West Virginia & Regional History Center WVU Libraries. 1. Still, [*Still's Underground Rail Road Records*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KD9LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA541), p. 544. 1. Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission - African American Studies, "Harper's Ferry Messenger" (webpage). 1. Still, William (1886). [*Still's Underground Rail Road Records: With a Life of the Author...*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KD9LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA541). William Still. 1. ["Houston, Drusilla Dunjee | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture"](https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entryname=DRUSILLA%20DUNJEE%20HOUSTON). *www.okhistory.org*. Retrieved 2022-04-20. 1. Jack Rummel (2003). [*African-American social leaders and activists*](http://archive.org/details/africanamericans00rumm). Facts On File. ISBN 978-0-8160-4840-3. - Timothy Larson, [*Faith by Their Works*](http://www.bates.edu/faith-by-their-works.xml), Bates College Thesis, Chapter 2 (2005). ## External links - ["Rev. John William Dungy (1833-1903)" by Dr. Peggy Brooks-Bertram of the University of Buffalo](http://library.buffalo.edu/exhibits/ForeverFree/events.htm) - "[How John Dunjee escaped slavery and came to Bates College in 1866](https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/07/04/how-john-dunjee-escaped-slavery-and-came-to-bates-college-in-1866/)" - Steve Collins, Sun Journal - ["Arrival from Richmond - John William Dungy"](https://books.google.com/books?id=KD9LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA541) "Still's Underground Rail Road Records. With a Life of the Author" by William Still, pp. 541–47 (published in 1886). - ["Storer College Postcard(photos)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20061215215200/http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/detail.cfm?Image_No=hf-0936) - ["Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission - African American Studies"](http://jeffersoncountyhlc.org/howandwheretolookitup/africanamericanstudies.html) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [John Dunjee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dunjee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dunjee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.