 The below article, by Mrs. John (Zena Kulish) Dirkach, is taken from the Dauntless Dunn 1970 history publication.
"Sam Dirkach came from Russia in 1913 to the United
States. He spent a year in New York at various jobs. In 1914 he came to North Dakota and homesteaded in McKenzie County; ten miles north of Grassy Butte. There he built a house of logs, cut by himself.
Molly (Sauke), his wife, with two children named Alice and Katie, came to North Dakota in 1914. Four children named John, George, Mary, and Joe [See Below] were born on the homestead. After five years, or in 1919, the family moved 1 1/2 miles northwest of Grassy Butte where Lena was born. Several neighbors got together for church services by horse and buggy transportation.
In 1924 the family moved four miles west of Fayette,
living there only five years. During this time (Alice) became Mrs. Frank Pank of Makoti, N. Dakota, and (Katie) became Mrs. Harris Kukla of Killdeer. In 1929 they moved
northeast of Manning 4 1/2 miles (Township 144, Range 95, Section27). While there, Mary became Mrs. Finice Velenchenko of Manning. and Lena became Mrs. John Panasuk of Bainsville. Montana. George married Katie Franchuk of Killdeer and John married Zena Kulish of Dunn Center.
During the depression of the 30's Sam lost the farm and later bought it back. In 1940 his son George took over the farm and Sam retired to Killdeer and a life of fishing. In 1943 his wife passed away and the same year his son Joe, serving in the Army from 1940-1943, also passed away. Sam died in 1957 at the age of 80. In 1965 a car accident took the life of his daughter, Lena, Mrs. John Panasuk.
By Mrs. John Dirkach"
Molly's Burial, Tombstone Photo, Links to Some Family Members Joe was born on 3 July 1919 in McKenzie County in Township 147, Range 99 and resided in Dunn County with his family when he entered World War II. He entered the U. S. Army at Fort Snelling, Hennepin County, Minnesota on 20 May 1941. He was a Private First Class serving in Company A, 20th Infantry. Joe died in service on 15 September 1943 at Camp San Luis Obispo, California. His remains were not recovered.
Dunn County was named after John Piatt Dunn, Jr. by Dakota Territory Legislator Erastus A. "General" Williams. The County original boundary and changes can be found here.
John was a Doctor, Civil War Veteran, a Druggist business man, Bismarck Mayor, Bismarck politician, and Dakota Territory pioneer who spent much of his life in Bismarck area as a public servant in a variety of positions and deeds.
As a Civil War Veteran he enlisted on 25 February 1861, served in the Army of the Potamac, and mustered out of the service after the end of the war on 25 February 1866 after serving in Company H of the 6th United States Infantry. He started receiving his pension on 30 September 1895 and his wife, Christina, started receiving the widow's civil war pension on 26 November 1917.
As a Doctor and businessman he was the first to establish a drug store west of the Mississippi in Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota and again west of the Red River in Bismarck.
John was married twice. His first wife died at a very young age after which he pioneered in Dakota Territory along with his first two infant children. On 13 May 1873, in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota he married a Canadian native, Christina Styles, who became one of the first white woman pioneers in the Bismarck area.
John's children included: Ruth (1865), Cassius (1868), Fannie (1874), Eliza (1876), and John Piatt III (1879).
Christina's Burial, Tombstone Photo Extensive John P. Dunn Obituary Interview With Christina Styles Dunn From North Star Kakotan, Issue No. 3 (undated) |