J. M. Dunmire, born on April 19, 1850, in Holmes County, Ohio, was a prominent farmer and stock grower in Bon Homme County, South Dakota, and a member of the County board of commissioners. After working on his family’s farm, he moved to Iowa in 1875, eventually owning farms in Jasper and Dallas Counties. In 1901, he relocated to Bon Homme County, where he owned a 575-acre estate. Dunmire, a dedicated public servant, held various positions, including county assessor in Iowa and county commissioner in South Dakota. He married Hannah E. Ruby in 1873, and they had five surviving children.
J. M. Dunmire, who is one of the prominent farmers and stock growers of Bon Homme County, and who is serving with marked ability as a member of the board of County commissioners at the time of this writing, is a native of the fine old Buckeye state, having been born in Holmes County, Ohio, on the 19th of April, 1850, a son of Jacob and Rebecca (Snediker) Dunmire, of whose thirteen children eight are living at the present time. The father of the subject was born in Pennsylvania, where he was reared to maturity. He there learned the trade of shoemaker, and as a young man he removed to Ohio, locating in Steubenville, as one of the pioneers of that section. After his marriage he removed, in 1831, to Holmes County, where he entered claim to eighty acres of land in the midst of the virgin forest, where he cleared and improved a farm, there retaining his residence until 1853, when he removed to Knox County, that state, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in June, 1874, at which time he was seventy years of age. He was a staunch Democrat in politics, sincere and upright in all the relations of life, and he gained a position of independence through indefatigable labor as one of the sterling pioneers of a great commonwealth. His wife passed away in 1897 at the age of eighty years.
J. M. Dunmire, with whom this sketch has to do, grew to manhood amidst the environments and conditions of the pioneer days in Ohio, early beginning to contribute his quota to the arduous work of the home farm and having such educational advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality. As he was the youngest of the living children the responsibility of caring for and aiding his parents fell upon his shoulders and he thus remained on the old homestead until the death of his honored father, conducting the farm on shares after attaining his twentieth year. In 1875 he sold his interest in the estate to his brother Isaac and came west to Iowa, remaining one year in Mahaska County and then removing to Jasper County, where he became the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, upon which he continued to reside for sixteen years, developing the same into one of the most valuable properties in that section. In 1892 Mr. Dunmire disposed of this farm and removed to Dallas County, that state, where he acquired three hundred and twenty acres of land, to whose cultivation he gave his attention until 1901, when he disposed of the property and came to Bon Homme County, South Dakota, where he is now the owner of a valuable and well-improved landed estate of five hundred and seventy-five acres, the entire tract being available for cultivation and of the utmost fertility. He has, however, given his attention more particularly to shorthorn cattle and general livestock, being one of the successful and extensive stock growers of this section and having shown marked discrimination and executive ability in his operations. He received only five hundred dollars from his father’s estate, and the gratifying prosperity which he today enjoys, as one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Bon Homme County, represents the results of his own efforts. While a resident of Jasper County, Iowa, Mr. Dunmire served three terms as County assessor, and for fourteen years he was a member of the directorate of the Farmers’ Mutual Insurance Company, of that county, and for an equal period a prominent member of the agricultural society of the county. While a resident of Dallas County, that state, he served for six years as vice-president of the Farmers’ Mutual Insurance Company, later was one of the adjusters and served one year as president. In the autumn of 1902 Mr. Dunmire was elected a member of the board of county commissioners of Bon Homme County, in which capacity he is rendering most excellent service to the people of the county, being an advocate of public improvements and of a progressive policy in directing the affairs of the county. In earlier years he was a Democrat in politics, but he has ever had the courage of his convictions and has recently changed his political views in quite a radical way. At the time of his nomination for his present office the question as to his political allegiance was brought up, and he refused to accept the nomination unless it was accorded without restrictions and conditions, and his election testifies to the confidence reposed in him by the voters of the County, while his constant aim is to serve all the people, without regard to political affiliations. He has never been ambitious for office, and such preferment as he has received has come without solicitation on his part. He has served many years, at different times, as a member of the school board, and has ever shown himself to be a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is at the present time a member of the board of trustees of the church in Scotland. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In November, 1873, Mr. Dunmire was united in marriage to Miss Hannah E. Ruby, of Knox County, Ohio, and of their six children all are living save one, Mary Alice, who died in infancy. George M. is a resident of Clark County, Iowa; Cora E. is the wife of J. E. Boot, of Hutchinson County, South Dakota; Rebecca is the wife of R. W. Anderson, of Des Moines, Iowa; Margaret, who is the wife of Walter A. Wickham, of Des Moines, Iowa; and Kirby M., who remains at the parental home.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.