James A. Dunning, a North Carolina Axe Designer and Inventor
James Andrew Dunning was born in Bertie County, North Carolina, on December 23rd of 1865. His father, Andrew Jackson Dunning, was the oldest son of Willie Dunning and a farmer like his father before him. His mother was Sarah (Harmon) Dunning. Through the 1880 census, James was listed as living with his parents as well as “going to school” in the local “normal” schools. Later mentions of his educational years note that he completed one year at Wake Forest College and that he was a highly inquisitive child.
On September 2nd of 1886, along with his Uncle, Willie J. Dunning (his father’s youngest brother), James submitted an application on a patent for a unique axe design. Eventually registered as patent 356,060, the design was simply titled “Ax”. The basis of the design was a removable bit that slip-fit into a slotted head and used a nut and washer to hold the bit in place. The location of the patent was noted as Aulander, the northwesternmost settlement in Mitchells Township of Bertie County. On January 29th of 1887, James, on his own this time, submitted another patent application. This second patent, registered on May 31st of that same year as patent 363,996, was for a horseshoe that was adjustable with a screw similar to the axe design.
Over the next 25 years, James invented a number of innovative products, a few of which gained patents. On June 25th of 1895 he was awarded patent 541,809 for a button guard. On June 28th of 1896, along with Kenneth Barrow, he gained patent 606,525 for bicycle steering guide. On July 12th of 1909 James filed an application for a novel brick making machine that would eventually, on May 7th of 1912, be registered as patent 1,025,133. This invention coincided with the opening of the Dunning Brick Company, a company that was chartered in 1907 with B.G. Williams, but that unfortunately was dissolved on June 26th, 1912, less than 2 months after his brick making machine patent was officially registered.
Occupationally James held a number of positions in his life, many of which, like the brick making company, resulted in the aforementioned patents. The 1900 census listed him as a “Lumberman” in Halifax, North Carolina. In 1909 he was elected the cashier of the Bank of Aulander, which likely led to his later occupation as a book keeper. From 1912 until 1937 he was listed as the Book Keeper for the Benthall Machine Company of Suffolk, Virginia, a concern that may have used his steering mechanism in their peanut planters and peanut picker machines. He, his wife, Mary Frances (Rice) Dunning whom he married on October 26th of 1890, and his children were reported to have completely relocated to Suffolk in 1915. Mary Duning was notably the sister of Roxanna (Rice) Dunning, the wife of Willie Dunning, with whom James had co-patented his axe design.
During his time at Benthall, James also worked on a complex clock design that gained a bit of local notoriety for him later in life. Tinkered with and produced in the shops at the Benthall company, the clock was reportedly able to tell the time of day at any location on earth at any given moment. As universal clocks were not a developed item at the time, there was much fanfare for the device. Despite mentioning having submitted an application for a patent, no registered patent for such a device has been found under his name.
Records indicate that James and his family resided at Suffolk for the rest of his life. He is noted as being unable to work on the 1950 census. James A. Dunning, an amazing inventor and designer of axes, died at Suffolk, Virginia, on March 27th of 1951. He was buried at Aulander Cemetery, Aulander, Bertie County, North Carolina.
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