February 28, 2023
Last night while I sat dreaming my mind went running back
To the time when I was young and first entered on life’s track
And | thought of that old country across the deep blue sea
Where I had spent my childhood and never more would see
February 25, 2023
Welcome to a place to share and save stories of the Dungeys and McClellans. The hope is to record all of the memories and tales that were shared by the clan before us to give to the clan ahead of us, now available only inside the heads of our senior generation.
January 15, 2024
[Based on a brief mention of some memories from Judy]
Grandpa Fred married Grandma Nonnie and started building their life in the Gold Hill area. They owned a gold claim there, although there is no record or rumor of them making money from it. Chuck mentioned Nonnie had told of how Fred had used a shotgun to shoot some gold nuggets /dust into the side of the mine before selling to the late Gold Rush crowd… haha.
Judy related that in addition to starting a significant, Myrtle Point lumber mill that employed a number of people in Coss County, Grandpa would help many. Unfortunately, the mill was lost to a fire (see below). Fred always continued to wear overalls. He would come home and play his violin in the evening after a long day of hard work. He would make stew and take it to feed the hobos along the railroad tracks in the evening. Although a big, logging type personality, I (George) remember at age two crawling over to have him pick me up onto his lap while he watched the latest boxing match on one of the neighborhood’s first televisions.
A “partner” in the mill, Albert Watson, lived in the house with Fred and Nonnie. He was Uncle Albert to us all even though he was not a blood relative. He owned a large cabin on the Rogue River where the family spent time fishing this great river. Judy mentioned Albert bought her, and Sheila, western outfits and took them to the Roseburg rodeo.
March 12, 2023
Our family history as passed down by word of mouth includes Major General George McClellan, leader of the Union forces against General Lee of the Confederates. Although criticized by President Lincoln for not wiping out Lee’s forces when he had the chance, the General was quite popular, becoming the 24th governor of New Jersey. and later ran against Abraham Lincoln for President. ‘Spoiler alert’… he lost.
[I (George) was not able to find a family connection, but that is not to say there is none. Welcome more research on this.]
A fun sidenote: I visited Arlington Cemetary in Washington, DC and figuring General George was likely buried there, spent an hour researching the possibility. But he was not laid to rest in Arlington (see facts below). But as we walked out of one of the cemetery lanes, I glanced up at a large archway over the road that said: ‘McClellan’.
Here are some of General George facts:
Maj. Gen. George Brinton McClellan, Jr. (USA)
Also Known As: “Little Mac”
Birthdate: December 03, 1826
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States
Death: October 29, 1885 (58)
City of Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, United States (heart attack)
Place of Burial: Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States
Immediate Family:
Son of Dr. George McClellan, Sr. and Elizabeth Sophia Steinmetz McClellan
Husband of Mary Ellen McClellan
Father of Mary Desprez and Rep. George Brinton McClellan, III
Brother of Frederica Sophia English; Dr. John Hill Brinton McClellan; Walter Livingston McClellan; Mary Phillips McClellan; Maj. Arthur S. McClellan, USA and 1 other
Occupation: General — Ran for President Against Abraham Lincoln
Read more on General George McClellan
March 11, 2023
In the 1940s, Fred McClellan owned and operated a sawmill on the outskirts of Myrtle Point with his son’s George and Don. Dave Smith’s and George Allen’s fathers worked there for a time as well.
March 10, 2023
When Ada was nine years old, her oldest sister, Alice, died in childbirth at age 19 after marrying Alton Chaney in the Gold Hill area. Alton soon left to start a new life with his new son, William. The family never heard from them again.
February 28, 2023
A letter from Ron Dungey Sr. sent this information typed to Bean [his close cousin, Marvene]]
The DUNGEY family ancestors as far as I have researched. My name is John Ronald Dungey (Ron). I was born Feb. 27,
1923 1n Coquille, Oregon. My father’s name is Thomas
Franklin (Frank) Dungey, born in Kerrville, Texas, Sept.
22, 1884.
February 23, 2023
From their home in Texas around 1888 at 31 years of age, Thomas and Julia Dungey packed a wagon and with their three children, started the trip to Oregon. You can imagine the ordeal these English transplants had to endure on their very long journey to their new home in Galls Creek, twenty miles north of the California border. But keep in mind, Tom had traveled to the U.S. in 1876 when he was 19 years old.
