The Dunham House:
President Barack Obama's Ancestral Connection to The Hoosier State
By Chris Flook on December 4, 2018
Whether you’re a
history buff, or just an avid fan of Hoosier heritage, the Dunham House an hour
north of Indianapolis is worth the trip. Home to early Hoosier farmers and
politicians, the House has a special connection to the 44th President of the
United States, Barack Obama.
The town of Kempton is
a small community of 335, about an hour north of Indy, approximately half-way
between Tipton and Frankfort. A little south of the town sits the Dunham House, a 19th century home built on
land that was once part of Indiana’s Miami Native
American Reservation. The Dunham House is, of course, unique in
that it’s an historic structure still standing ~140 years after being built.
However, it’s particularly significant because it was built by relatives of
former President Barack Obama on land owned by his ancestors.
Jacob Mackey and
Louisa Stroup. Image courtesy of Shawn Clements.
The land the house
sits on was settled by Jacob Dunham in the late 1840s. Jacob was the fourth
great grandfather (great-great-great-great grandfather) of former President
Obama. Jacob’s son, Jacob Mackey and his wife Louise Stroup, occupied the
Dunham land in the ensuing decades. The couple had a son named Jacob William
Dunham. This third Jacob, President Obama’s great-great grandfather moved west
to Kansas and married Mary Ann Kearney
Official White House
Photo by Pete Souza
Together, they had a
son named Ralph Waldo Emerson Dunham, who later had a son named Stanley Armour Dunham – the grandfather of the former president.
Stanley’s daughter Ann Dunham married Barack Obama Sr. and the rest, as they
say, is history.
Back in Indiana, Jacob
Mackey passed the Kempton property to his sister-in-law, Eliza (Reese) Dunham
when he moved to Oklahoma. She in turn passed it to her son, William Riley
Dunham. William Riley was a member of the Indiana General Assembly
and at the time, represented the good people of Hamilton and Tipton counties.
William built the house in the 1880s. He is Barack Obama’s great-great-great
uncle.
Dunham House
rendering. Image courtesy of Shawn Clements.
When William Riley
Dunham died in 1921, the house passed to his son, Grover Cleveland Dunham and
daughter-in-law, Hazel. In the ensuing decades, the family sold away the
original Dunham homestead and by the early 1960s, the house became the McMullan
Funeral Home. The funeral home operated until 2000, when the house then sat
empty and fell into disrepair.
In 2004, Shawn Clements purchased
the home and began restoration work. In 2007 when he was conducting research on
the house, he learned of the family connection to the former president. When President
Obama was in Indiana during his 2008 campaign, he and his family made a visit
to the Dunham House.
A video was recorded by Mr.
Clements in May of 2008 while then Senator Obama and his family stopped by for
a visit.
Clements, the owner of
the home and president of The Dunham House Educational Foundation, is currently
working to restore the interior and exterior of the home. You
can schedule private tours with Clements, email him at DHEFoundation@gmail.com,
or call 317-344-9839.
To learn more about
the house and President Obama’s visit, read the Indianapolis Monthly article
here.