Andrew Dunning, the ancestor of all the Dunnings in this vicinity, and, it is believed, of all the family in the State of Maine, came from Ashburton, county of Devonshire, England, in 1717. He landed at Georgetown, Maine, where he remained a short time, and came to Brunswick the same year and settled at Maquoit on the lot recently occupied by master Samuel Dunning and now owned by Patrick McManus. He brought with him his wife, whose maiden name was Susan Bond, and five sons, who were all born before he emigrated to this country. Ch. Were:--William, settled York, Me; David, b. 1705, settled in Brunswick Village; Andrew, b. abt 1702, and Robert, who were killed by Indians while crossing Androscoggin River; James, b. 1691, lived in the homestead at Maquoit.
The Harpswell Dunnings descended from William of York, whose sons Andrew and Benjamin moved to Harpswell a short time previous to the incorporation of the town.
Some of the Dunning family claim that Andrew left a son in England named John, who had a son John, who became a celebrated lawyer and was made Lord Ashburton. Others say that there is no evidence that Andrew left a son in England. There is some probability, however, that Lord Ashburton belonged to the same English family, and it is not at all unlikely that he was a grandson of a brother of Andrew. He left a large estate, supposed to be valued at $50,000,000, which, it is said, still awaits an heir male.