John Henry Hyde Dunn was born in London, England, the son of
a consulting chemist. In early childhood he was dandled upon the knee of
Charles Dickens, and was amused and entertained by Cruikshank, the famous
illustrator of Dickens' works. As a young man, after engaging in business in
Great Britain and on the continent, he immigrated to the United States.
While waiting in a tinsmith's shop in Seattle, Washington,
he overheard two men speaking. One man quoted these words of Baha'u'llah,
"Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country, but let him glory
in this, that he loves his kind." Mr. Dunn interrupted the conversation by
saying, “Surely these words are a message from God." The speaker turned,
and, including Mr. Dunn in the conversation, gave the message of the Baha'i
Revelations.
Mr. Dunn accepted the truth of the Baha'i Revelation
immediately and it was not long before he and Mr. Ward Fitzgerald, the one who
had brought him the Message, were traveling together, doing business and
spreading the Faith. At one time they took advantage of a brief period of
unemployment to journey to Walla Walla, Washington, where they held meetings
for this purpose. This journey necessitated extreme economy on the part of the
teachers so that they were often obliged to go hungry. A certain lady, who
remained after one of the meetings to learn more about the great Message, soon
learned, as she talked with the two teachers, that they were as hungry
physically as she was spiritually. She tactfully insisted on offering them
hospitality and spread a bountiful meal for them.
