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 emigrated 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.
