Dunlop family papers

The Dunlop family originated in Scotland and came to America from Garnkirk in the 1770s. James Dunlop (circa 1755-1823) worked as a merchant and settled in Georgetown, Maryland (now Washington, D. C.). He married Elizabeth Peter (1771-1837) in 1787 and had several children. In 1792, James purchased Hayes Manor in Montgomery County from the estate of Reverend Alexander Williamson, which stayed in the family until the 1960s. After the death of his mother Elizabeth, Robert Peter Dunlop (d. 1869) purchased Hayes from his family. His sister Helen (1805-1832) and his brother James (1793-1872) married into the Laird family, another Scottish family who made its fortune in the tobacco industry. Helen married William Laird (1800-1874) in 1822 and had three children. Their son William (1828-1891) purchased Hayes after the death his uncle Robert Peter Dunlop. James married Barbara Laird (1795-1892) in 1818. He served as a judge from the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia and was a law partner of Francis Scott Key. Their brother Henry (1799-1877) married Catherine Louis Ann Thomas (1806-1872) and was a colonel in the army. In 1824, he accompanied Marquis de Lafayette on his visit to Washington, D. C. Their son George Thomas Dunlop (1845-1920) was quite successful in the railroad/streetcar business and served as director of the Washington & Georgetown Railroad Company, which was the first streetcar company to operate in the city. He married Emily Redin Kirk (1845-1920) and had eleven children. Their eldest son George Thomas (1870-1960) was the last owner of Hayes and served as the president of the Capital Transit Company.