by Anne Motto, F.M. Kirby Curator of Collections
June 23, 2026
It is perhaps not a coincidence that precisely around the time of his appointment as Superintendent of the Morris Aqueduct, William A. Dunn became a faithful diarist, increasingly recording the precipitation and weather. As the overseer of the company responsible for supplying Morristown with water, it was perhaps natural that he was concerned with precipitation, water levels, and when it was cold enough for the pipes under his purview to freeze. However, as his diaries progressed, his reports of the weather became more detailed and regular – far beyond what would be practically useful in the role he held for 30 years. So much so that by the end of his career in late 1909, his reports on precipitation for the area were the basis for local newspapers’ reports.
At first William A. Dunn’s diaries, begun in 1874, would more accurately be described as a ledger or daybook. A Somerset County farmer before his move to Morristown, he initially filled the pages of the earliest volume exclusively with notations of payment to various individuals for days of work completed, sometimes in grain. However, that radically changed on April 1, 1879. With no preface or segue, he instead switched to recording work done on pipes, hydrants, cisterns, and reservoirs. He also noted with increasing frequency any precipitation that occurred.
Over the decades, sporadic and simple entries of “rainy day” transformed into daily accounts such as the one for February 22, 1919: “No storm but cloudy. Amount of snow about 1 inch packed. Ther[mometer] 32 at 6 am. 26 at 12 [p]m 36 at 9 pm… Began rain at 8 pm & continued.” This growing enthusiasm for the weather did not wane with his retirement, and he continued his diaries to the very day of his death. In fact, while the final entry is brief and incomplete, it nonetheless notes as a first order of business that it snowed that day (thermometer 24° at 7 am). Now, thanks to his diligence, his 28 diaries, recently donated to MCHS, are an uninterrupted account of not only his work for the aqueduct company but of the nearly daily weather in Morristown over 42 years.
