The Dunbar Family

The Dunbar Family. Dunbar Cave. Thomas Dunbar and his family arrived on this land in 1784 during a time of immense land speculation and fraud. He purchased 500 acres including the cave but was never given legal title to the land. Meanwhile, he built a home and farmed the land for eight years. Robert Nelson, a deputy surveyor, made his own claim to the cave. It overlapped Dunbar's significantly. Due to his political connections, he obtained the legal title to the land. Nelson filed an ejectment suit in 1792, which removed Dunbar from the property. However, Nelson then sold Dunbar 50 acres east of the cave where Dunbar built another house. The building in front of you, now the clubhouse for the Swan Lake Golf Course, contains a hand-hewn log wall and stone chimney which are likely the ruins of Dunbar's second house., Thomas Dunbar's daughter, Ann, died in 1823. Thomas died three years later in 1826. Both were buried nearby. After Thomas's death, his widow and his two sons, James, and William, relocated to Stewart County. In a brochure for the 1934 Clarksville Sesquicentennial celebration held at the cave, it is noted that the Dunbar graves were still visible on the hillside overlooking the newly created lake. Although the cave has passed through many hands over the years it has always been known as Dunbar's Cave., Caption , Background Photo: Deed from Robert Nelson to Thomas Dunbar, 1792, Montgomery County, Archives Clarksville, TN