History / People

Philip R. Dunbar

1879–1967 — Dates as given in the research compilation (citing genealogical databases); not yet checked against a certificate.

Also recorded as: Philip Richards Dunbar.

The Boston lawyer who married Clara Bonney Lilley in the house in 1917 and, with her, sold it in 1925.[sources]

Attributed profile. Drawn mainly from a research compilation (2025) and secondary sources that we have not yet checked against the originals. Treat the detail as leads, not settled fact; the “Research leads” section says what needs confirming.

Life

Dunbar enters the story at the wedding of June 1917 and leaves it with the deed of June 1925, in which his wife is “Bonney L. Dunbar, wife of Philip R. Dunbar, of Newton”. The wedding notice gives his colleges; the deed gives the couple’s town. Everything else below comes from the research compilation and awaits checking.

On the timeline

What remains uncertain

  • His parentage, career and later life; the date and circumstances of the couple’s separation reported by the compilation.

Research leads (not yet verified)

Clues gathered from the research compilation and from secondary sources. Published so that others can follow them; none has yet been confirmed against an original record.

  • Born 6 February 1879, Westfield, Massachusetts, eldest son of Judge James Robert Dunbar (1847–1915) and Harriet Peirce (Walton) Dunbar; grandson of the educators George A. Walton and Electa N. L. Walton; brother of the psychologist Ruth Dunbar Tolman (compilation, citing Ancestry, FamilySearch and Wikisource).
  • Said to have acted as counsel in the 1911–12 Richeson murder case in Boston, and to have been photographed with Moses Grant Edmands (compilation, citing a stock-photo caption). Unverified.
  • Lived in Brookline with his father in the 1890s–1900s; of Newton by 1925 (deed).

Records consulted

Research notes: C-049, C-016.

Help us get Philip right

This page is a working record, not a finished one. If you are a descendant, a collector, a local historian or an archivist and you hold anything connected to Philip R. Dunbar — a photograph, a letter, a diary, an object, a family story, a document we have misread — we would like to hear from you. We publish nothing without permission, credit every contribution, and correct the page when the evidence says we should.

We are especially looking for:

  • A photograph of Philip and Clara together; Harvard Law class records; any Dunbar family papers.

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