Dunn was born in
Marshalltown, Iowa and became wealthy through his partnership in a railroad construction firm. In 1916 he was recruited by
American League president
Ban Johnson and his secretary,
Bob McRoy, to head up a syndicate to buy the
Cleveland Indians baseball team from
Charles Somers for $500,000. During his tenure the team's ballpark
League Park was renamed "Dunn Field" and in 1920 the Indians won their first
World Series. At his death at Chicago in 1922 at age 57, control of the team passed to his surviving spouse, Edith Dunn, and his estate, thus making Mrs. Dunn one of the first women to own a major league baseball team. In 1927 ownership of the Indians changed hands when Dunn's widow Edith, by then known as Mrs. George Pross, sold the franchise for $1 million to a group headed by
Alva Bradley. ==References==