Bigger Business

Daniel Dunn was an overseer in the silk mill for five years, then began a partnership with William J. Sweeney and together they opened a newspaper and tobacco business, the firm of Sweeney and Dunn, in the Brainard house which was located at 119 Main Street, at the corner of Main and Church Street (now the Murray building). Dunn was a partner in this business from 1884 until 1899 at which point Dunn moved locations to No.3 Railroad Street. At its new location the business was open until his death in 1922. The ownership of his newspaper shop was the next step on the social mobility ladder, he went from mill worker to small business owner, all steps fellow Irish could follow.