On Saturday, June 2, 2024, the Columbia University Club of DC along with the Cornell Club traveled to Gettysburg.   

 W.C. Fields uncle – young George Dunkinfield, killed and buried at Gettysburg National Cemetery; George, brother of James Dukenfield, W.C. Fields father wounded in the Civil War.

Young George Dukinfield’s Nephew is W.C. Fields, the “Icon of American Culture and Humor” (as the then Librarian of Congress said to me in his Office here in Washington with near tears in his eyes about his fellow Philadelphian, Dr. James Billington, 2000).        

   Varying spelling among the brothers who emigrated as teenagers with their father from Sheffield, England to Philadelphia. And the rest is history. 

 Coming off of Memorial Day and the ceremony last Veterans Day 2023, with the unveiling of the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs issued Civil War marker for my beloved grandfather’s father, Pvt. James L. Dukenfield.  (It took me years to find the appropriate paperwork to qualify for this at Greenwood Cemetery, Philadelphia.) And the replacement of the marker stolen of my beloved grandfather’s mother, Kate Dukenfield.  

Lessons for today, brothers both emigrants from Sheffield, England, young George killed at the Battle of Gettysburg, Mother’s left grieving.  Threats to the fragility of our democracy 160 plus years today.  The past and present are now and the future – President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address – a timeless guide.  

A profound, moving, and holy journey.  

FYI below – 

 Pvt George W. Dunkinfield    Veteran

Birth: 1841 (Sheffield, England)

Death: 2 Jul 1863 (aged 21–22) Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA

Burial: Gettysburg National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA

Plot: PA  C-18

Memorial #: 25112191

Bio: Enlisted Aug 10, 1862. Co “I” 72nd PA Infantry. Killed in action July 2, 1863 at Gettysburg, PA. Age 22.∼Civil War Union Army Soldier. He was mustered in as a Private in Company I, 72nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on August 10, 1862. He served until he was killed in action on the Second Day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 2, 1863). Originally buried on the battlefield at the Peter Frey Farm, he was moved to the National Cemetery.

 His brother, James Dukenfield, also served in the 72nd Pennsylvania, and he was wounded at Fair Oaks, VA in 1862, subsequently discharged because of his wounds. James’s son, William Claude Dukenfield, moved to Hollywood, California, and became known as the comic actor W.C. Fields. (wcfields.com)