Tom Beardsley wrote about Willimantic’s Mayor Danny Dunn twenty-five years ago and we’ll re-visit his article today. “The Dunns came America in 1847 and to Willimantic in 1849 when Patrick Dunn landed a job as a laborer on the construction of the New London & Northern Railroad. On  September 14, 1859, Mary Dunn  gave birth to a son, Daniel  Patrick. On Aug. 5, 1862, Pat  Dunn signed ‘up for the 21st  Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was honorably discharged in September 1865, and returned to Willimantic. He had left school at  age 12 to work in the Holland  Silk Mill on Valley Street. In 1880, at age 20, he became  overseer of the spinning department. He left the silk mill in 1885 and went into business with William  Sweeney.  The pair founded Sweeney & Dunn, a newspaper and stationery business located in the Brainard House hotel. Dunn and Sweeney parted company in 1893 and Dunn opened a tobacco, newspaper and periodical business at 13 Railroad Street. Danny Dunn had two passions, politics and baseball. As  a teen-ager he became an important cog in Willimantic's  Democratic party machine, running errands and assisting with voter registration. He was Willimantic’s registrar of voters from 1890 to I900 and Town Auditor for one term.  In 1902, Dunn was elected representative from the town of Windham to the General Assembly and was re-elected four times and served on many important  committees.  Dunn was well known across Connecticut even outside of politics. In the late1890s he coached the city's amateur baseball team, The Willimantic Colts, which played home games at the Willimantic fairgrounds, today’s Rec Park. The team  turned professional in 1901, and played in a new stadium named Windham Field, which would later be redeveloped as Memorial Park.  Each week, Windham field's grandstand and bleachers  were packed as the Colts engaged teams representing other industrial cities from across,  Connecticut. A great rivalry developed among the Willimantic Colts and teams from Manchester and Rockville. Dunn used his Irish wit and personality to enrage the Colts’ opponents. “Grudge matches” kept the bleachers full. Dunn continued as coach for four summers, but political involvement led to his resignation in the spring of 1905. The following November, he was elected Democratic mayor of Willimantic. Opponents complained that  "Danny Boy“ won the election  because of the infamy gained  as the Colts’ vociferous, fiery,  passionate coach.  Dunn served six consecutive  terms as mayor- a record for  the city. He won mayoral elections from 1905-1917.  This son of an Irish immigrant guided Willimantic into the 20th century He pushed through the building of the footbridge, after 50 years of  public bickering. He covered the city streets with tarmac to aid the new horseless carriages. He was a prime mover in  bringing trolley cars to the city and encouraged the state to  build a new armory on Pleasant Street. Danny Dunn’s battles against the “ice trust” monopolies enabled Willimantic to become the only city in the state to officially harvest its own ice supply. In 1908, the state granted the city the privilege of cutting ice at the “pumping station pond" in Mansfield, to deter profiteering by private icemen. The city ice was distributed at a low, subsidized cost - a fact not forgotten by Willimantic’s voters who kept Dunn in "city hall"; continuously between 1905 and 1917. Danny Dunn tragically collapsed and died with a heart attack as he was walking up Main Street on Aug. 31, 1922. He was only 63. Every flag at the state capitol in Hartford was flown at half-staff. His funeral was attended by thousands of people and over 100 automobiles drove in the cortege from St. Joseph's Church to the Catholic cemetery. Hundreds of baseball players from across the state assembled at Recreation Park. When the cortege drove past, the  players bowed their heads in  respect to “Danny Boy." The following is an excerpt from  Dunn's obituary which appeared in the Hartford Courant on Sept. 1, 1922.  "He had natural political ability and great personal popularity and energy in office. He was quick in debate, a leader of the minority side, and an expert on Connecticut Democracy - a man of influence at Democratic Party gatherings. He was Connecticut Sate Comptroller 1913-1915. He had a high conception of the responsibilities of a public official, regarding Office as a public trust.  as a public trust.” Danny Dunn had indelibly stamped his Irish verve and personality into Willimantic’s character.”