Newman Dunn was born in Virginia and became a a resident of New Bern by 1751. In 1754 Jack, an African American enslaved man that Dunn owned, killed Joseph and Lydia Bembridge with an ax. In 1755 Dunn assumed the role of administrator for Joseph Bembridge's estate, indicating a close relationship between the two men. Dunn died in Craven County, North Carolina in about 1762.