 His family emigrated to New York in 1821, but his father died two years later, and his widow got remarried to the eccentric English surgeon, Jonathan Barber (1784–1864), Professor of Elocution at Harvard and Yale Universities, and Professor of Public speaking at McGill University.The "exceptionally intelligent" Dunkin had returned to Britain to study classics and mathematics at the University of London and the University of Glasgow but graduated from neither.In 1831, Dunkin rejoined his mother and stepfather in North America, continuing his education at Harvard University for two more years.