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Jasper GUNN - Generation #1

Book: Some Of The Descendants Of Jasper Gunn Of Milford, CT

By Paul J. McCarthy; Volume 1, Lawrence, KS: 1997
Used here with permission of the author.

Part 1
FIVE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS OF JASPER GUNN

THE FIRST GENERATION
Children of Jasper Gunn and Christian (___)

1. Jasper Gunn, b. in England or Scotland abt. 1606, d. at Milford, CT 12 Jan 1670/71;
 m. Christian (___), b. in England or Scotland (perh.) abt. 1610, d. at Milford, CT (prob.) 
Oct 1690.

In 1635, Jasper Gunn sailed from London [England] to Boston [MA] on the ship 
Defence, which left London about the end of July and arrived in Boston on 8 
Oct 1635.  He was 29 years old and thus was born about 1606.  The passenger 
list of the Defence is in Charles E. Banks' book, The Planter of the Commonwealth.  
[Or can be found on the internet at Ken GUNN's home page with other information 
about Jasper Gunn & his descendants.]

Jasper Gunn and his wife settled in Roxbury [CT], where their three older children 
were born.  About 1639, they joined a group of families from Roxbury and 
Dorchester which followed Peter Prudden to the New Haven area with the idea 
of forming a new colony west of New Haven.  Jasper Gunn's name was on the 
original list of free planters of the new colony, dated 20 Nov 1639.  On 12 Feb 
1639/40, land was purchased from the local Indians for the new colony, and 
on 24 Nov 1640, the new colony was given the name Milford.  Three more 
children were born to Jasper Gunn and his wife in Milford.

Sometime around 1647, Jasper Gunn and his family removed to Hartford, and some 
ten to twelve years later they returned to Milford.  His name appears a number of 
times in the records of land transactions in and around Hartford, and in the public 
records of the Colony of Connecticut and the records of the Particular Court of 
Connecticut.

Jasper Gunn was Milford's first physician, and he served in that capacity there and 
in Hartford, and again in Milford.  His almanac for the year 1652, in which he 
recorded his accounts and remedies, has been preserved in the library of Trinity 
College, Hartford.  Photographs of several pages of the almanac are in Medical 
Men of Milford by Morris W. Abbott.

In the early days of Milford, Jasper Gunn was the sealer of weights and measures, 
and in 1642 he conducted the town's first school.  At various times he was a deacon 
of the Church of Milford.  In 1661, he and several others visited New Amsterdam for 
a meeting with the Dutch.  Jasper Gunn supplemented his income as a physician in 
different ways such as mending brass and copper pots, and serving as a lawyer in 
at least one case.  He operated the mill in Hartford, and on 13 Sep 1649, by order 
of the General Court, he was "freed from watching during the time that hee (sic) 
attends the service of the mill."  However, on 3 Mar 1658/59, as a result of an action 
brought by the Committee for the Affairs of the Hartford Mill, Jasper Gunn was ordered 
to "surrender the possession of the Hartford Mill to the Committee."

There has been some debate concerning the name of Jasper Gunn's wife.  However, 
it is generally accepted now that her name was Christian, that Christian Gunn was his 
only known wife and that she was the mother of his children.  On the [ship] Defence, 
Jasper Gunn was accompanied by "Mrs. Anne Gunn, age 25."  It has been suggested 
that the clerk who was recording the names of the passengers heard only the last 
syllable of her name.  In any case, Christian Gunn was Jasper Gunn's wife when he 
died, and in her will she calls Jasper Gunn's children her children.  Moreover, in his 
will Jasper Gunn refers to her as the mother of his sons Samuel Gunn (No. 2) and 
Daniel Gunn (No. 4).  This is what is of real and abiding interest.  The giving of Jasper 
Gunn's wife's name as "Mary" in an early Milford church record is regarded as 
simply a mistake.

Jasper Gunn died at Milford on 12 Jan 1670/71: the date of his death was written in 
the Milford Church Records.  A copy of his will, dated 24 Dec 1670 and proved 27 
Jan 1670/71, is in an appendix to these notes.  The inventory of his possessions, 
dated 22 Jan 1670/71, gave their value to be 288 pounds and 10 pence.  There is 
also in the appendix a copy of the will of his widow Christian, which is extremely 
difficult to read, and which is dated 6 May 1690.  The inventory of her possessions, 
valued at 56 pounds, 4 shillings and 6 pence, is dated 31 Oct 1690.  Probably, 
she died during that month.

Children of Jasper Gunn and Christian (___):

2. Samuel Gunn, b. 1635, d. 1699; m. Hannah Sanford.
3. Jobamah Gunn, b. 1637, d. 1717 or perhaps earlier; m. (1) Sarah Lane, 
(2) Mary Bristol.
4. Daniel Gunn, b. 1639, d. 1690; m. Deborah Coleman.
5. Nathaniel Gunn, b. 1640, d. abt. 1664; m. Sarah Day.
6. Mehitable Gunn, bpt. 24 May 1641, d. 1730; m. (1) Benjamin Fenn 2nd, 
(2) Nicholas Camp.
7. Abel Gunn, bpt. 19 Jun 1643, d. 1688; m. Mary Smith.

References: 1-4, 6, 9-11, 14-15 (p 316), 18, 21 (pp 167-171), 26, 45 (p 42), 79 (p 382).
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Transcribed for personal research only, by Gloria ODOM.

A few brackets [ ] were inserted by me for clarification only.