NOTICE: This information is provided freely on the Internet for personal use only. The data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit.


INTRODUCTION TO:

Some Of The Descendants Of Jasper Gunn Of Milford, CT

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


INTRODUCTION

     It is surprising that no book has been written on the descendants of Jasper Gunn of Milford,
Connecticut and his wife Christian (___).  The early generations of Jasper Gunn's descendants 
were related by marriage to many families in Massachusetts and Connecticut.  Gunns took part 
in the founding of Milford and Hartford in Connecticut, and Hatfield, Sunderland and Montague 
in Massachusetts.  Some of those who belonged to later generations of Jasper Gunn's 
descendants were pioneers in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and other states in the West.

     This is a report on a three-part study of the Gunn family.  As the first step in the study, a 
search was made in secondary sources for members of the first five generations of descendants  
of Jasper Gunn.  The fruits of that search make up Part 1.  At least one reference, i.e., source is 
given for each family.  Of course, no fact obtained from a secondary source can be taken as 
completely reliable until it has been checked in a primary source.  Thus, Part 1 can be regarded 
as only a preliminary step in the construction of the definitive first five generation genealogy of 
Jasper Gunn.  Time considerations rule out the compiler's taking of the necessary further steps 
himself, and he would be very pleased if some younger member of the extended Gunn family were 
to take up the task.  In the references one might find additional information about the families, 
and about their lives and times, as well as information concerning primary sources.

     Part 2 contains several generations of descendants of five great great grandchildren of Jasper
Gunn and Christian (___) who either came West themselves or had children who came West: with 
a few exceptions, only descendants who did come West have been included.  They are 
descendants of Martin Gunn, a direct ancestor of the compiler, and of the brothers Elijah, Elisha 
and Moses Gunn, who were first cousins of Martin Gunn.  Early descendants of these four men 
were in Northern Ohio, especially in Cuyahoga, Lucas, Fulton, Henry and Wood counties, and 
some of their later descendants moved further West.  Part 2 contains also descendants of Benjamin 
Fenn 6th: they settled mainly in Summit Co., OH, and continued remarkable near that county 
generation after generation.  Part 3, which makes up part of Volume II, is a continuation of Part 2, 
in that it contains descendants of a number of additional great great great grandchildren of Jasper 
Gunn and his wife.

     In the preparation of Parts 2 and 3 some secondary sources were consulted, in particular 
some local histories, and references are given when they apply.  Some of the information on 
Martin Gunn and his descendants was obtained from a set of notes put together by Eugene 
Nelson Gunn, the compiler's great grandfather and a great grandson of Martin Gunn.  Further, 
the compiler consulted the Marjorie Campbell Shufelt Collection and the Amber Gunn Mitchell 
Collection, both of which are deposited in the Local History and Genealogy Department of the 
Toledo-Lucas County Public Library in Toledo, OH.  These collections consist principally of 
material on Gunn families and related families in Northwestern Ohio.  Each collection is 
contained in a large number of big storage boxes, and the compiler is grateful to the librarians 
who lugged the boxes out to him during each of his three visits to Toledo.  Information not 
attributed to some reference was obtained from these collections, from Eugene Nelson's Gunn's 
notes, or from U. S. Census schedules.

     Those descendants of Jasper Gunn whose numbers are followed by a + are carried forward 
as a parent to the following generation or, though they had no children, are carried forward 
because more information concerning them was available.  Those whose numbers are followed 
by a # are carried forward to Part 3 in Volume II.  The addition of 2nd, or 3rd, etc., to a male 
descendant's name indicates that his father had the same name, or that his father and grandfather 
had the same name, etc.

     The compiler is a grandson of Laura Eugenie Gunn, whose line back to Jasper Gunn is as 
follows: Eugene Nelson Gunn (No. A43), Alfred Bartlett Gunn (No. A14), Willard Gunn (No. A3), 
Martin Gunn (No. 1212(A1)), Asahel Gunn (No. 325), Nathaniel Gunn (No. 81), Samuel Gunn 
(No. 20), Nathaniel Gunn (No. 5), Jasper Gunn (No. 1).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trasncribed for personal research by Gloria Odom.  Used with permssion.


||| New England Families Rendezvous |||



1