Family Stories

Elijah Gunn

Volume: 1

Page: 220

The Families of Elijah Gunn

Charles H. Gunn is the fifth generation in the Gunn family to own the Gunn farm which is truly a family institution. It was way back in 1824 that President James Monroe signed the land title which placed this farm in possession of one Benj. Leavell, who immediately sold it to Elijah Gunn. Elijah in his old age, deeded the farm to his son William. William passed it on to his son Charles and Charles in turn deeded the home place to Ben. After Ben and his wife's death, the farm is now in the process of being passed on to Charles.

Charles is the only child of Ben and Tillie (Eberle) Gunn and was born in Flatrock Township on June 14, 1914. He graduated from Florida High School in 1933. On January 9, 1942, he was inducted into the Army to serve his country in World War II in the Asiatic Pacific. He received his discharge on October 8, 1945, completing 45 months of service.

On July 20, 1946, Charles and Debris Wesche were united in marriage in St. John Lutheran Church, Rt. 1, Napoleon. Debris was the daughter of Erwin and Maria Gerken. Erwin, her father, died August 19, 1932, when Debris was seven years old. She had two brothers, Raymond and Eldor, and two half-sisters. Raymond is deceased and Eldor lives in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The two half-sisters, Marlene (Mrs. Weldon Meienburg) and Bernadine (Mrs. David Bollinger) also reside in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Her mother, Mrs. Maria Mohrman lives in Napoleon, Ohio.

Charles and Debris were blessed with three daughters: Joyce (1947), Mary (1948), and Brenda (1955). Joyce graduated from Lutheran Hospital School of Nursing and is married to Donald E. Eberle and they have three sons, Donald C., Ben, and Steven. Mary graduated from Ft. Wayne Beauty College and is married to Robert A. Eberle and they have one son, Shane. Brenda is presently in nurses' training at Flower Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. Donald and Robert Eberle are first cousins. For several years now Robert and Mary have been living in the tall white farmhouse on the Gunn farm. After Donald and Joyce were married, they lived in the house for about a year. Charles and his wife Debris lived in the house with his parents for about 6 years, but have lived in their own home across the fields for 23 years, although he has always farmed the Gunn farm in addition to his own land.

That Elijah Gunn who had the house built, married a cousin of President Ulysses Simpson Grant makes the family history more interesting. Side by side in the family cemetery, which is across the canal near the Maumee River bank, lie all the former Gunns, beginning with their Revolutionary ancestor, the first Elijah Gunn, who came from Scotland, and lived in Defiance, but only visited the Gunn house.

Gunn Cemetery

The family in America dates to Eljah Gunn Sr. who came from Scotland to America and served under George Washington in the American Revolution during the period from 1776 to 1783, until after which time, of course, Washington had become President of the United States.

Elijah married Ann Startwell, and they had six children. They were Christopher, who married Ruth Hickok; Charles, his twin, who married Betsey Mattocks; Philene, married to Chaplain Alan Gaylord; Horace, who married Ann Prichard; Elijah, who married Eleanor Grant (President Grant's cousin), and for his second wife, Dorcas Waterman; and Minerva, who married Mr. Hill.

Elijah Sr. came to Ohio and purchased 150 acres which now lie in the heart of Cleveland. He sold this land for $1.50 an acre. He died Sept. 22, 1855, and was interred in the family burial ground on his son's farm. In more recent years, a marker was placed at his grave by the Ursula Wolcott Chapter of the D.A.R., Toledo.

Elijah Gunn Jr. came here via the Ohio River from Pennsylvania. He had left home soon after having served in the War of 1812, and had come down the Ohio River, probably as far as the Grant settlement at Point Pleasant. Here he met Eleanore Grant and remained near the Ohio River until they were married.

Elijah Gunn Homestead

Together they came up the Miami River to the Auglaize, then the Maumee River, built a log cabin, and settled in the area where they now live. About 100 acres of land was granted directly to them in 1833. The land was timbered, the Indians still were scattered here and there when these settlers first came. The construction of the large house, which is about 155 years old, must have been started for quite some time before the land grant was completed. This happened in other instances.

The original farm, which was actually 99 acres, dwindled to 88 acres when 10 acres were taken out for the canal. However, Elijah bought more land and had at the time of his death about 500 acres. The farmland was rich when the timber was cleared away, so the family was soon living in peace and comfort.

Not content to rear only his own family, Elijah Jr., is reported to have reared at least four orphans. In Elijah's family there were William Henry, who married Arrastine Lowery; Katherine, who married Dr. Bissonet; Lucretia, who first married Lyman Back and after his death, his brother, William Back. There were also Julian, who fought in the Civil War and later married Kate Haase, Cyrus, also a Civil War soldier, and one child, Nellie, who died in infancy.

It was William Henry Gunn, who acquired his father's home and lived in the house until his death on October, 1889, at the age of 54 years.

Five children were born to William and Arastine Lowery Gunn. They were: Charles H. born in 1860; Mary E. (Nellie) died at age of 5 years; George H. born in 1869; Lillie B. in 1872; and Ida M. in 1877. All were born in the old Gunn homestead and all are deceased.

Charles H. married Clarissa (Clara) Karsner in 1882. Their family were Nellie, Mabel, and Benjamin. Nellie M. married Burt C. Owens in 1905 at her home in Flatrock Twp. (See Burt and Nellie Owens for their family.) Mabel married Logan Brubaker in 1918. Three sons Lowell, Leland, and Clinton were born to this family. Lowell married Harriet West and lives in Liberty Center. Leland married Marian Knepley and they live in Flatrock Twp. on the Brubaker farm. Clinton married Imo Haffey and they live in Napoleon. All have children. (See C. W. Brubaker for their family). Benjamin married Tillie Eberle in 1910. They had one son Charles H.

George W., a Spanish American soldier married Dorothy Ludeman in 1914. Their children were George Jr. and William E. Both are deceased. William married Marjorie Fahringer in 1941 and lived on a farm in Delta, Ohio. They had a son William and two daughters, Patrica Wenner and Barbara Shaffer and four grandchildren.

Lillie B. married Joseph E. Walter, a farmer and livestock buyer in 1892 in the old Gunn homestead. Their children were: Guy W. who married Wanita Overhulse in 1921; Martha A. married Wm. Hessler in 1945 and she served as an army nurse in World War I; Luther E. who died at an early age; Charles who married Josephine Tumey; Helen C. married Ray English in 1936. Dorcas Leona married Robert Squire and George Howard married Alice Crandell in 1939.

All are deceased except G. Howard and Helen English. G. Howard lives in Florida and works at General Motors, Defiance. His wife Alice is very active in civic affairs and the Florida United Methodist Church. They have four daughters, namely Nancy Carley, Martha Ann Emigh, who served in the Air Force Nurse Corps, Kay Bliss, and Mary Jo Walter, who is serving in the Army at the present time. There are three grandchildren.

(Above photos: five generations of Gunns)

Helen English, who is a registered nurse, is semi-retired and living in Maumee, Ohio.

Ida M. married Dr. C. L. Hane in 1898. He practiced medicine in Florida, Ohio. She was widowed early by his tragic death by tetanus, following a throw from his horse while making calls in 1908. She never remarried and devoted her life to her son Richard who graduated from Napoleon High School in 1917. Then she and Richard moved to Columbus to further his studies at Ohio State University Medical School and at Mayo Clinic. After serving in the Navy, Dr. Richard Hane and his wife Ruth lived in California where he died in 1959. He left two daughters, Nancy Spiekerman and Sally Tawse and seven grandchildren in California.

Ida M. Hane was the last of the Gunn pioneers and was proud that her grandmother was a full cousin of President Ulysses Simpson Grant.

Mrs. Nellie Gunn Owens, during her life was the family historian and was much interested in the old homestead. Following is a poem that Mrs. Owens wrote on Sept. 2, 1955, about the farm.

The Gunn Farm
The old Gunn farm is a treasured place,
Holds fond memories time can't erase,
Great grandfather, many years ago
Bought it, always in the Gunn name we know.
Its spreading acres, at the rivers bend,
A shrine we love as a treasured friend,
Acres sloping towards the rising sun
A farm of beauty when day is done.
The farm has rich and fertile soil,
Bears a harvest after earnest toil
Five generations have worked the land,
Doing their best as God has planned.
The huge frame house stands firm and grand,
Was built, as great grandfather planned,
The maple trees that shade the lawn,
Increase in beauty as time marches on.
The Gunn cemetery where loved ones rest
Is hallowed ground by God been blest,
Five generations have gone on before
Resting in peace on the Maumee shore.
Submitted By Mrs. Charles Gunn Mrs. Paul Mohler