David was the originator of the central Illinois branch of Van Gundys.H e was mentioned in the biography of son-in-law Ellery Merris in Pastan d Present of the city of Decatur, IL:
"Mr. Merris remained with his father until his marriage, which wascele brated March 17, 1842, the lady of his choice being Miss NancyVan Gund y, who is of German descent. Her father, David Van Gundy,was a miller b y trade and followed that occupation in Pennsylvania inearly life. La ter he removed to Ohio and from there to what is knownas the American B ottom near St. Louis, Missouri. There he weddedMiss Mary Conrad, who w as born in Madison county, that state, June29, 1822. Mr. Van Gundy spe nt his last days with his son George inScott county, Illinois, where h e died in 1862, his wife having passedaway some time previously. They h ad eight children, of whom five arestill living, namely: Mary, wife o f John Smallwood, a retired farmerliving near Lincoln in Tazewell coun ty, Illinois; John, a retiredfarmer of Decatur; Adam, a retired farmer o f Bluffs, Scott county;Martha, wife of Erasmus Allison, who is living r etired in St. Louis,Missouri; and Nancy, wife of our subject."
Residences and events in his life:
1791 Somerset Co, PA.
1801-1805 Ross Co, OH. Both of his parents' families, Van Gundys andW isslers, moved from PA to OH.
1812 S Bloomfield, Pickaway Co, OH. His father bought the grist millt here on the Scioto River, near the bridge.
1820 David was not listed in the Ohio census so he was either stillat h ome, on his way to New Orleans, or had already arrived and wascounted d own there. His father, living in Harrison Twp, Pickaway Co,OH, at tha t time, had in his houshold, Ann Denny, a family friend androundabout r elative who apparently never married, and the neighborswere Coonrods.
Abt 1820-1821 David and friend, next door neighbor, David Denny(half b rother to Hannah Denny), took a flat-boat load of pork frombelow Chill icothe, OH, to N Orleans, LA, and never went back. Hemigrated back up t he Mississippi to Madison Co, IL. David Dennybecame the captain of a r iver packet and later died in New Orleans ofyellow fever.
Abt 1821 Madison Co, IL. He arrived at the "American Bottom" near StL ouis where he met up with Ohio neighbors, the Coonrods, who arrivedin 1 818. Shortly after, he married their daughter.
11/14/1823 Morgan Co, IL was his residence when he purchased 80 acresi n Scott Co, IL, for $80. The Bur of Land Mgt has the certificate oftr ansfer dated 4/15/1824 for the following: E½SE 27/ 15-N 13-WNo 3r d PM IL Scott
The Bluffs, IL, Centenial book recorded his arrival: "Another earlyse ttler was David VanGundy who built a home and a mill. The mill waspro pelled by water furnished by the stream which comes down fromNeeleyvil le-one branch of Wolf Run Creek. Across this stream, quitea distance a bove the mill, a dam was constructed which collected thewater and pres erved a supply to furnish the power for the mill."
Another entry tells the story a little differently: "Among these(earl y settlers) was David VanGundy, father of 'Squire' Adam VanGundyand pr ogenitor of the VanGundy family. He entered 80 acres onSept.10, 1831, a nd on this site he built a home and a mill, which was
a useful thing in those days."
A family history written by a Vannier descendant states: "Paralee(act ually Mary Ann, Paralee was Mary Ann's mother) was married toDavid Van Gundy and they settled at the foot of the 'Mills' hill on aneighty acr es of land without previously entering it, in 1829, Mr.VanGundy though h e was a 'squatter' erected a mill on Killmormocksrun and other improve ments and had accumilated quite an extensivetrade in supplying meal in t he surrounding community, until one dayalong came a man from unknown p arts with a title to said eightyacres, which also meant that all impro vements were included. it wassoon noised around about what a predicam ent Mr. VanGundy was in andthe following evening
a large gathering of the neighbors quietly gathered, loaded up themill o n ox-carts together with all other movable improvements and byday ligh t the next morning Mr. VanGundy lived on his future homesteadone half m ile east of where Bluffs, Illinois now stands and the mill
was quietly grinding away."
The obituary of son, Adam, mentioned the mill as well: "When a boyhe ( Adam) tended the mill his father owned, and which was erected onthe ol d home place, it being the only mill at that time betweenQuincy and Sp ringfield, people driving and bringing their wheat asfar as 60 miles t o have it ground."
The History of Morgan County in an article about the first railroad inI llinois, the Northern Cross, said "the division of the roadbeginning a t the Illinois River, at this place, and extending to VanGundy's, the f irst station east of here---about a mile east of whereBluff City now s tands was subcontracted....." And again, "The workbegan at Meredosia, o n the Illinois River. There were two passes inthe bluff, called Taylo r's and Van Gundy's. That by Taylor's was thecheapest and best, but i t would not touch several tracts of wild landthat belonged to some of t he magnates, and it was located up VanGundy's Run...."
The same history in an article about Neelyville's coal mine says:"When t he shaft was first opened quite a number of miners wereemployed. Thes e men boarded at Van Gundy--a town which was near thepresent town of B luff City, in Scott County."
1824 Morgan Co, IL. David voted in the Mauvaisterre Pct along withhi s in-laws: Adam, George, and William Coonrod.
1830 Morgan Co, IL, no township listed. At census time his householdc onsisted of 1 male 30-40, 3 males under 5, 1 female 30-40, and 2female s 5-10. Living next door was the Scobey family, future in-lawsof son, J ohn, and a few doors down was brother-in-law, Adam Coonrod.The George O hler family lived 2 doors down. Orphaned brother-in-law,Jonas Coonrod , was counted at David's house but according todescendants he was livi ng with his Uncle Adam Coonrod at that time.
9/10/1831 He continued amassing land in Scott Co but still lived inMo rgan. On this date he bought another 80 acres at S15 T15N R13W,paying $ 100.
7/2/1836 and 7/29/1836 He added to his holdings in Scott Co, IL with2 m ore plats, each 40 acres and $50 apiece. They were located at S22T15N R 13W and S11 T15N R13W.
1837 There was a country wide financial crash which completelydemoral ized values. We do not know the financial status of Davidbefore or af ter the crash but as with most settlers, he built his ownhouse, raised h is own food, and met his own needs.
4/14/1839 David sold 10 acres to John B. Merris for $50.00.
1840 Winchester, Scott Co, IL, was his address at census time.
11/4/1842 He sold 134 acres to the State Bank of Illinois for$355.00.
3/5/1847 David bought the land of widow, Mary Troy at public auctionw ith dower rights of $192.00/year each year of her natural life.
3/23/1848 He sold 40 acres of Mary Troy's land to his futureson-in-la w, John Smallwood, with the same dower rights.
1848-1849 George Van Gundy, nephew and son of brother, Daniel, wassen t to live with David following the death of his parents. Danieldied i n Ohio but the mother moved with the family to Piatt Co, IL,under the c are of the oldest son, Charles Wesley, then only 19. Shealso died sho rtly thereafter, the children distributed among familyand friends to b e raised.
10/16/1850 Oxoille, Scott Co, IL. At census time David was 59 yearso ld, Mary was 53. Their children were George, 23, Daniel, 22, John,20, A dam, 19, and Martha, 18. Living with them were the orphanedchildren o f brother-in-law, Daniel Coonrod: Henry, 17, and Sarah,20; and of cou rse, nephew, George Van Gundy, then 8. David was afarmer, his real es tate was valued at $1000. Daughter, MarySmallwood, and her family liv ed next door while on other side was theMargaret Ohler family. Margar et would later become David's secondwife and her daughter would marry D avid's son, Adam.
6/17/1851 David sold 134 acres to "Dederich Vautier" (actuallyDetrick V annier) for $1850.00. Detrich married David'sgranddaughter, Ada Van G undy.
11/22/1853 Scott Co, IL. David bought 40 acres of Federal land atS11 R 13W T15N for $1.25/acre. His residence was also Scott Co atthat time.
8/24/1854 He bought 40 more acres of public domain land, paying $50fo r the property located at S14 T15N R13W.
7/16/1860 T14, R13, PO Naples, Scott Co, IL. At age 69 by censustime , he had retired from farming. Wife Margaret was 58 and theylived alo ne. Daniel's property value that year was $2000/$1500.
David may not have moved while his place of residence changed fromcoun ty to county as the borders shifted throughout his lifetime.
A rift must have developed among David's children, Adam vs the rest.Th ey all sold their lands and were gone by 1870. George went to thenext c ounty, the rest travelling farther east, landing in variousIllinois co unties. Adam's family never again spoke of theirrelatives to later ge nerations.
David spent his last days with his son, George.
The cemetery is a beautiful little plot on the top of a bluff, notvisa ble from anywhere below, surrounded by trees and farm land. Itcontain s mostly family and friends from the area, nearly all namesbeing famil iar.
