In a family history it states that George "has always taken aprominent p art in modern enterprises in his community, incidentallyaccumulating a l arge tract of land. He has always possessed theConrod characteristic o f taking it 'a foot' as the saying is, whenasked to ride, he replied, ' Oh, no, I'll walk, you see, I'm in ahurry."
George inherited his father's land and kept the tracts intact for then ext generations. These were rented out to tenant farmers and healso o wned other businesses as well. He was a very wealthy man as aresult o f his endeavors.
Residences & events:
6/8/1880 Scott Co, IL. At census time he was a 27 year old farmer,Lo uise was 26. They had no children listed but did have a boarder, aTho mas Day, 21, a farmer and probably the hired hand. Next door wereLoui se's parents and two doors down the road were the Brockhousefamily who w ould one day be his son's in-laws.
In an article for the Centennial of Bluffs, the buildings of downtowna rea were described: "The site eventually became the VanGundy blockbui lding for Andre & Andre Furniture Store with an upstairs room forthe t wo telephone companies combined by George VanGundy, father ofRay (actu ally Roy), into one switchboard with 24 hour service. Priorto that sw itchboard service ended at 10 p.m. The plugs were pulledand all gossi p stopped, except on the party lines which had as manyas 25 patrons wi th different bell combinations. Example: two longsand a short; 1 lon g, 2 shorts; and as many as four shorts plus andplus. Each customer ha d a cardboard with names in alphabeticalsequence and opposite that the l ength of their ting-a-lings. Thecardboard was owner designed and woul d contain the special calls offriends and neighbors of the full line l ist if one wanted to listenin on all tingles. If too many receivers w ere raised when you calleda party you might have to yell: 'Will half o f you people please hangup! My dry cell batteries are not strong enou gh to get Mary. She'sprobably out on the porch.' "
1920 Chapin, Morgan Co, IL. In the census that year George was 67,Lo uise was 66. Son Roy was still at home at age 36. George'soccupation w as general farmer.
1923 Pike Co, IL. George bought a telephone company, The HomeTelepho ne Co, against the advice of his banker friend, for $8900.Although he w rote the check for the full amount, he was actuallyshort of ready cash a nd borrowed $8000, using the old homestead ascollateral. The company s oon caused other trouble for him in theform of lawsuits. At the time o f purchase, he told the 3 acquiredtelephone operators their wages woul d start when the lines wereoperational but they sued for immediate wag es. The outcome of thesuit is unknown.
10/28/1923 George was shot in the head by an unknown assailant whiles itting in his living room. He was home alone and thought the radiohe w as listening to sparked and exploded, not knowing he had beenshot unti l he felt blood on his head. When his efforts to stop thebleeding wer e unsuccessful he went to bed and called his son, who wasat his girlfr iend's house.
There was an extensive investigation into the incident but no one wase ver charged by the police. Son, Roy, suspected as the heirapparent, h ired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to complete a fullinvestigation as w ell, but no there was no evidence linking him tothe crime. Although se veral people were suspected, authoritiesfinally surmised that it could h ave been anyone. Among the suspectswere a tenant farmer, a strong con tender; he husband of one of thedisgruntled telephone operators who ha d the suit against him; and thejealous husband of a lady in another to wn that George visitedregularly, supposedly on business. George's sis ter, Margaret, saidhe told her, while still in the hospital, he knew i t was thetelephone operator's husband.
1/1924 George sold the telephone company to Messrs. Domke and Tuckero f Jacksonville, IL.
Great grandson, Eric Van Gundy, the only living relative in the areain 1 993, told of finding silver and other valuables in the brickwalls of t he old family home when it was razed. They had apparentlybeen hidden a s a safeguard against theft during the Civil War andthen forgotten. I t probably belonged to George's father tho asGeorge would have been a y oung lad at that time.
Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947
George Van Gundy
Birth Date: 31 Oct 1852
Birth Place: Exeter, Ill
Death Date: 28 Dec 1925
Death Place: Road Dist No 4, Morgan, Illinois
Burial Date: 29 Dec 1925
Burial Place: Jacksonville
Cemetery Name: Diamond Gove Mausoleum
Death Age: 73
Occupation: Retired Farmer
Race: White
Marital Status: W
Gender: Male
Residence: Road Dist No. 4, Morgan, Illinois
Father Name: Adam Van Gundy
Father Birth Place: Ill.
Mother Name: Sarah Oehler
Mother Birth Place: Ill
Spouse Name: Louisa Vannier
FHL Film Number: 1504132
The cause of death was pneumonia but some relatives thought he diedfro m complications resulting from an earlier gunshot wound to thehead.
Both George and Anna's deaths are recorded in Inheritance Tax recordso f Morgan Co, IL.
