This Joseph and 2 others, also denoted by * in their names, have beenthoroughly researched by the PA genealogy society. A great grandson,Rev Michael V Van Gundy, stated that Joseph was the son of Peter ofLancaster Co, PA, both in a biography and in a letter some 15 yearslater, 4/16/1904, to Franklin P Van Gundy, Convoy, OH.
He was a cooper, later a Mennonite minister (interesting, since theydo not fight in wars but he did) and finally a minister for the UnitedBrethern church. He and son-in-law, Peter Forney were mentioned, asbeing ordained, in the history of the Meyers Mill congregation, asmall congregation with partly Amish background, both eventuallyjoining the United Brethren.
Residences & events in his life:
4/16/1776 Northumberland Co, PA. Filed in the PA land office PatentB ooks:
"Warrant bearing date of the Sixth day of August 1773 there wassurveyed for Jacob Armbrister a certain Tract of land called "Veroli"Situate in Penns Township in the County of Northumberland....anotherTract of Land called "Verona"...containing 49 acres and twenty oneperches....and containing forty two Acres and fifty threeperches....And Whereas the said Jacob Armbrister by his Deed dated theNinth day of March 1775 Conveyed the said two Tracts of Land untoJoseph VanGundy of the said County in fee...Now at the Instance andRequest of the said Joseph VanGundy that we would be pleased to granthim a Confirmation of the same....in consideration of the Sum of fourpounds eleven Shillings and four pence St erling....Josn Penn Esquire,John Penn junior and the right honourable Lady Juliana Penn....thisSixteenth Day of April in the Year of our Lord One thousand Sevenhundred and Seventy Six."
And again:
"John Penn Junior and John Penn Esquires - Patent to Joseph Van Gundyin pursuance of a Warrant dated the Nineteenth day of October 1774there was surveyed for Joseph Van-Gundy a Certain Tract of Land calledpalatine Situate in Penns Township in the County ofNorthumberland....103 acres....And Whereas in pursuance of a Warrantdated the twenty second day o f december 1774 there was Surveyed forsaid Joseph Vangundy a certain other Tract of Land called "Parma"Situate in Penns Township in the County of Northumberland aforesaidBeginning at a post a Corner of Jacob Armbrister's Land thence....to apost thence by Joseph VanGundy's land... .containing fifty four Acresand forty three perches...KNOW YE, that in consideration of the Sum ofSeven Pounds Seventeen Shillings and three pence Sterling in lawfulMoney of Pennsylvania, to our use, paid by the said Joseph VanGundy.....Signed by John Penn, for himself, John Penn Jun. and theright honourable Lady Juliana Penn...sealed at Philadelphia, thisSixteenth Day of April in the Year of our Lord One thousand Sevenhundred and Seventy Six."
BASKIN v. SEECHRIST; Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; 6 Pa. 154; July12, 1847, Decided. Sunbury, July term 1847.
"In error from the Court of Common Pleas of Union county.
July 5. This was an action of ejectment for a tract of land, inChapman township, Union county, containing one hundred and fiftyacres, brought by John Baskin and John Snyder, against MichaelSeechrist.
On the trial of the cause in the court below, before Wilson, P.J ., the plaintiffs proved, that for the land claimed by them in thissuit, Joseph Van Gundy obtained a patent from Penn, on the 16th ofApril, 1776. On the 18th of April, 1776, Joseph Van Gundy mortgagedfour tracts o f land, in which was included the tract in controversy,to Hannah Lethgo."
The case involved transactions by her heirs.
Brothers Valley, Bedford Co, PA. Joseph may have been the leader ofthe Mennonites who settled in the Valley, at the very least, he was animportant member of that community.
1777 He was listed as a 3rd Lt in Captain Weiser's Co of theNorthumberland Co Militia.
11/11/1777 Lebanon, PA. He swore that he was not a symphazier withKing George's cause, according to Rev War Oaths of Allegiance andstates further that he took the oath of allegiance to the newrevolutionary government before John Thome, Justice of the Peace.
Some say this was probably the Joseph listed in Capt Reagel's Co ofBerks County Militia in 1780-1781. His commanding officer dropped the"Van" from name and Joseph did likewise, establishing the Gundybranch. However, for purposes of identification in this book, thename will stay Van Gundy.
1783 He was assessed for 100 acres, 2 horses and 2 cows.
1784 Elk Lick, Brothers Valley Twp, Somerset Co, PA. He probablynever moved, rather the county lines shifted, making him a resident ofthe new county. At tax time his property consisted of 1 house with 6whites in the household.
1/1785 Berks Co, PA Joseph VonGundy and Henry Bickel were witnessesto the will of Rudolph Souder of Bethel.
1790 In the census his name was Josiph Gunty with 1 male over 16(himself) and 6 females (probably his wife and their first 5daughters).
6/25/1793 & 1/13/1801 were the dates he took out warrants for 265acres of land. The survey was dated 6/25/1819 and the Deputy SurveyorGeneral , John Wells, entered a note that the first improvement on theland was made in April 1784, and the family had lived there since thatdate.
"The history of the Mennonite church dates back almost to the firstsettlement of Somerset county. Jacob Saylor, who settled on a farm onthe west side of the Castleman's river, and in full view ofMeyersdale, about 1773, was a member of the Amish church, but becomingdissatisfied about some now unknown matter, he withdrew from thatchurch. A Mennonite bishop (as the Saylor traditions say) came out ofLancaster county and ordained him to the Mennonite ministry. In hiswill, probated about 1796 , he calls himself a Mennonite preacher.After being set apart for the ministry he organized a smallcongregation who worshiped at
the houses of the members. An aged minister of the church who was adescendant of Jacob Saylor once told the writer that Joseph Gundy andPeter Fahrney also preached for these people. From a reference inJacob Saylor's will to Christian Kneagey, it may be inferred that healso was a preacher of this church. The most of the early memberslived in Elk Lick and Summit townships. In 1808 Mr. Gundy withdrewfrom the church, and for a period of about forty-five years there doesnot seem to have been any resident minister, or until about 1853."
Joseph became friends with United Brethren minister, ChristianNewcomer , and was mentioned many times in his journal as it seemsNewcomer stayed with Joseph's family whenever he visited Somerset Co.It may have been Newcomer's influence which eventually caused Josephto leave the Mennonites for the United Brethren.
10/27/1798 - "I stayed this night with a Mennonite preacher namedGundy; our souls immediately flowed together in Love."
5/25/1799 E Buffalo Twp, Northumberland Co, PA. Joseph conveyed 4003 /4 acres of land called Dundalk, the tract surveyed in "pursuance ofa Warrant dated 11th March 1793." Signed Thomas M'Kean, Gov,5/30/1804.
1800 Elk Lick, Somerset Co, PA. At census time Joseph Gundy was over45 and had living with him 2 males under 10, 2 females under 10, 4females 16-26, and 1 female over 45. He and brother David were theonly ones by the name in the county.
(Westmoreland, PA) There is no evidence Joseph ever actually livedthere although some descendants claim he did briefly.
11/17/1803 Somerset Co, PA. Newcomer again visited with Joseph:"This morning we set out very early. Rode 36 miles over verymountainous country, arrived at night at Joseph Gundy's." Newcomerpreached there on S unday, 11/27/1803, to a gathering, "followed byBrother Crum and then Gundy, a Mennonite preacher."
1804 Joseph withdrew his membership from the Elk Lick Mennonitechurch and became a minister for the United Brethren Church. Serviceswere held in cabins of the settlers.
1804 Harrison Co, OH. Family tradition says Joseph and 10 year olddaughter Magdalena made the trek to Ohio, alternately riding on onehorse . Settling at the location of Conotton, he built a cabin,cleared the land and returned to PA in the fall. However, Magdalenewould have been 19 years old at that time so it must have been Fanny.But why would he take a daughter with him?
From Harrison County Towns:
"CONOTTON (Monroe Twp.) Originally Masterville; Established 1851. G.W. Holmes, proprietor.
Masterville, or Conotton as it later came to be called, was foundedin the hilly watershed of the Muskingum drainage area, on theConotton. Creek. It was never incorporated, and so has no definiteboundaries. It centered around a group of mills at a dam just belowthe Conotton Creek bridge, and never spread far. It was laid out onadjoining lands of three farms in the very early years of the lastcentury.
The first of these farms was entered by Rev. Joseph Gundy, aMennonite minister, east of the present village in 1805, and was knownfor many years later as the John Holmes farm. The second was enteredsoon after by Rev. John Crum just north of the village,.and was knownas the Robert Law farm. The third was entered by Philip Firebaugh in1812 and pas sed quickly through several hands into the possession ofThomas Smith whose descendants made it their home.
The occupants of these farms and those for several miles aroundmade up the community, with the addition of the villagers who camelater to form a typical farm trade center: Probably, the firststructure to be built in the bounds of the present village was an oldstyle up-and-down sawmill erected by Rev. Crum south of the creek justbelow the present site of the bridge. This was soon destroyed by fire.
In 1882, Lot Demming purchased the land south of the Creek andrebuilt the sawmill. He also built the first residence in the villageproper . This was a one room log house built in 1824 on the rise justabove the sawmill. Here he lived for three years, then moving to thefarm settled by Rev. Gundy."
And again:
HELLER (cemetery): SE Qtr.,S32,T13,R6, Monroe Twp., One mile east ofPatterson Rd. (Ohio 151) on Gundy Ridge Rd. (CR44)
4/28/1806 Harrison Co, OH. Joseph entered 158.75 acres of the NE 1/4o f S14 T13 R6 for $3000, giving his current residence as Somerset,PA. It is unlikely he would have given that address if he actuallylived in W estmoreland Co. This land was patented to him on1/10/1812. He also bought two quarter sections of land, plus anothersmall parcel on the NW end of the ridge that came to be called "GundyRidge" His farm was just at the eastern edge of the present villageof Conotton.
An entry in Rev Newcomer's on 3/9/1807 states: "traveling west fromFrankford, leaving Joseph Crisup's, I again pursued my journey; rodeall day across a very mountainous part of the country; stopped at apublic house to get refreshment for myself and beast. After we hadrecruited our strength, I set off with the intention of reachingJoseph Gundy's. W hen I arrived at the place where he formerly lived,I found he had removed to the western county, but found his son-in-lawlived at the place. Both young people rejoiced to see me andentertained me with the greatest pleasure."
A note in the PA Vital Records of Lancaster Co recorded Newcomer'sdeath 7 yrs later: "Died on Tuesday morning last, (8 February 1814),Mr. Christian newcomer, of Manor township near Columbia, in his 42dyear of his age, he left a wife and 9 children."
1812 North Twp, Harrison Twp, OH. After receiving the patent on hisland he moved the family from Somerset, joining daughter Fronica andPeter Forney who had moved there 2 years before.
From Historical Collections of Harrison Co, OH:
In North Township before 1814-
Forney, Peter - 1810, from Somerset co., Pa.
Gundy, Joseph - 1812, from Somerset co., Pa.
From Historical Collections of Harrison Co, OH is his landtransactions :
Joseph Gundy, Somerset county. Pa., NE 14.13.6, Jan. 10, 1812.
Joseph Gunty, Harrison county, SW 14.13.6, July 10, 1817.
Joseph Gundy, Harrison county, WNW 1.13.G, May 20, 1826.
The following item was found in the history of Tuscawaras Co, OH:
"The church edifice in Strasburg is the property of the UnitedBrethren society. It is a frame building 34 x 44 feet, and was builtabout 1853, at an expense of $1,200. Prior to this, the society hadheld services in a union church, built in 1833, one-half mile north ofthe village. The Uni ted Brethren, Methodists and Lutheranscontributed to its erection. The earliest meetings of the UnitedBrethren society were conducted at private houses. The earliestmembership included Abraham Forney, John Forney , George Sees.Christian Gnagy, Benjamin Gundy and John Shisler. Abraham Forney.Mathias Burchfield and Christian Gnagy were early local preachers.Among the earliest ministers were Revs. Joseph Gundy, George Pfrimer,George Drum and Jacob Winters. Rev. B. F. Booth is the presentminister. The congregation exceeds 100 members."
Some listing have his birth date as 1742. However the date postedcorresponds with the information in his father's estate settlementthat he w as under 14 in 1763 and by 5/8/1772 he was over 21.
Other family listing have Joseph's death date as 1795 but his will wasd ated 6/28/1820 and proved 3/18/1823.
From Historical Collections of Harrison Co, OH is:
JOSEPH GUNDY, date of will, June 28, 1820; date of probate, March IS,1823;
wife, name not given;
children, Rebeckah, Christina, Mary, Reginah, Magdalena, Framia,Benjamin, Joseph;
exec, John Heastand;
wits., John Crom, Jacob Crom.
