"In a letter, dated Paxton, August 27, 1776, John Harris says: "TheIn dians, to the northward, southward, and westward, are for waragainst u s, as I am informed by a letter from Northumberland county,by their po st, two days ago. The Susquehanna Indians
are only for peace with us. About twenty Indians, (enemies,) men,wome n, and children, have been many days past at Sunbury, and makesaid rep ort." In all probability this was the party that stopped atDerr's tra ding-house, and the date of the incident, therefore,August, 1776.
Christian Van Gundy (father of Captain Jacob Gundy, who is myauth ority,) often related the incident. He said, his father,Christian Van G undy, senior, lived between John Strohecker's and thelate Jacob Spidle r's, and kept the ferry there. He thought he wasabout thirteen years o ld at the time; but it appears, by histombstone, that he was born abou t the 1st of March, 1766, and ifthirteen, it would throw the date beyo nd that of the
death of Captain John Brady, (11th April, 1779.) He could, therefore,h ave been only ten years of age. To resume his story: he said he sawthe I ndians come up the river, until they
arrived opposite where they lived. They stopped, carried some thingsa shore, and left the women there, then crossed over to Derr'strading-ho use. He asked his father for permission to go up to seethe Indians. H e said he saw Derr knock in the head of a whiskybarrel, and give the I ndians tin-cups to drink with. They drank anddanced, and showed how t hey scalped by gestures. Most of them gotbeastly drunk; but one would n ot drink any. He
then saw Brady approach, and kick over the barrel, which put an end tot he frolic. He said they would seize each other by the hair, and gothr ough the form of scalping, tearing off the scalp with the teeth.(Derr' s house stood by the cherry tree in the present garden, and thebarrel w as just in front. So John Brown, senior, said, who owned themill prope rty many years.)"
The story was also related in the History of Susquehanna and JuanitaVa lleys:
"The boy was trying to cool off by dabbling his feet in the water froma n old ferryboat at Strohecker's Landing on a hot day in August in1776, w hen he saw the canoes of a party of Indians dart out frombetween the i slands below the mouth of the Chillisquaque. The squawsand luggage we re ashore and the men disappeared. The boy asked leaveof his father t o go up to the trading post. There he saw that LudwigDerr had supplie d the Indians with tin cups and had opened a barrelof whiskey for them . They got on a fearful bender and young VanGundy saw the full intens ity of the wildly whooping and dancingfrolic of these drunken savages.
In the midst of their wild revel, Capt. John Brady, who had been awaya t Fort Augusta that day, strode out from behind the Mill, kickedover t he barrel and exclaimed, 'My God, Ludwig, what have you done?'
Derr replied in his Dutchy brogue, that he was just giving them ' adre et.' The Indians held this event as one of their grudges againstBrady f or long years afterward."
Christian follwed in his father's footsteps and was a miller.
Christian's children did very well, most having one or more servantsby 1 870.
Residences:
1790 Northumberland Co, PA, where Christian lived alone at censustime .
1800 E Buffalo Twp, Northumberland Co, PA. Christian and a Mrs.Gundy w ere the only Gundys in the county and were neighbors at censustime. C hristian was 26-44 (too young!) and included in the householdwere 2 ma les under 10, 1 female under 10, 1 at 10-15 and probably hiswife, also 2 6-44.
10/25/1813 " John Snook and wife conveyed the school-house lot inUnio n township to Christian Gundy, et at., trustees, bounded byMacpherson, J enkins, Epler, &c."
1820 Buffalo Twp, Union Co, PA. Christian had moved since the lastce nsus, he and John being the only "Gundys" in the county at thattime. H e was said to have managed the grist, hemp, and saw mills of aMr Bear, w orking almost night and day to earn the means with which tobuy about 2 00 acres of land. He was involved in a law suit regardingtitle to the l and, finally resolving the matter by buying out theother claimants and r eceiving a clear title. Part of this tract wasin the possession of hi s son, Jacob, as late as 1886.
1822 Union County Pa, Deed E91
Michael & Sarah Straub of Buffaloe Twp TO Daniel Beyer above propertyb y Henry Cochran, Christian Gundy for $100
wit: Alexander Nesbit, John Nesbit
recorded: 10 June 1822
1830 Same place. At census time Christian was 60-70 years old andliv ed alone. Sons John, George, and Jacob were in the same township.
His name appeared in estate papers of one Jacob Dentler, Point Twp,Nor thumberland Co, PA:
"Also for the amount of one of the Bonds against Christian Gundy, theyh aving [?] charge against him in the [?] and the [?] one of them in[?] a mount 600"
Lewisburg, Union Co, PA.
Christian remained behind when several of his family moved to Ohio ands ome of his descendants still reside in PA.
Christian and Ann were twins.
The date posted is from the Necrology list in the Annals of BuffaloVal ley but most say he died Oct 1.
