CHAPTER XXI.
SOME ELDER SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF VERMILION COUNTY.
"JAMES O'NEAL CLAIMS TO BE FIRST WHITE CHILD OF WHITE CHILDREN MRS.
ELIZABETH ( MCDONALD) HARMON, ONE OF THE FIRST WHITE CHILDREN BORN INV ERMILION COUNTY JAMES O'NEAL, BORN IN l822 MARY (COX) PATTERSON,BORN I N 1823 WILLIAM P. SWANK, BORN IN 1824 PERRY O'NEAL, BORN IN1825 JAMES H . STEVENS, BORN IN 1826 D. B. DOUGLASS AND RHODA M.HESTER, BORN IN 182 7ABNER SNOW, S. P. LCNEVE AND ANDREW GUNDY, BORNIN 1828 Vermilion Co.. ."
He was mentioned in :
PROCEEDINGS OP THE REGISTER OF THE OLD SETTLERS AT CATLIN, ILL.SEPTEMB ER .'6, 1885.
Andrew Gundy... 56---(born) Bismark, 111 1829. . (residence)
He was also mentioned in the diary of Uncle Thomas Gundy as spendingth e night at Milton Lee's house on 1/14/1887.
The History of Vermilion Co, IL recorded his bio:
"The Gundy family is one which has been prominent in the affairs ofVer milion County since when, in 1822, Joseph and Sally Gundy, hiswife, ca me to Ross township and settled. He came from Indiana, beinga native o f Pennsylvania or Ohio. Mr. Joseph Gundy was a useful andenterprising m an and a pioneer such as make for the advancement ofany section in whi ch he may choose a home. He died in 1846 and wasburied in the Gundy bu rying ground near Myersville. Andrew Gundy wasborn on the Gundy place n ear Myersville, November 20, 1828, the sonof Joseph and Sally (Davidso n) Gundy. The first school Andy Gundyattended was one taught by George S tipp in a vacant house on the LukeWiles place, just west of the North F ork at Myersville. He continuedhis studies in the schools of that sect ion, going to Georgetown forhis higher branches. He was busy on the fa rm during his youth, butwhen he was twenty-three years old he went int o business for himselfas a merchant in Myersville. He at the same time c arried on anextensive trade in wool, grain and stock. He was a man of a ffairs andheld many offices of trust and responsibility. He had a larg e privateinterest in coal
lands, and when he was sent to the state legislature, was chosen as am ember of the committee on mines and mining. He also served on twoother c ommittees, one of which was the finance committee. This was inthe twen ty-ninth general assembly. He was repeatedly elected assupervisor from N ewell township, and he accumulated much property andhis influence was e xtensive. He was identified with many importantventures of the county, o ne of which was the banking and otherinterests of John C. Short, in wh ich he lost a large amount ofproperty. Mr. Gundy was never married."
Another history had the following:
"Andrew was a large and successful farmer and engaged in mercantilepur suits, was largely interested in public affairs, was a member ofthe le gislature in 1875 (the 29th general assembly) and proved by hislong ac quaintance with the wants of the people and the breadth of hisgeneral i ntelligence a useful and safe legislator. After the failureof Hon. Jo hn C. Short, Mr. Gundy and some others undertook to standin the breach a nd save the important coal interest which Mr. Shortheld, but the conti nued depression of trade and the large shrinkageof values was more tha n they could stand, and financial failurefollowed. There was little re ason to doubt that the immense coalfields controlled and owned by the E xchange bank, would eventuallypay all the debts of that concern, but t he depression of the coaltrade so reduced the profit that they ceased t o be a source ofrevenue. Mr. Gundy is now engaged in farming near Bis mark."
