According to descendants, Christian and all sons except two, went byVo n Gundy, sons Jacob and Jefferson went by Van Gundy. But sinceboth sp ellings have been found in documents, all will remain as VanGundy here .
From the bio of son Henry in The History of Cincinnati and HamiltonCou nty (OH):
"Christian Van Gundy immigrated to Philadelphia in 1820, where heremai ned but a short time, removing thence to Butler county, Ohio.Here he e ngaged in farming and weaving until 1832, when be located inKenton cou nty, Ky., remained eighteen months, thence moved to MillCreek township , thence to Delhi township, this county, where beremained till 1839, a nd then moved to Campbell county, Ky., and therepassed the remainder o f his days. He owned a farm of 123 acres, theacquisition of a life of e nergetic activity. He was the father of tenchildren: Joseph, of Cincin nati; Phoebe, of Dayton, Ky.; Christopher,who was a soldier in the Mex ican war, and died in Covington, Ky., in1875; Henry; Magdalena, deceas ed; Jacob, of Montana; Susan, ofDayton; Elizabeth, deceased; Jefferson , late of Missouri, nowdeceased, and Mary, of Missouri."
And from the biography of son Jacob in the History of Montana, 1894:
"Christian Von Gundy, was born in Alsace, France (now a part ofGermany ) in 1779, and was married in that country to Miss CatherineRingaberg, a n ative of the same town in which he was born. In 1829they imigrated to A merica, bringing with them their only child,Joseph. They rented a sma ll farm of twnety-five acres, near the cityof Cincinnati, Ohio, and th e father was engaged in farming there upto 1840, at which time he foun d the farm too small to render asupport to his family, and moved to Ca mpbell county, Kentucky, wherehe purchased a much larger farm. On thi s property he resided up tothe time of his death, which occurred in 18 54, in the seventy-fifthyear of his age."
Residences & events:
1840 Campbell Co, KY. At census time he was the only one by the namei n the county. In his household were: 1 male under the age of 5, 1at 5 -10, 2 were 15-20, 1 at 20-30, Christian at 50-60, 1 female under5, 1 w as 5-10, 2 at 10-15, and 1 was 15-20. The page is taped overso whethe r there were more females, including his wife, is unknwon.
Naturalization records at the Alexandria Courthouse, Hamilton Co., OHs how the following:
Christian Vangundy, age 61, having been in the U.S. 5 years and in KY1 y ear, citizenship granted Dec 1842, "renouncing Lewis Philip Kingof Fre nch"
9/4/1850 Dist 2, Campbell Co, KY. Having lost his wife and theyounge st children living across the Ohio river in Cincinnati withtheir oldes t sister, he was alone in the house with only 14 year oldJapheth (gran ddaughter?). His name was recorded as ChristianVangunda, 68, born Fr ance, a farmer with $2000 in real estate. SonJoseph lived in the same a rea.
Christian was 61 in 1842 when he was naturalized. Some say he wasborn i n 1783.
