Jacob's biography appears in the History of Montana, 1894:
"Jacob E. Van Gundy, a prominent citizen of Deer Lodge and aMonta na pioneer of 1865, dates his birth at Cincinnati, Ohio, October9, 183 4.
Mr. Van Gundy is of French and German descent. His father,Christ ian Von Gundy, was born in Alsace, France (now a part ofGermany) in 17 79, and was married in that county to Miss CatherineRingenberg, a nati ve of the same town in which he was born. In 1829they imigrated to Am erica, bringing with them their only child,Joseph. They rented a smal l farm of twenty-five acres, near the cityof Cincinnati, Ohio, and the f ather was engaged in farming there upto 1840, at which time he found t he farm too small to render asupport to his family, and moved to Campb ell county, Kentucky, wherehe purchased a much larger farm. On this p roperty he resided up tothe time of his death, which occurred in 1854, i n the seventy-fifthyear of his age.
Jacob E. VanGundy was thirteen years of age when his mother died,a nd after her death he returned to Cincinnati to live with a marriedsis ter, and attended school there for a time. When seventeen yearsof age h e began life on his own account as a farm hand at $9 permonth, and con tinued farm work until he was twnety. In 1855 he wentto California, m aking the trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama andlanding at San Franc isco, from which port he went direct to the golddiggings in Sierra cou nty. After mining a short time, and beingunsuccessful, he secured a c lerkship in a store and continued thereuntil 1862. At that time he we nt to Washoe, Nevada, on a prospectingtour, after which he prospected f or silver leads and tried quartzmining in Humboldt county, Nevada. No t meeting with success at thatplace, next we find him in October, 1864 a t Silver city, Idaho,working for Marion Moore and Colonel Fagus, on th e Oro Fino Quartzmines, at $3 per day and board.
In April, 1865, he and six others fitted up a pack train ofhorses a nd started form Montana, making the journey along Snakeriver, and keep ing guard every night to protect themselves from thehostile Indians. T he history of Mr. Van gundy's ealry life inMontana is not unlike that o f many other pioneers of the state--going from camp to camp, lured on w ith the prospect of striking arich find, and seemingly never discourag ed. he first went toVirginia City, from there to Helena, and then to t he Blackfootcountry, finally locating a claim, from which, inthe langu age of theminer, he made "grub." William Cherry and John Ulery were hi scompanions at this time. He afterward owned other claims at various points, and continued mining without any very great success untilDecemb er, 1869, when, as the exposure and hard work were makinginroads upon h is health, he was obliged to give up mining. His nextventuer ws in a s loon business at Beartown, where he bought out JamesTalbott's establis hment for $700. In four days from that time camethe Cedar creek stampe de and all who could left Beartown. This Mr.Van Gundy soon found hims elf $1,500 in debt and had every reason tobe discouraged. While he wa s making preparations to leave in Augustof the same year, the tide tur ned, and Beartown enjoyed anotherseason of prosperity; so that by Nove mber of that same year he wasnot only able to pay his bills but also h ad $1200 in cash. hecontinued in business there until 1873, when he s old out and paid $1,600 for a mining claim in Phelan Gulch, which he op erated during thesummer of 1874 with fair success and for some time th ereafter.
In the spring of 1874 Mr. Van Gundy formed a partnership withRobe rt Fenner and established the Western Brewery at Deer Lodge.This part nership lasted until May 1, 1881, when our subect purchasedMr. Fenner' s interest. The following year he made extensiveimprovements in the b rewery and continued the business on a largerscale, selling his produc t in Butte City and Anaconda, as well as atDeer Lodge. In 1886 he sol d a half interest in the establishment toMr. Miller. In 1892 he lease d Mr. Miller's interest, and has sincebeen operating the brewery alone , find a ready market for his beerin his home town and the various to wns along the Norther PacificRailroad.
Mr. Van Gundy is still interested in mining operations, havingin vested largely in this enterprise. Among other mines in which heis in terested is the Mammoth quartz mine, which is said to be ofgreat value . Mr. Van Gundy is also deeply interested in the materialimprovement o f the town in which he lives. In 1887 he built a finebrick block, 46x 80 feet, two stories, and located in the center ofthe business portion o f the town. The first floor is used forbusiness purposes and the uppe r story is elegantly finished andfurnished and occupied by the West Si de Club. he also built thecomfortable and attractive residence here w hich he and his familyoccupy.
Mr. Van Gundy was married, in 1879 to Mrs. C. C. Lyons, widow ofH . H Lyons. She is a native of St. Joseph, Missouri. She has twodaugh ters by Mr. Lyons: Cornelia May dna Evalina Montana, and sheand Mr. V an Gundy have four children: Elmer Jacob, katie Alveretta,J. Emory, a nd Phebe May.
In fraternal organizations Mr. Van Gundy is prominent and active.F or years he has been identified with the Masonic order, Blue Lodge,Cha pter and Commandery, and is Past High priest of the order. He haspass ed all the chairs of the I.O.O.F. and has represneted some of theorder s in the Grand Lodge; is a Knight of Pythias;a nd is Past MasterWorkma n of the A.O.U.W, and a member of the J. of H. and was one ofthe organ izers of the Grand Lodge of the A.O.U.W in Montana,.Politically, he af filiates with the Republican party."
FROM: Anonymous Society of Montana Pioneers : constitution, membersand o fficers, with portraits and maps
Montana: The Society, 1899, 296 pgs.
"J.E. VanGundy, son of Christian and Catherine (Ringenberg) VanGundy,b orn at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 8, 1834. Went to California viaPanama C anal in 1855. Place for departure for Montana; Colorado;route traveled a cross the plains via Laramie and Soda Springs,arrived at Bannack in Ju ly 1863. Occupation: miner and merchant.Residence: Deer Lodge"
Residences & events:
8/16/1850 Cincinnati Wd 1, Hamilton Co, OH. Having lost theirmother, J acob and sisters, Susan and Mary, moved in with older sisterPhoebe and A lexander Wightman so she could assume their care. Thecensus taker fou nd them there and recorded Jacob Vongundy at age 15.
6/15/1860 LaPorte, Sierra Co, CA. Jacob, 25, was listed in thatcensu s as head of the house but brother Joseph was there with hisfamily. B oth men were merchants.
1870 Beartown, Deer Lodge Co, MT territory. Jacob was the only VanGu ndy in the county that year, according to the census. He was 35and a s aloon keeper.
6/26/1880 Deer Lodge, Deer Lodge Co, MT. By the next census, JE hadm arried a younger woman with 2 children. He was 45 and a brewer.Cornel ia, 25, and daughters Cornelia, 5, and Eveline, 4, were hisonly family .
6/2/1900 Same place. Again listed as JE, 65, his occupation was thenl iquor dealer. He had been married 20 years to Cornelia, 45, who hadbi rthed 6 children, all living with them: Cornelia's daughters fromfirs t marriage to Mr Lyon, Cornelia, 25, and Eveline, 24; and VanGundy kid s, Elmer J, 19, Kate, 18, JE, 16, and Phoebe, 9.
