JOHN BUNN, fifth son of James Bunn and Mary A[nn] Seabrook, was born 2
January 1850 in Berkhampstead, Staffordshire, England, and came to this
country while an infant, with his parents; was educated in
country schools, and was a carpenter in early life, has been a farmer,
insurance agent and merchant. He built the first house in Ida
Grove,
Iowa, and many rural school houses in Ida and Cherokee
Counties, of
that state; purchased 40 acres of land in Ida County, at $4.80 per
acre, and engaged in farming for a time; moved from this farm to
Washta, Cherokee County, in 1917; was at one time mayor of Washta, and
carries a bullet in his neck, received while in discharge of his duty.
He was County Supervisor of Ida County about six years and of Cherokee
County nine years; was a hardware and machinery merchant, and long
served as justice of the peace; has built two homes, and purchased his
present residence in Cherokee. He has been a member of the
I.O.O.F., since 1889;
joined the order at Holstein, Iowa; transfered [sic] to Quimby, Iowa;
is a charter member and first Noble Grand of Spruce Lodge, No. 284 of
Washta, where he still retains membership; is a member of Cherokee
Encampment, No. 147. In the great blizzard of January 1888, Mr.
Bunn had a
memorable experience, becoming lost on the way from his place of
business at Washta to his home in Ida County; he was accompanied by a
neighbor, riding in a sleigh which was followed by a dog; fortunately,
they came
in contact with a haystack, and men and dog found some protection under
the hay; the warmth of the dog's body kept the men's feet from freezing
and, by using their fists on each other they kept awake and thus
escaped from fatal freezing. Mr. Bunn married 17 February 1874
near Worthington, Dubuque County, Iowa, Rebecca Parrott, daughter of
Leven and Cornelia (Shawhan) Parrott now deceased.
From: History
of the Bunn Family of America, edited by James Alfred Ellis, Many Years Member
of New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Long Island
Historical Society and New England Historical-Genealogical
Society. Chicago: Published by [signed] Romanzo Norton Bunn, 1928 (First
Reprint by Gary Bunn, Escondido, CA, 1984;
Contributed by Michael J Griffith, Oxford, OH |
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