George T. Gunn
A well cultivated and highly improved farm of two hundred acres situated on section 3, Jackson township, pays tribute to the careful supervision and excellent management of George T. Gunn, who has resided on his present place for nearly a third of a century.
He was born in Elgin, Illinois, March 4, 1857, and is a son of James N. and Elizabeth (Lea) Gunn. The father's birth occurred March 27, 1826, in London, England, and the mother was also a native of England. They emigrated to the United States in 1853, first locating in Jersey Heights on a place overlooking the Hudson river. There they remained for two years and then removed to Elgin, Illinois, making part of the journey, from Troy to Buffalo, by canalboat. They arrived at Elgin in December, 1856, and Mr. Gunn obtained employment in the harvest fields, working for fifty cents a day and walking two miles to and from his work. In 1858 he removed his family to Clinton, Iowa, where he was employed for the following twenty years, nineteen of which were spent in the machine shops of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. In 1880 he came to Crawford county, having the year previously purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land here.
Unto him and his wife were born seven children, of whom the following survive: Ernest J. and George T., who live in Crawford county; Letitia B. is the widow of W. A. Murdock and lives in Chicago. She is president of the ladies' auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers of America, which she organized and of which she has been grand president since its inception. Alice M. is the wife of D. Waldhelm and lives in Primghar, Iowa, Jessie married Albert Waggoner and resides near Odebolt, Iowa. The deceased members of the family are Helen, who was a school teacher in Crawford county for ten years, and one who died in infancy. The parents celebrated their golden wedding in 1903. The father's death occurred February 15, 1904. he being survived by his widow. who passed away on the home farm in Crawford county, March 26, 1911.
George T. Gunn attended the public and high schools of Clinton, Iowa, supplementing the knowledge thus obtained by a course in a business college. During this time he worked at the marble cutter's trade for one year and for another year was employed in the railroad shops, after which he was apprenticed for three years to the carriage and blacksmith trade at Clinton, at which he worked for four years. In the fall of 1878 he drove from Clinton to West Side, Iowa, with his brother and engaged in farming there for one year, subsequently moving on to his father's farm. About ten years later he purchased eighty acres of land, to which he gradually added until he now owns two hundred acres of fine farm land.
On January 3, 1889, Mr. Gunn was united in marriage to Miss Sadie Fothergill, a daughter of John and Mary (Grundon) Fothergill, both of whom are natives of Yorkshire, England. They emigrated to the United States in 1857 and located in Lyons, Iowa, but they are now living in Missouri, the father being seventy-nine years of age and the mother eighty-one years old. In 1907 they had the pleasure of celebrating their golden wedding. Six children were born to this couple, of whom the following survive: Sadie; Charles, of Kansas; George and Grundon, who reside in Missouri; and Mary, who lives at home. Francis, the other child, is deceased.
In his political affiliation Mr. Gunn has always been a supporter of the republican party and in his religious views is a faithful adherent of the Episcopal church. During his long residence in Crawford county, where his time has been well spent and his energies carefully directed, he has aided much in the development and progress of the agricultural interests and his many excellent traits of character have won for him a host of friends.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.