Our blogs have concluded up to this point on the children of William and Nancy (Rice) Gunder, the Founder of Arcanum. However, in researching the children of The Founder, we found more information about the Founder’s parents and siblings through the research of Wayne Gunder on Find A Grave, web site. We also found one more child on the Founder which we have already shared. See past blogs.
Wayne knew our Bill Gunder before Bill’s passing in 2015. They had corresponded about the Gunder family and Bill was working on his Gunder family line in regards to updating the history since the writing of the book “The Secret Town” written in 1999. By the way, this book is available for purchase at AWTHS or though our web site, awths.org under publications. It may also be viewed at AWTHS Research Library during open hours or by appointment, [email protected]. Please note this is our new email to use for research or appointment questions at AWTHS.
If you view the Find a Grave web site, you can see William’s parents and siblings and look at each of their families. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/237971493/peter-gunder. If you have read the story of the Gunder’s and the Founding of Arcanum, and then study Wayne’s research, you will note that there has been some changes from the book regarding William’s parents. The tree mentions Peter as the father of William. Also, in Bill’s book, there is little mention of the Founder’s siblings. While we encourage each researcher to study the documents and do your own research, we also respect each researcher’s opinion and research. We are just noting this as some may note that Find a Grave and Wayne Gunder’s information is different than our Bill Gunder’s book. Wayne has also given access to AWTHS for his Ancestry tree on the Gunder’s.
The following is from Find-A-Grave web site and is written by Wayne Gunder. Credit is to be given to these sources.
Peter Gunder, Sr.
The Peter Gunder, Sr. family, lived in northeastern York County, in Newberry Township. Newberry Township was organized in 1742 and included what is now Fairview Township, just to the north, until 1803, when that township was established. Both counties were part of Lancaster County, until York County was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster County.
By 1798, Peter had moved to the adjacent Cumberland County and had been operating a 30′ x 26′ wooden grist mill, a saw mill, and an oil mill. A gristmill grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. A saw mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. An oil mill is a grinding mill designed to crush or bruise oil-bearing seeds, such as linseed or peanuts, or other oil-rich vegetable material.
Soon after the birth of his eighth child in 1802, the Peter Gunder, Sr. family made their way to what is now Wheeling, West Virginia and continued on what is called “Zane’s Trace”, constructed during 1796 and 1797. This road ran from Wheeling, Virginia (now Wheeling, West Virginia) to Maysville, Kentucky on the Ohio River. Along this path, turning south at Lancaster, Ohio, they settled in Bern Township in Fairfield County, Ohio.
Almost all of the children were married in Fairfield County, Ohio, except Daniel: Catharine Kitty Gunder in 1806 to Henry Bixler; Mary Polly Gunder in 1807 to Sebastian Carpenter; Barbara Gunder in 1812 toJacob Notestine; Henry E Gunder in 1814 to Elizabeth Francisco; Peter Gunder in1815 to Elizabeth Beery; Elizabeth Betsey Gunder in 1816 to Massey Clymer; William Gunder to Nancy Rice in 1821; and finally Daniel Gunder in 1832 to Mary Rhodes in nearby Hocking County, Ohio. (Note: I am going to try and locate William’s (Founder) marriage record). If anyone would like to assist researching Fairfield County, OH please contact Annette Stewart or use the research email at AWTHS.
Peter Gunder, Sr.’s wife, Susan, passed away by 1826. He remarried in 1827 to Sarah Prentice, maiden name of Bansar, in Fairfield County, Ohio. However, this marriage was short lived, because Peter died in January of 1830 and his will was filed on February 1st, 1830, in Bern Township of Fairfield County, Ohio.
His wife Susan, would remarried again in 1837, to Obadiah Clark.
By Wayne R Gunder
We will have more blogs on Peter’s children. We also came across information on another of The Founders children which we have already ran and is in our blog archive.
Please follow AWTHS blog copyrights as well as Find-A-Grave and Wayne Gunder’s personal research credit.