Dr. Jasper Gunn

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83609149/jasper-gunn

Dr. Jasper Gunn Physician, Freeman (1607 - 1670)

In the year 1635, Jasper Gunn took passage upon the ship ‘Defence,’ which sailed from London on the 14th of July. The London Custom House recorded his name as “Goun.” The ship log listed him as being 29 years old and it also listed an Ann Goun age 25, who this woman is and her relationship to Jasper is unknown. Perhaps her name of Christian was shorted to Ann. The ship ‘Defence’ arrived in Boston harbor on the 8th of October 1635.4

Roxbury, Massachusetts is where Jasper first chose to settle. At a General Court held in Boston on the 25th of May 1636, Jasper Gunn of Roxbury, was given the privilege of being a freeman upon his taking the “Oath of a Freeman.” He was thus granted 5 1/2 acres of land in Roxbury in 1639 and a member of the church there. In this same year of 1639 he was given (as a freeplanter) lot #24 in the town of Milford, Connecticut Colony.

Here at Milford, Jasper Gunn became a man of importance to the small community. He was the town’s first physician.5 But to help support himself he also was a mender of brass and copper pots, a schoolmaster, a sealer of weights and measures, and a deacon in the local church.6

But by 1647, Jasper had removed himself to the Hartford Colony. At Hartford he continued his medical practice as well as his other specialties and added the operation of a mill to his list of talents. While operator of this mill he was excused from “watching and warding,” which would be standing watch (in the local train band, better known as the militia) as a sentry against Indians.

While living in Hartford Jasper kept an account book. This book was mostly written in a short-hand that he invented to keep his medical notes. This account book is to be found at the Watkinson Library at Trinity College in Hartford. A General Court licensed Jasper to practice his skills of “physisicke” on the 21st day of May 1657.

Upon the Gunn’s return to Milford sometime around 1659 from Hartford, they received land from the town, and in the following year of 1660. Other years where land was recorded are 1639, 1646 and 1649.

Jasper was also a deacon in the second church of New Haven Colony, went to New Amsterdam in 1661 to talk with officials.. He is also credited as having taught school at Milford.7

In the year of 1661, Jasper tried his hand at being a lawyer by representing Joanna Prudden of Milford at the New Haven Colony court in May against the plaintiff John Davenport in an argument over the ownership of a horse. Davenport won.

Although the colony at Milford, Connecticut had been in existence for over thirty years, still the people who were buried there were so done with no gravestones to mark their resting place. The purpose in this was so that the Indians couldn’t count the stones to formulate the size of the population. Thus, Jasper Gunn’s burial place is unknown. But he died at Milford on the 12th of January 1670/1671.

But who was Jasper’s wife? In a book on the early families of Milford, author Susan Abbott, writes that her name was Christian. In the Probate Court of New Haven can be found the will for a Christian Gunn, widow. This will lists the same names for children as does the will of Jasper Gunn. Pretty strong evidence to discredit. But a discrepancy comes up in the church records who have recorded the name of Mary as the wife of Jasper Gunn. Perhaps her name was Christian Mary. Yet Susan Abbott suggests that the register for the ship Defense, may have abbreviated the name Christian to Anne, which would account for who the Anne Goun is on the ship log. This last theory is probably correct since the couple arrived in October 1635 and the birth of their first son, Samuel, is listed as 1635. Christian is believed to have died in October of 1690 in Milford.

Jasper and Christian (???) Gunn had six children.8

CHILDREN

1. Samuel Gunn - Born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1635. Married to Hannah Sanford, she was 36 years his junior. Died in Milford 1699.
2. Jobamah Gunn - Born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1637. Married 1st on 30 October 1663, Sarah Lane; 2nd to Mary Bristol about 1689. Died 1715 / 1717 in Milford. (Please see Lane family history at end of this history.)
3. Daniel Gunn - Born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1639, baptized September 1645, in Milford. Married Deborah Coleman. Died in 1690.
4. Nathaniel Gunn - Born at Milford, Connecticut, in 1640. Married on 17 November 1658, to Sarah Day. Died 1662 / 1663. One child. Sarah remarried to Samuel Kellogg. Family removed to Massachusetts where on 19 September 1677, she was killed by Indians.
5. Mehitable Gunn - Baptized on 2 or 24 May 1641, at Milford, Connecticut. Married first Benjamin Fenn on 21 December 1660, married secondly Nicholas Camp.
6. Abel Gunn - Baptized 19 June 1643 at Milford Connecticut. Married on 29 October 1666, to Mary Smith. Died at Derby, Connecticut in 1688. He was the first town clerk of Derby from 1665/1666 to 1690. Being childless, he gave his lands to his nephew and namesake Abel, son of Jobamah.

ENDNOTES

1 Mark Rugg Gunn, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., History of the Clan Gunn. (Glasgow, Scotland: Alex. MacLaren & Sons) (FHL-USA/CAN 929.241 G956a.)

2 The family records of Lois Chase Milne, of Brecksville, Ohio, letter to Garry Bryant, 29 November 1989; Lois C. Milne, “Letter to the Editor,” Gunn Salute. July/August 1988, Clan Gunn Society of North America.

3 The records of Richard N. Platt, Jr., of Milford, Connecticut, letter to Garry Bryant, 12 November 1989.

4 Susan Woodruff Abbott, Families of Early Milford, Connecticut. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1979) Pp. 316-328. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.67/M2 D2a.)

5 Morris Abbott, Medical Men of Milford. Pp. 15-22 & 36-39. (Photo copies of book from Platt to Garry Bryant, 12 November 1989.)

6 Sue Morten O’Brien,compiler, The Register of Americans of Prominent Descent. Volume I. (Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Morten Publishing Co., Inc.) Pp. 453-455, “Dr. Jasper Gunn.” (FHL-USA/CAN 973.D2os V. 1.)

7 Isabel MacBeath Calder, The New Haven Colony. (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1934) Pp. 47, 74, 87, 133, 156 & 218. (BYU-HBLL F 98.C26.)

8 Samuel Orcutt & Ambrose Beardsley, M.D., Old Town of Derby, Connecticut. (Springfield, Massachusetts: Springfield Printing Co., 1880) Page 723. (FHL-USA/CAN BOOK 97467/D1 H2o.)

____________________________________________________

According to Abbot (see more detailed description on pp. 316-317) Jasper Gunn arrived in Boston Mass. on October 8, 1635 in the ship "Defense" that sailed from London July 14, 1635 when he was 29 years old. The name of his wife was unclear from the ship records. He settled in Roxbury, Mass. and on 25 May 1636 was made a freeman. He was Milford's first physician, a mender of brass and copper vessels, schoolmaster, sealer of weights and measures, a deacon of the church and generally a man of importance in the community. (Evidently a physician had to have other means to support himself). He moved about 1647 to Hartford, CT where he continued his medical and other activities and also operated a mill. He stayed there until about 1659 when he went to New Haven or back to Milford. His will was probated in New Haven. The town of Milford gave Jasper Gunn land on several occasions, 1639, 1646, 1649, 1659, 1660 and possibly at other times.

Jasper Gunn was a Deputy from Milford to the New Haven Legislature, May 1663.

Gloria Trommler from Terre Hill, PA sent me an e-mail letter regarding the family of Jasper Gunn written by Garry Bryant, Clan Gunn member 11/30/97. "In 1989, The Gun Salute, newsletter of the Clan Gunn Society of North America, had an article by Lois Chase Milne who is also a descendant. I wrote to her and at length she sent to me her research findings. She states that Jasper's christening has been found, located at Great Burstead, England, dated 9 August 1607. He was the fifth of six children, the only boy. His parents were Henry Gunne and wife Sarah. The clue to this was a child that sailed on their ship 'The Defence' in 1635, named Phebe Maulder. Phebe's christening record is also located in the same parish. However, Milne does believe the Gunnes were a few generations removed from Scotland, where many Jasper Gunns are found in records of this time period."

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The following is from the:

"Medical Men of Milford", compiled by Morris W. Abbott. The Milford Medical Society, Milford, CT 1965.

Jasper Gunn

Not a great deal of information has come from the old records about Milford's first physician and schoolmaster, or at least not as much as one could wish. Possibly the compiler will have used more space for Dr. Gunn than his medical services to the folk of Milford justify, but, after all, he was the first. It has been extremely difficult to follow his movements, and more research may be in order.

The popular belief is that he came to Milford in 1639, with his wife Mary, as one of the first settlers. On the other hand, the records contain little or nothing to show that he was physically present in Milford that early, or at best show that he was here, then removed to Hartford, where he remained for some years.

He was allotted 3 roods (3/4 acre) of land, Lot No. 24, in 1639, bounded by the present Factory Lane, New Haven Ave., the harbor and the Wepawaug River. This was less than most settlers were given. He was appointed sealer of weights and measures, and was one of the "Court" or committee empowered to allot land to the settlers. It therefore seems that he must have been in Milford for a time.

But there are other and older records. He came from England to Boston in the ship "Defence" in 1635, when he was 29, with Ann, aged 25. Who was Ann? Possibly his wife, but, as she does not appear in the records again, it seems more likely that she was his younger sister.

He then settled in Roxbury, near Boston, and was made a "freeman" of that place at a General Court or assembly held in Boston 25 May 1636. In 1639, the same year he was granted land in Milford, he was alloted 5 1/2 acres at Roxbury and was a member of the church there. One authority says that two of his children were baptised in Roxbury, yet the existing vital records of that town show no Gunn births, baptisms, marriages or deaths, nor are there any in the "Report of the Record Commission, containing Roxbury Land and Church Records" (Boston 1881).

Savage, in his "Genealogical Dictionary" (1860) says that "after ten years he removed to Hartford (from Roxbury), there was a physician some time, and, after 1657, removed to Milford, where, by a heedless reading of the records, one might think he lived 18 years before".

Jasper Gunn's name comes into the records of Hartford several times. In 1648 he lost a damage suit in court, on 13 Sep 1649 Jasper Gunn "of Hartford" was excused from military service "during the time he attends the service of the mill", and again in 1657 "during his practise of phissicke". When the General Court at Hartford on 21 May 1657 licensed him to practise "phissicke", his place of residence was not mentioned. His name does not appear in the records of the New Haven Colony before 1661.

In the library of Trinity College, Hartford, is a small book, an almanac for the year 1652, in which Jasper Gunn kept some patients' and customers' accounts and a lot of medical notes, much of the last in shorthand. Along with charges for repairing brass kettles are charges for medicine and services. The shorthand served, no doubt, to protect the secrets of his trade.

Much of the writing is difficult for the modern reader, including the compiler, but one of the simpler accounts reads as follows, the figures being the charges in shillings and pence:

Mr. Wells, 32-00

for mend a ketle, 0-6

for his maide for 6 doses of El (Electuary?), 3-0

for on doss (i.e. 1 dose) of pills, 1-0

for 3 Journiees, 3-0

Reconed with Mr. Wells Apr: 4: 57: Due to me, 22-0

If the reader suffereth from a "Rhume" let him try the following do-it-thyself remedy, which appears in the almanac in Gunn's handwriting.

"To Draw Rhume back from ye Eyes. Rost an Eg hard: Lay it hot to the nape of the Neck."

This almanac contained many blank pages, and was used later by his son Abel, who was an early settler of Derby and helped survey land there, from whom the little book descended to Josiah Nettleton of Oxford (described as "a descendant of Dr. James Gunn of Derby, son of Dr. James Gunn of Hartford"), who gave it to Dr. Hosea Dutton (father of Milford's Dr. Thomas A. Dutton), who in his turn gave it in 1825 to Washington (now Trinity) College of Hartford. The accounts in the almanac contain no names of Milford people, which surely indicates tht he was in Hartford and not in Milford those years.

Jasper Gunn and his wife Mary were admitted to the church in Milford 25 Apr 1641 "having been dismissed by the church at Hertford". On the same page are recorded the baptisms of their children Mehetable and Abel on 2 May 1641 and 19 Jun 1643, respectively. Mary was later (date not given) "dismissed" to the church at Hatfield, MA., where Nathaniel Gunn had gone to live.

The Rev. Mr. Scranton's "Notes" say that in 1643 Jasper Gunn and others were appointed judges to be a court to divide the land and admit inhabitants into the plantation, and, further, that they (meaning the settler of Milford), "when they came over to this country, brought over a physcian (sic) with them, Mr. Jasper Gunn".

That he was a respected member of the church in Milford is evidenced by their making him a deacon in later years. The early records of New Haven Colony state that in October 1661 he acted as attorney for Mrs. Joanna Prudden in a matter having to do with a cow she was alleged to have taken unto herself without due process. As the record puts it, "Deacon Gunn of Milford ppounded (i.e., propounded) for Mrs. Pruden".

In 1663 he was a deputy (representative) to the General Court of New Haven Colony, from Milford.

No matter where he was living, the Town of Milford gave him land on several occasions, in 1639, 1643, 1646, 1649, 1659, 1660 and possibly other dates, in "the new meadow plain", "Dreadful Swamp meadow", "mill neck", "the Pond Shott", etc.

Savage could very well be right in his belief that Jasper Gunn did not come to Milford to live until 1657, but on the other hand it seems, in light of all the evidence, that he came to Milford from Roxbury, remained a few years, removed to Hartford (greener pastures?) and was induced about 1657 to return to Milford to stay. The people of Milford needed his services, we may be sure, and finally offered sufficient inducement to keep him there.

In the first volume of the land records of Milford (page 56) appears the following action by the General Court (i.e., town meeting):

"Item: Jasper Gunns land that was given to him by the town formerly being given upon this condition if he setle with us he desireing that now the expression might be soe to read. The town considering that he was come to us and had been with us some space of time and he also expressing himself that he had no thoughts to remove did grant his desire."

Punctuation is lacking and the wording not entirely clear, but it would seem to indicate that Gunn had been given land in the past on condition that he settle in Milford, but he had not done so, or had not stayed there. Now he wants to clear title to the land, having returned to Milford to stay, and the townfolk did confirm the gifts, but only after he assurred them that he had no idea of moving away.

Now for matters genealogical. It is not known where nor just when he was born or married. The church records and the Memorial Bridge stone agree that his wife was Mary, yet when he died he left a widow named Christian. Mary is thought to have gone to Hatfield, MA, but when and how did she leave the scene and Christian enter?

Jasper Gunn died in Milford 12 Jan 1670/71 (the new year began in March at that time).

---

Immigrated to the US on the Ship Defence in 1635 arriving in Boston in Oct, 1635.

Jasper Gunn is honored with a stone bearing his name on the old bridge in Milford, CT.

Was Milford, Connecticut's first physician and schoolmaster.

The popular belief is that he came to Milford in 1639, with his wife Mary, as one of the first settlers. The records contain little or nothing to show that he was physically present in Milford that early. He then moved to Hartford, where he remained for some years.

He was allotted 3 roods (3/4 acre) of land, Lot No. 24, in 1639, bounded by the present Factory Lane, New Haven Ave., the harbor and the Wepawaug River. This was less than most settlers were given. He was appointed sealer of weights and measures, and was one of the "Court" or committee empowered to allot land to the settlers. It therefore seems that he must have been in Milford for a time.

But there are other and older records. He came from England to Boston in the ship "Defence" in 1635, when he was 29, with Ann, aged 25. Ann was possibly his wife, but more likely a younger sister.

He then settled in Roxbury, near Boston, and was made a "freeman" of that place at a General Court or assembly held in Boston 25 May 1636. In 1639, the same year he was granted land in Milford, he was alloted 5 1/2 acres at Roxbury and was a member of the church there. One authority says that two of his children were baptised in Roxbury, yet the existing vital records of that town show no Gunn births, baptisms, marriages or deaths, nor are there any in the "Report of the Record Commission, containing Roxbury Land and Church Records" (Boston 1881).

Savage, in his "Genealogical Dictionary" (1860) says that "after ten years he removed to Hartford (from Roxbury), there was a physician some time, and, after 1657, removed to Milford, where, by a heedless reading of the records, one might think he lived 18 years before".

Jasper Gunn's name comes into the records of Hartford several times. In 1648 he lost a damage suit in court, on 13 Sep 1649 Jasper Gunn "of Hartford" was excused from military service "during the time he attends the service of the mill", and again in 1657 "during his practise of phissicke". When the General Court at Hartford on 21 May 1657 licensed him to practise "phissicke", his place of residence was not mentioned. His name does not appear in the records of the New Haven Colony before 1661.

In the library of Trinity College, Hartford, is a small book, an almanac for the year 1652, in which Jasper Gunn kept some patients' and customers' accounts and a lot of medical notes, much of the last in shorthand. Along with charges for repairing brass kettles are charges for medicine and services. The shorthand served, no doubt, to protect the secrets of his trade.

Much of the writing is difficult for the modern reader, including the compiler, but one of the simpler accounts reads as follows, the figures being the charges in shillings and pence:

Mr. Wells, 32-00 for mend a ketle, 0-6

for his maide for 6 doses of El (Electuary?), 3-0

for on doss (i.e. 1 dose) of pills, 1-0

for 3 Journiees, 3-0

Reconed with Mr. Wells Apr: 4: 57: Due to me, 22-0

If the reader suffereth from a "Rhume" let him try the following do-it-thyself remedy, which appears in the almanac in Gunn's handwriting.

"To Draw Rhume back from ye Eyes. Rost an Eg hard: Lay it hot to the nape of the Neck."

This almanac contained many blank pages, and was used later by his son Abel, who was an early settler of Derby and helped survey land there, from whom the little book descended to Josiah Nettleton of Oxford (described as "a descendant of Dr. James Gunn of Derby, son of Dr. James Gunn of Hartford"), who gave it to Dr. Hosea Dutton (father of Milford's Dr. Thomas A. Dutton), who in his turn gave it in 1825 to Washington (now Trinity) College of Hartford. The accounts in the almanac contain no names of Milford people, which surely indicates tht he was in Hartford and not in Milford those years.

Jasper Gunn and his wife Mary were admitted to the church in Milford 25 Apr 1641 "having been dismissed by the church at Hertford". On the same page are recorded the baptisms of their children Mehetable and Abel on 2 May 1641 and 19 Jun 1643, respectively. Mary was later (date not given) "dismissed" to the church at Hatfield, MA., where Nathaniel Gunn had gone to live.

The Rev. Mr. Scranton's "Notes" say that in 1643 Jasper Gunn and others were appointed judges to be a court to divide the land and admit inhabitants into the plantation, and, further, that they (meaning the settler of Milford), "when they came over to this country, brought over a physcian (sic) with them, Mr. Jasper Gunn".

That he was a respected member of the church in Milford is evidenced by their making him a deacon in later years. The early records of New Haven Colony state that in October 1661 he acted as attorney for Mrs. Joanna Prudden in a matter having to do with a cow she was alleged to have taken unto herself without due process. As the record puts it, "Deacon Gunn of Milford ppounded (i.e., propounded) for Mrs. Pruden".

In 1663 he was a deputy (representative) to the General Court of New Haven Colony, from Milford.

No matter where he was living, the Town of Milford gave him land on several occasions, in 1639, 1643, 1646, 1649, 1659, 1660 and possibly other dates, in "the new meadow plain", "Dreadful Swamp meadow", "mill neck", "the Pond Shott", etc.

Savage could very well be right in his belief that Jasper Gunn did not come to Milford to live until 1657, but on the other hand it seems, in light of all the evidence, that he came to Milford from Roxbury, remained a few years, removed to Hartford (greener pastures?) and was induced about 1657 to return to Milford to stay. The people of Milford needed his services, we may be sure, and finally offered sufficient inducement to keep him there.

In the first volume of the land records of Milford (page 56) appears the following action by the General Court (i.e., town meeting):

"Item: Jasper Gunns land that was given to him by the town formerly being given upon this condition if he setle with us he desireing that now the expression might be soe to read. The town considering that he was come to us and had been with us some space of time and he also expressing himself that he had no thoughts to remove did grant his desire."

Gunn may have been given land on condition that he settle in Milford, but he had not done so, or had not stayed there. Now he wants to clear title to the land, having returned to Milford to stay, and the townfolk did confirm the gifts, but only after he assurred them that he had no idea of moving away.

It is not known where nor just when he was born or married. The church records and the Memorial Bridge stone agree that his wife was Mary, yet when he died he left a widow named Christian.

Mary is thought to have gone to Hatfield, MA, but when and how did she leave the scene and Christian enter?

Jasper Gunn died in Milford 12 Jan 1670/71 (the new year began in March at that time).

Will of Jasper Gunn

The last will & Testament of Jasper Gun of Milford in ye County of Newhaven/ Impr. I give to my son Jobamah a piece of land in ye new field, it is about 40 rod long: and from his side line now brake up to ye comon ffences. I suppose ten acres more or lesse./ - It. I give to my son Abell Gun ten pounds to be payd by my executors within 5 yeares after my decease. Allso I give unto Abell my phisick chest with all phisick & chirurgery things in it: Alsoe I give unto Abell all my phisick books: In case ye sd Abel gun dyes without heyrs, my will is yt my books & check be returned back to ye rest of my sons. Alsoe I give unto Abel my best cloath cloake & ye divinity Books he hath now of mine, and one of Mr. Hookers./ It: I give unto Daniell Gun my son halfe all my lands & meadows except Dreadfull Lott & my home lott: onely my will is yt Daniell shall have a piece of my home lott two roods wider than his brother Jobamahs orchard is, all the length of my homlott from Jobamahs orchard to the further end,/ It. I give to my son Samll my house, houseing orchard, gardens, & Dreadfull lott, with halfe my other lands & meadows, equally divided between Daniell & Samuell: Alsoe, I give unto Samuell my great Bible & fowling piece, and after his Mothers decease I give unto Samuell my best feather bed with all yt belongs to it./ It. I give to my sons Daniell & Samuell all my cattle, horses, cart & all implements belonging thereunto with my tools of all sorts, I say to be equally divided between ym two./ ffurther my will is, that when them two Daniell & Samuell shall part one from another to dwell by themselves, I say my will is, that Samuell joine with Daniell in labour & charge to build him such housings as I now have. - It. My will is, that my lou wife their mother shall have her dwelling in ye house & have ye parlor at her dispose dureing her life, & abiding in the house as shee shall (illegible word)/ - It. My will is, that Daniell & Samuell my sons, shall from time to time with all love & quietnes, provide all sutable food & phisicke & what else shee needs for her life time. - It. My will is, if Daniell or Samuell Dye without heyrs, that ye estate of either of them, shall return to ye survivor or survivors of my owne body. It. My will is, yt Daniell & Samuell my sons, shalle be my sole executors: It. I give to my daughter Mehetabell ffenn, one of Mr. Hookers books & Mr. Aynsworths Comunion of saints:

My deisre is that my loving brothers Jno Smith & Joseph Pecke shalle be overseers of this my last will./ - If my wife please she shall have twenty bushell of Corne, payd to her yearely by my executors yt is 5 of wheat, 5 Rye, 5 pease 5 Indyan./

Signed and confirmed with myne owne hand this Dec 25, 1670.

Jasper Gun

John Smith, Joseph Pecke, The witnesses were sworne in Court Jan 27, 1670. Inventory 288.0.10

Benjamin ffenn, George Clarke appraisers

Richard Platt

from Marks-Platt Ancestry By Eliza J. Lines

DR. JASPER GUNN came in the Defence, 1635, aged 29; died 1670. Settled in Hartford, Conn., removed to Milford later, the Connecticut Magazine says, in an article, Early Milford, "in a little lean-to house with rent oak shingles, its small square windows divided in so many diamonds by leaded glass. Here the light burned latest in the village. Here lived one of the most honored men in the little settlement, Jasper Gunn, sealer of weights and measures 'equal to the standard used at New Haven, which was brought from the Bay'—feared by every dishonest merchant and teacher; Jasper Gunn, teacher, more or less dreaded by boys and girls in those days of harsh discipline, Jasper Gunn, physician, known as far as Hartford, and revered among the villagers. Among the memorial blocks upon the bridge is one bearing his name and that of his faithful consort, Sarah." Granddaughter Elizabeth, married Joseph Hawkins.

Speculation exists that the Father of Jasper Gunn was a Henry Gunn. Not sure if he was born in England or Scotland.

1 Mr. Henry GUNNE b: Abt. 1553

... +Ms. Sarah (GUNNE)

.. 2 Dr. Jasper GUNN b: 1609 in Highlands, Scotland d: 12 January, 1670/71 in Milford, New Haven, CT Christened: 09 August, 1607 Great Burstead, Essex, England

........ +Ms. Sarah HAWLEY

.. *2nd Wife of Jasper GUNN:

........ +Ms. Christian Mary (GUNN) b: 1610 in Highlands, Scotland d: October 1690 in Milford, New Haven, CT m: Bef. 1635 in Scotland

more speculation: Jasper Gunns gg grandparents were Daniel Gunn (grandson of George "The Crowner" Gunn) and Jane Sinclair.

Birth records list possibly brother? to Jasper Gunn:

GUNN, Thomas, m. ____; children:

Elizabeth, b. 14 Oct 1640;

Debroa, b. 21 Feb 1641;

Mehitabell, b. 28 Jul 1644;

John, b. 8 Jul 1647

Book: Some Of The Descendants Of Jasper Gunn Of Milford, CT

By Paul J. McCarthy; Volume 1, Lawrence, KS: 1997

Part 1

FIVE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS OF JASPER GUNN

THE FIRST GENERATION

Children of Jasper Gunn and Christian (___)

1. Jasper Gunn, b. in England or Scotland abt. 1606, d. at Milford, CT 12 Jan 1670/71;

m. Christian (___), b. in England or Scotland (perh.) abt. 1610, d. at Milford, CT (prob.) 

Oct 1690.

In 1635, Jasper Gunn sailed from London [England] to Boston [MA] on the ship

Defence, which left London about the end of July and arrived in Boston on 8

Oct 1635. He was 29 years old and thus was born about 1606. The passenger

list of the Defence is in Charles E. Banks' book, The Planter of the Commonwealth.

[Or can be found on the internet at Ken GUNN's home page with other information

about Jasper Gunn & his descendants.]

Jasper Gunn and his wife settled in Roxbury [CT], where their three older children

were born. About 1639, they joined a group of families from Roxbury and

Dorchester which followed Peter Prudden to the New Haven area with the idea

of forming a new colony west of New Haven. Jasper Gunn's name was on the

original list of free planters of the new colony, dated 20 Nov 1639. On 12 Feb

1639/40, land was purchased from the local Indians for the new colony, and

on 24 Nov 1640, the new colony was given the name Milford. Three more

children were born to Jasper Gunn and his wife in Milford.

Sometime around 1647, Jasper Gunn and his family removed to Hartford, and some

ten to twelve years later they returned to Milford. His name appears a number of

times in the records of land transactions in and around Hartford, and in the public

records of the Colony of Connecticut and the records of the Particular Court of

Connecticut.

Jasper Gunn was Milford's first physician, and he served in that capacity there and

in Hartford, and again in Milford. His almanac for the year 1652, in which he

recorded his accounts and remedies, has been preserved in the library of Trinity

College, Hartford. Photographs of several pages of the almanac are in Medical

Men of Milford by Morris W. Abbott.

In the early days of Milford, Jasper Gunn was the sealer of weights and measures,

and in 1642 he conducted the town's first school. At various times he was a deacon

of the Church of Milford. In 1661, he and several others visited New Amsterdam for

a meeting with the Dutch. Jasper Gunn supplemented his income as a physician in

different ways such as mending brass and copper pots, and serving as a lawyer in

at least one case. He operated the mill in Hartford, and on 13 Sep 1649, by order

of the General Court, he was "freed from watching during the time that hee (sic)

attends the service of the mill." However, on 3 Mar 1658/59, as a result of an action

brought by the Committee for the Affairs of the Hartford Mill, Jasper Gunn was ordered

to "surrender the possession of the Hartford Mill to the Committee."

There has been some debate concerning the name of Jasper Gunn's wife. However,

it is generally accepted now that her name was Christian, that Christian Gunn was his

only known wife and that she was the mother of his children. On the [ship] Defence,

Jasper Gunn was accompanied by "Mrs. Anne Gunn, age 25." It has been suggested

that the clerk who was recording the names of the passengers heard only the last

syllable of her name. In any case, Christian Gunn was Jasper Gunn's wife when he

died, and in her will she calls Jasper Gunn's children her children. Moreover, in his

will Jasper Gunn refers to her as the mother of his sons Samuel Gunn (No. 2) and

Daniel Gunn (No. 4). This is what is of real and abiding interest. The giving of Jasper

Gunn's wife's name as "Mary" in an early Milford church record is regarded as

simply a mistake.

Jasper Gunn died at Milford on 12 Jan 1670/71: the date of his death was written in

the Milford Church Records. A copy of his will, dated 24 Dec 1670 and proved 27

Jan 1670/71, is in an appendix to these notes. The inventory of his possessions,

dated 22 Jan 1670/71, gave their value to be 288 pounds and 10 pence. There is

also in the appendix a copy of the will of his widow Christian, which is extremely

difficult to read, and which is dated 6 May 1690. The inventory of her possessions,

valued at 56 pounds, 4 shillings and 6 pence, is dated 31 Oct 1690. Probably,

she died during that month.

Children of Jasper Gunn and Christian (___):

2. Samuel Gunn, b. 1635, d. 1699; m. Hannah Sanford.

3. Jobamah Gunn, b. 1637, d. 1717 or perhaps earlier; m. (1) Sarah Lane,

(2) Mary Bristol.

4. Daniel Gunn, b. 1639, d. 1690; m. Deborah Coleman.

5. Nathaniel Gunn, b. 1640, d. abt. 1664; m. Sarah Day.

6. Mehitable Gunn, bpt. 24 May 1641, d. 1730; m. (1) Benjamin Fenn 2nd,

(2) Nicholas Camp.

7. Abel Gunn, bpt. 19 Jun 1643, d. 1688; m. Mary Smith

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The Baldwin genealogy from 1500 to 1881 (1881)

Author: Baldwin, C. C. (Charles Candee), 1834-1895

Subject: Baldwin family

Publisher: Cleveland, O, [Leader printing company]

Possible copyright status: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT

Pg. 50

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SCHOOL ,MASTER-LAWYER-BOSTON LONDON - MASTER COPPER BUILDER FOR BOTTOM OF BOATS, DOCTOR,MENDER OF BOTTOM OF BOATS

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There is a question as to the identity of the wife or wives of Jasper Gunn. He is said to have married Mary and/or Christian (last name unknown). Mary and Christian could have been the same person.

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https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10109/wikitree?itemK...