John Gunter

From Cherokee historian Kathryn Forbes:

Catherine married a man named John Gunter, about 1795. They had seven children: Samuel, Aky, Martha, Edward, Elizabeth, John, and Catherine. Gunter was described by Starr as Welsh. Among other enterprises he owned a powder mill at Creek Path and became a very wealthy man. The Gunters were among the largest slave-owning families in the old Cherokee Nation (at the time of his death he held 30 slaves and their son Edward another 30). John died in 1835 was kind enough to leave a will which named his wife, Catherine, and his children.

From the English Wikipedia page for Guntersville:

Guntersville was founded by German immigrant John Gunter (1765-1835) (the great-grandfather of American humorist Will Rogers), the wealthy owner of a salt mine in the early 19th century. In order to obtain more land to mine, John struck a deal with the Cherokee tribe that inhabited the area to use in his household as servants. As part of the deal, John married the daughter (Ghe-No-He-Li, aka Katy and Cathrine) of the tribe's chief (Chief Bushyhead of the Paint Clan) [NOTE; her parentage here is not correct according to Cherokee history] and agreed to give salt to the tribe. A town sprung up next to the mine and was named after Gunter.

From http://www.redeaglejw.net/dat620.htm#12

"Catherine", Ka-Ti b ABT 1768 Cherokee Nation-East d 11 AUG 1835 Alabama, daughter of an Unknown Full Blood Cherokee and Ghi-go-ne-li, married in Cherokee Nation - East to John Gunter. He was born ABT 1770 Wales and died 28 AUG 1835 Gunterville, Marshall County, Alabama.

Their children born in Cherokee Nation East:

• Ned born in Cherokee Nation-East
• Samuel
• Aky
• Martha J. "Patsy"
• Edward
• Elizabeth
• John
• Catherine

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Research Notes

He did not have a middle name of "Lasten." Numerous web sites confuse John with his son by the same name. He did not fight in the War of 1812, his three sons did. He does not appear on the 1835 census, his son John does.

At least one online tree claims, without source, an additional child Lydia Gunter Self.

The following is fiction: According to the Gunter page {Gunter came to the great bend of the Tennessee River (near the present George Houston Bridge) around 1785, where he was fortunate to find a salt deposit. He decided to settle near the river and trade with the Indians, the majority of which were Cherokees. A Cherokee by the name of Chief Bushyhead, head of the Paint Clan, brought his beautiful 15 year old daughter, Ghe-go-he-li, to exchange for Gunter's salt. Gunter accepted the bargain and changed his bride's name to Katherine. Chief Bushyhead and Gunter signed a treaty stating "as long as the grass grows and the waters flow the Indians can have salt."}

Story of John Edward Gunter contributed by Debbie Ferguson - https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/26619594?h=38cba7

notes

From https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/gunter2-family-dna-project/abo...

We received our first Gunter DNA project test results 21 July 2005 for the John Gunter line of Guntersville, AL ancestor of Will Rogers!

We are proving GUNTER(various spellings) families for the first time in history thanks to genetic genealogy Y-DNA results with Family Tree DNA.

Y DNA:

Line01 : John GUNTER, INDIAN TRADER of Guntersville, Alabama (Yellow group)

The line of Will Rogers.

Y DNA matches for John Gunter of Guntersville, AL proving his father was John Gunter SR. John Gunter SR and wife Amy Tillotson of Chesterfield Co,VA and Guilford Co, NC. Augusta GUNTER b 1760-1770 is a perfect DNA match with John Gunter,Indian Trader Kay Gunn's research and DNA testing has proven that John Gunter SR is the ancestor. This Gunter bloodline has been established and proven for the first time in history thanks to genetic genealogy DNA testing.

comments

March 2017 from Geni member Mrs. Robbyn Kay Argilagos

"This site states that John Gunter was born in Wales and died in AL, but if I have pieced this together correctly, John's parents were John E. Gunter married to Amy Tillotson Gunther and John E. Gunter's father was Thomas Gunter b. 1700 (Chesterton, VA). Thomas' father was John Gunter b. 1679 in VA (he died in England), and his father was John Gunter b. 1624 in Kintbury England, died 1679 in VA.

Founder of Guntersville, Alabama.
He operated a general supply store and a ferry at Gunter's Landing in Marshall County.
He was an Indian trader and married the daughter of a Cherokee chief. He was a large slave owner and left a considerable fortune.

BIRTHDATE UNKNOWN. Date shown is an estimate only. Some family trees say born circa 1730, others say 1750 in North Carolina or Scotland. Date of 1730 changed to 1750 at the request of TINA LARSON (#47737858). "A Family Tree's American Tale" (2011) by Frank D. Roylance says he was "a descendant of Scottish or Welsh pioneers who settled in Virginia in the 17th century, and later moved into Halifax County, N.C." and had a brother Augustus Gunter born 1769. Alabama Pioneers (Jan. 9, 2014) by Donna R. Causey says he was born c1765. Wikipedia also gives his birth as 1765 and states that his "great-great-grandfather, of Welsh-English descent, had emigrated to the New World in 1644."

The Alabama Historical Quarterly, Fall 1947, p.413, states that he was a native of Scotland: "Among the early citizens of Alabama was John Gunter, a Scots trader who arrived in the country about 1750 or 1760. One account states that Gunter settled among the Cherokee Indians during the Revolution because of his Tory sentiments; another that he was captured by the Indians in South Carolina and brought up as a member of the Cherokee tribe. He became head man of the settlement on the south side of the Tennessee River in Marshall County, Alabama. "John Gunter is described as a man of ability and exemplary character. He married Katy, a fullblood Cherokee of the Paint Clan and a cousin of Major George Lowery, second chief of the nation. She bore three sons: Samuel, Edward, and John, and four daughters, Aky, Martha who married Hugh Henry, Elizabeth, and Catherine. Samuel married A-yo-ku; Edward married first Elsie McCoy and for his seconde wife Letitia Keys. Gunter's sons were conspicuous figures in the old Cherokee Nation and west of the Missisisppi their descendnats are influential. "The place where John Gunter located was first known as Gunter's Ferry because his son, Edward, operated a ferry on the Tennessee River as early as 1818. It was next called Gunter's village, then Guntersville and later it became Gunter's Landing. The town is about thirty-three miles southeast of Huntsville and it was an important place on the river. Flatboats were sometimes eight or ten rows deep and they were loaded with merchandise, corn, whiskey, and apples, etc." Gunter's Landing was known far and wide, as flatboats plied between the village and New Orleans. When the steamboats started running on the Tennessee they made a turbulent boom town of the place. "Backwoodsmen and Indians lived for ‘boat day' and crowded the banks …"

Pat Sproat (#46785251) (patsproat@AOL.com) writes: "Katie, a fullblood Cherokee woman of the "Paint" clan, married John Gunter who in 1814 was a powder maker. He died August 28, 1835. And Mrs. Katie Gunter died August 11, 1835. Their daughter Elizabeth Hunt Gunter, born in September 1804, married September 22, 1831, Martin Matthew Schrimsher, born in 1806, in Blount County, Tennessee. Their son: John Gunter Schrimsher was one of the emigrants to California in 1849, but only stayed in that section for a short time, returning to the Cherokee Nation. He died in 1856. Mrs. Schrimsher died at John G. Schrimsher's home near Claremore, February 14, 1877. Their son, John Gunter Schrimsher was born August 17, 1835. He was educated at the Male Seminary, and married on September 15th, 1859, Juliette Melisno, daughter of George Washington and Elizabeth Hughes (Bell) Candy, born August 7, 1841. John G. Schrimsher settled in Cooweescoowee District before the Civil war, and represented that district in the Confederate Council from 1862 to 1866. He was a Captain in the Confederate service and at the close of the Civil war in 1867, was Sheriff of Cooweescoowee District; and was elected to the same office in 1877. He was elected Senator of Cooweescoowee District in 1870 and 1883; and was elected a delegate to Washington in 1883 and 1885. Was elected Judge of Cooweescoowee District in 1893. and Senator from the same District in 1897. He was killed by lightning on the morning of July 5, 1905. "Mr. and Mrs. Schrimsher were the parents of Sarah Catherine, who married William Edward Sanders; Elizabeth Bell who married Stephen Riley Lewis; Ernest Vivian, who married Susan Phillips; Juliette Melvina Schrimsher who married Abraham Vandyke Robinson. "Mrs. Schrimsher makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Stephen Riley Lewis in Tulsa. "Mr. Schrimsher was a man of rare judgment and discernment. He was exceedingly popular as was evidenced by the number of offices to which he was elected. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity."

References

• Residence: VA, United States
• Residence: Alabama, United States
• Residence: North Carolina, USA - Between 1783 and 1932
• Residence: Hillsborough, Chatham, North Carolina - 1800
• Residence: Capt MacPhails District, Cumberland, North Carolina, United States - 1820
• Residence: Chatham, North Carolina, United States - 1840
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 13 2016, 19:12:51 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jan 3 2017, 16:04:46 UTC

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• Residence: VA, United States
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jan 11 2017, 19:26:53 UTC
• Reference: [https://www.alabamapioneers.com/biography-john-gunter-born-1765/
• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 8 2020, 2:53:05 UTC
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122602503/john-gunter