Mary Christian 'Ann' Gunn

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83609163/maryann-christian-gunn

There is uncertainty about who was the wife of Jasper Gunn. I am going with this theory: The "Ann" Gunn on the Defense (two years younger) is a shortening of "Christian" and is the same person as "Mary". Christian may have been a middle name or her maiden name.

Jasper and Christian - or Mary - or both - had 6 children:

- Samuel Gunn, born 1635 in Roxbury, MA, died 1699. Married Hannah Sanford in 1690.

- Jobamah Gunn, born 1637 in Roxbury, MA, died 1716. Married Mary Bristol in 1689. Jobamah was the 3rd great-grandfather of Mr. Frederick William Gunn b: 04 October, 1816 , Connecticut Achievement: Founder and 1st Master of the Gunnery School

- Daniel Gunn, born 1639 in Roxbury, MA, died 1690. Married Deborah Coleman in 1672.

- Nathaniel Gunn, born c 1640 in CT, died 1663 in Branford, CT. Married Sarah Dayon 17 Nov 1658 in CT. (our line)

- Mehitable Gunn, born 24 May 1641 in Milford, CT., died 1730 in Milford, CT. Married Benjamin(e) Fenn on 21 Dec 1660 in Milford, CT.

- Abel Gunn, born 19 Jun 1643 in Milford, CT., died 1688 in Derby, CT. Married Mary Smith on 29 Oct 1666 in Milford, CT.

more at http://www.kengunn.com/genealogy/jaspwho.htm

Will of Christian Gunn, Widow of Jasper Gunn: 1690

Widdow Gun: The last will & Testamt of Christian Gun of Milford in the colony of Connecticutt in New-England, having peffect (illegible) and understanding Doe bequeath my soule into the hands of Jesus Christ my redeemer & my body to the earth to be decently buried according to the Discretion of my children.

Item: I give unto my son Jobamah Gun my bed & bolster which I made since I was left a widdow. - Item: I give to my son Daniell Gun the sum of thirty shillings to be paid by my execut or, Alsoe a kersye wascoat & linsye woolsey petticoat to his wife./ - It: I give to my grandchild Samll Gun son of Jobamah Gun one acre of my homelott which he is possessed of halfe of it already & the other halfe is to join unto it & in case he Dye without issue then the sd lott to returne to his brother Nathaniell./ Item: I give unto my grandchildren Benjamin & Joseph ffen ten shillings apiece to buy two bibles which I have done myselfe for them & Delivered them./ It: I give unto my grandchild Samll Gun son of Nathaniell Gun of Hatfield, a silver spoone, a holland pillow (illegible), a pincushin & purse all which I have Delivered already to him/ - Item: I give unto my grandchild Christian Gun daughter of Jobamah Gun the sume of forty shillings, to be payd by my executor when shee comes to the age of eighteen yeares, or at her marriage, & my least box/ - It: I give to my daughter Campe namely Mehetabell one payr of my best sheets, my best searge suit & my best stuffe petticoat, my best cloak & hood to it, my biggest box & my Bible, & my best hatt & my red cloath petticoat./ - It: I give to my daughter Mary, wife to Jobamah Gun a linsey woolsey petticoate & some linnen which I shall lay by for her./ - It: I give to my grandchildren Hanah ffen, Martha ffen & Susannah ffen some linen & other things which I shall lay by for their mother to distribute to them./ It: I give to my grandchildren Elizabeth Gun & Sarah Gun each of them a sheet/ - It: My will is, that my son Samuell Gun shall have all the rest of what Estate I have in land, or other things, he paying & Delivering the aforementioned particulars, according as I have mentioned them, and Doe hereby constitute & appoint him to be my executor of this my last will./ - Alsoe my will is, that in case my son Samuell Gun should Dye & leave noe posteritie of his owne behind, that the land which I have given him shal return to my son Jobamahs children to be Disposed amongst them, & Distributed by my sone Jobamah amongst them according to his best discretion, they paying out of it ten pounds to my daughter Mehetabells children. Item: My will is, that whereas my son Daniell was by my husbands will to allow me a sume of money yearly, which he hath failed of paymt; my will is that neither my executor, nor noe other shall come upon him, nor trouble him for it during the sd Daniell Guns life, but if it please god to take Daniell away & he leaves an estate, I leave it to the Discretion of my Executor to deale in that matter as he may see cause. ffor the confirmation of this my last will & testamt I have hereunto sett my hand & seale this 6th day of May one thousand six hundred & ninetye.

Christian + Gun

her marke (Seal)

Signed, sealed in the presence of Alexr Brijan, Samll Bryan

The complete inventory, taken by Nathan Briscoe and Elnathan Botsford, "Prizeors" on "31th Oct 1690". The estate amounted to 56-4-6.

See New Haven Probate records, Vol. II, page 88 old numbering or page 69 new numbering.

The opinion of Ken Gunn on the name:

My Opinion: Its "Christian Mary Gunn"

The following is my opinion regarding the information that I have seen with regard to Who was Jasper Gunn's wife. Anne, Mary or Christian.

The name Anne appears only once, the Ship Defence manifest. I believe that this is most likely an error by the recorder of the manifest, perhaps transposing Anne from Christian. This is also the opinion that I read once in another document regarding Jasper Gunns wifes' name. Also, I do not believe that Anne was his sister. This due to the birth of their first child in 1635, it is most likely that this person on the ship listed as Anne was expecting a child during the voyage.

With this I eliminate the name Anne as a possibility.

The name Mary appears in several places including church records in Roxbury, MA, Hartford, CT and Milford, CT. And, it is also the name on the memorial bridge stone for Jasper in Milford, CT.

The name Christian appears in her Last Will and Testament. Clearly this is the widdow of Jasper Gunn according to the document. But why the name Christian?

Comparing both Jasper's and Christian's wills, we see that both refer to the same children as their sons and daughters with two exceptions. Jasper does not make reference to Nathanial in his will, while Christian does not make reference to Abel. Jobamah, Mehetable, Daniel and Samuel are mentioned in both wills.

Abel died in 1688 and was not mentioned by Christian in her will while Nathanial died in 1662/1663 prior to Jasper or Christian's deaths, was not mentioned in Jasper's will, but was mentioned in Christian's will? Christian makes reference to Nathanial twice, first where she gives land to Jobamah, but if Jobamah is deceased then the land is to go to his brother Nathanial. Second she gives several personal items to Samll who is the son of Nathanial of Hatfield, MA (which is OUR Nathanial because that is where he lived). Perhaps she meant that in case Jobamah was deceased that the land was to go to Nathanial's heirs? Best guess I have at the moment.

Christian also, I believe, clearly indicates in her will that she prepared it after Jasper's death. She indicates she is the "widdow Gun" and also refers to a bed & bolster that she made since she was left a widdow. Also, she also asks that other family members not be upset with Daniell who apparently did not follow Jaspers' wishes and provide her with some support after Jaspers death.

Despite a few puzzling items in the documents, this leads me to believe that they were married to one another ONLY and neither had another spouse. Some have said that perhaps Anne was his first wife, then he remarried. I don't think so. Samuel their first child was born in 1635 in Roxbury, MA. This is the year they landed in the US, records indicate they were in Roxbury and both Jasper and Christian reference their son Samuel in their wills. They did not land until Oct 1635 so it is very likely that Jasper and Christian were expecting a child during their voyage to the US.

As was the custom in those days, female children were often named after their mother first, then their grandmother. Jobamah had one daughter named Mary and another named Christian. Jobamah's wife was Mary Bristol, so a daughter named Mary and a daughter named Christian would have pleased both the mother and grandmother if this is true. And, it also is noted that in her will Christian seemed to favor Jobamah. Also noted in Christian's will is the fond reference she makes regarding Mary as she refers to her as "her daughter".

Our theory after reviewing all available documents is that Mary and Christian are ONE AND THE SAME. What we will probably never resolve is was it? MARY CHRISTIAN or CHRISTIAN MARY. Several things to consider are, perhaps she preferred to use the name CHRISTIAN. Noted in her will, she refers to her daughter Mehetabell as Campe. So it appears others were referred to by other than their given name. And, note is taken of the way her will begins: "bequeath my soule into the hands of Jesus Christ my redeemer". Could she have preferred the name Christian because of her deep religious beliefs? Did Jasper refer to her as Mary rather than Christian. The men were the keepers of the documents exclusively in those days, maybe Jasper is the source of this confusion. I can see my wife nodding her head yes about now. And, keeping in mind the name Anne that appeared on the ship manifest, surely Anne could not be mistaken for the name Mary?

But, one would think that on matters of importance such as Church records, and her Will, both which she should have been aware of as they were created while she was alive, that these documents would bear the correct name. The memorial stone though is another issue as I am not aware of when it was created. It may have been created after both Jasper and her deaths.

My personal opinion is that her given name was Christian Mary Gunn. A grandchild was named Christian and she signed her will, made out in the name Christian with the signature Christian. The will she alone had control over and in my opinion is the one true authentic document signed by her.

One piece of information in the documents we have does cause some confusion and will likely never be resolved. The reference that Mary left the church in Milford for Hatfield, MA which is where Nathanial lived. Of course this could be an error, or if true it was done for a period of time (for whatever reason (temporary separation from Jasper, needed in Hatfield by Nathanial and his family, or?) and maybe she later rejoined the church but no record has been found to indicate that she rejoined. Or she may simply have quit the church for other reasons.

Thank you for reading this. It was written simply to generate some interest in resolving this issue, offered as my opinion and as an open invitation to others to comment as they please. All of the documents, the article on Jasper Gunn in the Milford Medical Society book and both their wills are available at this site for review.

Ken Gunn 7/5/96

Per CC Baldwin's records regarding the Will of Richard Baldwin, of Cholesbury; Mary, and her dau Mary and two other children children, were remembered in his will dated May 23,1630.

She was living at that point in time, with husband and three children.. Whether she also emmigrated to America or not has not yet been determined.

• The Baldwin Genealogy 500-1881, by CC Baldwin pg. 23
• The Scott Genealogy, by Mary Lovering Holman, pg. 249.
• http://www.burrcook.com/history/Baldwin.html
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hwbradley/aqwg260...
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~whosefamilyisit/b...

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http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/o/p/Sandra-Popiel/FILE...

GEDCOM Source

Age: 90-91

GEDCOM Source

Age: 27-28

GEDCOM Source

MH:S500003 Cromer Web Site Susan Cromer MyHeritage family tree Family site: Cromer Web Site Family tree: 570626171-2 https://www.myheritage.com/person-1501700_364482741_364482741/mary-... Event: Smart Matching Role: 1:364482741-1-501700:0 Individual added by confirming a Smart Match

GEDCOM Source

Age: 96-97

GEDCOM Source

Age: 1

GEDCOM Source

MH:S500003 Cromer Web Site Susan Cromer MyHeritage family tree Family site: Cromer Web Site Family tree: 570626171-2 https://www.myheritage.com/person-1501696_364482741_364482741/chris... Event: Smart Matching Role: 1:364482741-1-501696:0 Individual added by confirming a Smart Match

GEDCOM Note

Biography ==Birth date of 1608 is a guess, based on parents' marriage date (1598) and birth order (fifth).

She is the daughter of Richard Baldwin and Isabell Harding. <ref>Entered by Tayler Mccormick, Jun 19, 2013</ref>

Mentioned in her fathers will in 1633, along with her daughter Mary and 2 other children not named.<ref>Entered by Katie Pyle.</ref>

Sources

• Chester, Joseph Lemuel (1884). "Investigations concerning the BaldwinFamily of Aston Clinton, co., Bucks.
• Baldwin, Charles Candee.<i>The Baldwin Genealogy From 1500 To 1881</i>(The Leader Printing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1881)

Footnotes

<references />