San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN BUNCH
At his San Joaquin County home, on
June 4, 1904, John Bunch surrendered the duties of life and passed to his
reward, having completed almost forty years residence in the county. During those years he was one of the most
prominent ranchers and esteemed citizens of this section of the state. His life was one of industry, thrift and
honest toil, from the years of youth until he had reached the Psalmist’s span
of allotted years. Besides a worthy
family of sons and daughters, he left his aged widow to enjoy a few years
longer the comforts which their united efforts for many years had
accomplished. She passed away at the
home of her daughter, Mrs. Grosclose, at Linden,
California, on March 30, 1920, surrounded by her devoted family.
Born in Washington County, Indiana,
July 23, 1826, John Bunch was a son of William and Catherine (McGrew)
Bunch. His mother dying when he was four
years old, he was reared to his majority in his native county, receiving such
educational advantages as the pioneer school equipment of the time and locality
afforded. He was at the time of his
death one of the few surviving veterans of the Mexican War, having enlisted for
that service and having taken part in the battle of Buena Vista, as also in
some minor engagements. On his return from
war he remained with his father near Salem, Indiana, for some time, and then
went out to the new state of Iowa and located in Davis County, where he was
engaged in farming and stockraising until he came to California. In connection with his other regular pursuits
in Iowa, he also for a time conducted a steam saw and grist mill. His father, William Bunch, was born in
Virginia in 1804, where his English ancestors had settled in the seventeenth
century. In 1854 he removed to Indiana
and still later to Iowa, where he passed away in 1870.
On March 4, 1852, John Bunch was
married to Miss Mary F. Wallace, who was born near Nashville, Tennessee,
December 13, 1829, a daughter of John N. and Sarah E. (Hamilton) Wallace, her
father a native of South Carolina and her mother of Kentucky. In infancy she was taken by her parents from
Tennessee to Randolph County, Missouri, where she lived and was reared to the
age of fifteen. The family then removed
to Platte County, Missouri, and made their home there until they settled in
Davis County, Iowa, in 1851. John Bunch
and wife had nine children: Sarah F., wife
of J. Lefflet; Mary E., wife of John A. Swain, of San
Joaquin County; Charles F.; David M., deceased; Ann V., wife of Florin C.
Swain, of San Joaquin County; Julia C. who became the wife of the late James G.
Russell, but is now the wife of Davis Grosclose,
farmer and stockman at Linden; Joseph W., of San Joaquin County; Ida D., wife
of George Sayles, and Thomas who died July 18, 1906. In 1864 John Bunch brought his family across
the plains to California, driving ox and mule teams; and after a short time
spent in Tuolumne County he moved to San Joaquin County in 1865, where he
rented a ranch from Joe Davis, which he farmed for one year, and then he bought
280 acres running from the Eight-mile House to the upper Sacramento Road. He also owned eighty acres two and a half
miles east, where he continued his activity until his death. For many years he was a trustee of the Davis
School District, and he was noted for his loyal support of all public
institutions and enterprises. He was a
member of the Methodist Church South of Stockton, in which for a number of
years he served as steward. For forty
years John Bunch held the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens in this
part of the state, and stood for uplift and civic betterment in his
community. He was a successful
businessman, a good manager and financier, and was always reckoned as one of
the substantial men of the county.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
839. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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