San Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN BUNCH
JOHN BUNCH.--In tracing the
history of the Bunch family we find that they are of English extraction. The
great-grandfather of our subject came from England and settled in Louisa
County, Virginia, some time in the fore part of the seventeenth century. He was
a soldier in the Revolutionary war. In that State they lived and died, with one
exception,--David Bunch, who moved to Washington County, Indiana, in 1818. His
two youngest children were born there. William, the father of our subject, was
born in Virginia in 1804. He lived in Indiana until 1854, when he moved his
family to Iowa, where he died in 1870. His first wife was Catharine McGreer, a
Kentuckian by birth, who died in 1832; by her he had four children. His second
wife was Elizabeth Barnett, who bore him three sons and two daughters. She died
in Iowa in 1888, at the age of seventy-two years.
John, the subject of this sketch, was born
in Indiana, July 23, 1826. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-two
years of age, when he went to the Mexican war, enlisting in the Second Regiment
of Indiana, and remaining in the service twelve months. After his discharge he
returned to Indiana, and worked on his father’s farm until 1850. October 3, the
same year, he went to Iowa and bought several pieces of land, making his home
there until he came to California. He was married there, March 4, 1852, to Miss
Mary F. Wallace, a native of Tennessee. April 14, 1864, he left for California;
he had a wagon drawn by an ox team, and a carriage drawn by two mules, in which
the family made the journey. They reached this State September 2, 1864. They
passed the first winter at China Camp, Tuolumne County, on what is called the
Oak Grove ranch. He came to San Joaquin County, August 8, 1865, and a year
afterward rented a place from Joe Davis, on which he stayed one year. Then he
bought the place where he now resides, moving on to it October 11. It contains
280 acres of land under the very best of improvements, situated on the county
road, running from the Eight-Mile House into the upper Sacramento road. He also
owns eighty acres almost two and a half miles east of his home place. He is one
of our most enterprising citizens, taking an interest in anything that portends
to the public good. He has made a success in this State, which can be
attributed to his own good management and business ideas.
His family consists of nine children,
namely: Sarah F., Mary E., Charles P., David M., Ann Virginia, Julia C., Joseph
W., Ida and Thomas.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Page 564. Lewis Pub. Co.
Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Genealogy Databases