My Genealogy Hound

LEWIS BUNN, Bloomington; was born September 16, 1805, on a farm in Walnut Creek Township, in Ross Co., Ohio, about four miles from the town of Delphi; his father, Peter Bunn, was a farmer and land speculator; he was a Pennsylvania German, while his mother was an English lady. Lewis Bunn was one of twenty-one children. His father was twice married; from his first marriage sprang eight children, and from his second, thirteen; Lewis was the youngest but three. He received his scanty education in a school formed by the farmers who clubbed together and hired a teacher, to whom they paid $3 or $4 per quarter and board; such a schoolmaster usually taught during the winter months and worked a farm in summer; the schoolhouses were simply log cabins; when he was 17 years old his school days ended; at the age of 18, he was sent to Chillicothe, and apprenticed for four years to learn the trade of blacksmith. He learned his trade rapidly and well, but he was not satisfied with his education, and took private lessons in his leisure moments. When his apprenticeship was ended, he moved to Clarke Co., Ohio, where he stayed three years. In 1831, he was married to Margery Haines, of Xenia, Ohio; his marriage was a happy one, and was blessed by the birth of five children, three boys and two girls, four of whom are now living— Benjamin H., Catherine R., Thomas J., William H.; his wife afterward died. In 1833, he moved to Bloomington, Ill., with his brother-in-law, Dr. Haines. Here, in 1846, he married Lucinda Blevins; by this marriage, he has had five children, all of whom are dead; when he came to Bloomington, he followed his trade and continued at it until 1859, when he retired from business; immediately upon his arrival at Bloomington, he connected with his trade the manufacture of agricultural implements, and in those days he was enabled to make this quite a profitable business. Oliver Ellsworth was for eighteen years Mr. Bunn’s partner; their plows, which they made by hand, were in great demand and were called for even from Texas; they bore the trade-mark of Bunn & Ellsworth, and are still well spoken of.