Person:Daniel Gunn (14)

Daniel R. Gunn was born 25 August 1839 in Lorain County Ohio. He moved to Michigan sometime before 1864. Some of his pension papers say he was 5'8" tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and light. Another paper says he was 5'7" tall, light complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. In Feb. 1864 he was living in Easton Township, Ionia County and is listed as being a farmer.

On leap year day 1864 he volunteered for the 21st Michigan Infantry in Grand Rapids, Michigan for 3 years. He was paid also a $60 bounty pay. He joined the 21st at Chattanooga, Tennessee on 7 April 1864. On 19 March 1865, while fighting in one of the last battles of the civil war at Bentonville, NC, Daniel took a mini-ball in his left arm, breaking it. The 21st had been digging fox holes when the battle began. Daniel was taken to the Union hospital, a nearby farm house that was converted into a hospital. His left arm was amputated near the shoulder. Daniel was transferred to a hospital in Goldsboro N. C. and was discharged because of disability on 12 June 1865. On the 12th of September he applied for a disability pension which was approved on the 14th of September for $8 per month. On 1 August 1866 Daniel applied and later received an increase in his pension, his address was Easton Township, Ionia County, Michigan. On 15 August his pension was increased to $15 per month.

On 10 September 1869 he sold land to his brother Stephen J Gunn in Ottawa County. At this time it lists Daniel as living in Easton Township, Ionia County. Nothing more is known about Daniel except that he is buried next to his brother Jacob's wife Sarah Ann, in Lake Forest Cemetery in Grand Haven, Michigan. Cemetery records seem to be lost for that section that might tell the year that he died.

There was a Daniel R. Gunn that attended Michigan State Agricultural College, listed on the 1870 census. The college Daniel was also born in Ohio, but is listed as 29 years old instead of 31 years old. That is only a slight difference, but would a one arm man attend college in the 1870s? He might, if he could no longer farm. In a scrap book in Grand Haven Library a record was found of all Civil War Vets buried at Lake Forest Cemetery. They have listed a Daniel R. Gunn, age 37 years. Since the cemetery records for the section he is buried in are lost, it was impossible to find a date of burial. If he was 37 years old when he died that would mean he died around 1876-77. [Bob Nordstrand]

1850 Census:
Name: Daniel Gunn
Age: 11
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1839
Birth Place: Ohio
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Blackriver, Lorain, Ohio
Household Members:
Steven Gunn 52
Margarett Gunn 46
Jacob Gunn 19
Ellen Gunn 15
Daniel Gunn 11
Steven Gunn 8
Josephine Gunn 6

Name: Daniel R Gunn
Age at enlistment: 24
Enlistment Date: 29 Feb 1864
Rank at enlistment: Private
Enlistment Place: Grand Rapids, MI
State Served: Michigan
Was Wounded?: Yes
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Enlisted in Company A, Michigan 21st Infantry Regiment on 01 Mar 1864.
Mustered out on 12 Jun 1865.
Birth Date: abt 1840
Source: Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers 1861-65. The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War

1870 Census:
Name: Daniel R Gunn
Birth Year: abt 1841
Age in 1870: 29
Birthplace: Ohio
Home in 1870: Meridian, Ingham, Michigan
He is an resident in some kind of facility with a large number of other residents, most of whom are "at school". The list contains the names of 32 white males, all of whom attended school within the last year. This facility may be a college.