John's birth was registered in the Oct-Nov-Dec quarter of 1857 in Newent.[1]
In the 1861 census, John, age 3, was recorded as the son of Samuel Bundy in Gorsley, Linton, Newent, Herefordshire, England.[2]
Name | Relation | Status | Sex | Age | Occupation | Birth Place |
Samuel Bundy | Head | Married | M | 38 | Brick maker | Ross, Herefordshire, England |
Emma Bundy | Wife | Married | F | 33 | Wife of brick maker | Kempley, Gloucestershire, England |
Catherine Bundy | Daughter | F | 9 | Scholar | Kempley, Gloucestershire, England | |
Thomas Bundy | Son | M | 7 | Scholar | East Dean, Gloucestershire, England | |
Samuel Bundy | Son | M | 5 | Scholar | Linton, Herefordshire, England | |
John Bundy | Son | M | 3 | Linton, Herefordshire, England | ||
George Bundy | Son | M | 1 | Linton, Herefordshire, England |
In the 1871 census, John, age 13, was recorded as the servant of William Little in Coldridge, Aston Ingham, Newent, Herefordshire, England.[3]
Name | Relation | Status | Sex | Age | Occupation | Birth Place |
William Little | Head | M | 39 | Herefordshire, England | ||
Caroline Little | Wife | F | 24 | Herefordshire, England | ||
Herbert W Little | Son | M | 1 | Herefordshire, England | ||
Mary Symonds | Servant | F | 21 | Herefordshire, England | ||
John Bundy | Servant | M | 13 | Herefordshire, England |
Soon after coming of age he moved to Wales where he met his wife to be, Sarah, and became a coal miner. Other Bundy's joined him in Wales. Soon after he and Sarah moved to Streator, Illinois, where they married. He was joined there by his brother Samuel and they both worked in the mines there. John Bundy was recruited by Mr. Cherry, the developer of the Cherry Mine in Cherry, Bureau County, Illinois, to become one of the mine managers. John moved his family to Cherry when the mine opened in about 1905. The mine was one of the first coal mines with electric lighting, but the wiring had given out. While waiting for new wiring, kerosene lamps were being used. On November 13, 1909, someone parked a cart loaded with hay under a burning lamp, and the hay quickly caught fire. At first the miners didn't seem concerned, expecting the fire to quickly be put out. However, the fire soon spread to all of the wood timbers and structures inside the mine and became the worst coal mine fire in US history, killing 259 men.
John Bundy recruited 11 other volunteers to go down into the mine in the elevator cage to rescue miners. They made six trips bringing up miners. On the seventh trip down there was a mix-up in the hoisting signals and the cage operator was slow in bringing the cage to the surface. When the cage arrived at the top all of the rescuers were dead having been burned alive or killed by smoke inhalation. John Bundy and his eleven helpers were each awarded the Carnegie Hero Medal. After the fire, Bundy's wife Sarah moved back to Streator where several of their children became prominent citizens.
John was buried in Streator.[4]
While the state reports gives his nationality as Lithuanian, the 1910 census for his children gives their father's birthplace as England.
1861 census shows parents as brick maker Samuel Bundy (born 1823 in Ross, Herefordshire, England) and Emma Apperley (born 1828 in Kempley, Gloucestershire, England). Siblings were Samuel, Catherine, George and Thomas.
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