Charity (Pettibone) Gunn (1781 - 1852)

Born 18 Mar 1781 in Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Charles Gunn Sr. — married 11 Apr 1807 in Onondaga, NY.

Descendants

Died 2 Jan 1852 at age 70 in Onondaga, Onondaga, New York, United States

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Biography

Charity was born in 1781. She is the daughter of John Pettibone and Susannah Adams. She passed away in 1852.

Charity Pettibone,^[1] twenty-five years old and still unmarried, was one of the very earliest settlers of Onondaga, New York. She, with her brother, John Pettibone*, and her nephew Joel Cornish, Jr., aged thirteen, arrived at Onondaga in early March, 1805. They brought with them such household furnishings, clothing and provisions as could be packed on one sleigh [see J 1361 Joel and Susannah (Pettibone) Cornish]. John had purchased land and a small farmhouse with a few outbuildings in Onondaga; and the mission of the three young settlers was to improve the house and property as much as they could so that their older sister, Susannah, and her husband, Joel Cornish, and their seven children, could move to Onondaga and join with them to farm the land.** The three started with a two-horse team pulling the loaded sleigh, in which they were also riding. Due to the early melting of snow that year, their horses had difficulty pulling the heavily loaded sleigh; and without the help of friendly strangers the trip might very well have failed to reach its destination. One instance of help is cited in the text of J 1361 above, and another occurred when the trio were about two days’ distance from Onondaga. On that occasion they fell in on the trail with a lone man who was returning from New York to his home in Cayuga with two empty sleighs. When the stranger saw the condition of John’s horses, this man invited the three to ride with him. They were delighted to do so, and they rode in relative comfort to Vernon, where they knew the owner of a wayside tavern, Captain Laurens. That night it rained, and the prospect for sleighing was bleaker than ever. The new friend said, "Well, Pettibone, I want to see you nearer to home, and I believe I will hitch my team forward of yours," and he proceeded to do so without allowing any discussion of the matter. He asked Charity whether she could ride horseback, and she showed why her brother and nephew had felt confident she could be a worthy helpmate on their errand of mercy; she answered, "Why, yes, I can ride a-horseback, or I can go a-foot, if I can get there tonight." Leaving their loaded sleigh with Captain Laurens until it could be picked up at a more appropriate time, the man from Cayuga and John Pettibone took down a blanket and fashioned a seat on one of the horses for Charity and she mounted the horse and "started out like a trooper." The men each mounted a horse, and pulling the stranger’s two empty sleighs they started after her. As her nephew said eighty- one years later, "It was some time before we overtook her. She was only twenty-five then and very active.“ They stopped only once, to feed the horses, and they reached the house of Sylvanus Humphrey, a cousin of Joel Cornish, Sr.’s. The journey ended there, as they arranged to stay there until they could retrieve the sleigh with its furnishings and proceed to the Onondaga cabin at last. In his old age, Joel Cornish, Jr., said ruefully, "I have always regretted that I did not write down the name of our friend in need."^[2]

Charity was married in 1807, two years after she arrived in Onondaga, to Charles Gunn. He, too, was one of the earliest settlers of Onondaga, so it is quite possible that they met there soon after she arrived and were married shortly thereafter. Charles Gunn was a post rider who carried the mails, one of the first to deposit mail in official locations in the countryside outside the coastal cities. He was away from home for two weeks at a time. He delivered his bags of mail by horseback and blew a trumpet when he neared the places where he was to leave the mail [Fred E. Dutcher, "Once Upon a Time in Onondaga," in "Pioneer Index," ibid.]

Charles Gunn died in 1845, and Charity lived on in Onondaga with her daughter and son-in-law, Almira and George Montgomery, for the last seven years of her life. In 1851 she deposed to the probate court of Hartford County, Connecticut, that she was the sole legal representative of her deceased father, John Pettibone and of her deceased step-father, Jonathan Pinney, both of whom fought in the American Revolution. A copy of the will of her father, John Pettibone is included in the Revolutionary pension file of John Pettibone^[3]. In his 1838 will, her brother John Pettibone made provisions for her care and support.^[4]

She is buried in Howlett Hill Cemetery, Howlett Hill, Onondaga County, New York^[5]

Sources

• Tom Bredehoft, Pettibone Registry, 78,170-171, (see Sharp-661). Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Tom and others.
• Birth: Bates, Albert C., transcriber. Simsbury Connecticut Births Marriages and Deaths, 277. "Charity Pettibone the Daughter of John Pettibone by Susannah his wife was born the 18th : day of March"
• Marriage: Pettibone, John, Revolutionary War Pension File (NARA R8262), photocopy in the possession of Diane Wilson Flynn, Deposition of Charity (Pettibone) Gunn and Deposition of Moses Gunn, document no. 16 found in Pension File of John Pettibone and Jonathan Pinney on microfilm series M804.
• Death: Syracuse Daily Standard, Thursday Morning, January 8, 1852, Gunn, Charity, obituary (page 2, col. 5) "In West Onondaga, at the residence of her son-in-law, George Montgomery, on the 2d inst., of Consumption, Charity Gunn, widow of Charles Gunn, aged 70 years. . . . She was the last of a numerous family and leaves but one son and daughter to mourn her loss. . . ."

1. ↑ Entered by Tom Bredehoft, May 1, Nov 12, 2012
2. ↑ "Almost a Century." Interview with Joel Cornish, Jr., aged 94, in Centennial Herald, September 1, 1866, "Pioneer Index," at Onondaga Historical Society, Syracuse, New York.
3. ↑ Pension File #R8262, U.S. Archives, Washington, D.C.; also in "Supplement to Ancestral Notes," Vol. 12, No. 4, November 1965, in NYSL
4. ↑ New York, Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Wills, 1796-1867; Author: New York. Surrogate's Court (Onondaga County); Probate Place: Onondaga, New York. John Pettibone Probate Date: 15 Jul 1843 Probate Place: Onondaga, New York, USA Inferred Death Year: Abt 1843 Inferred Death Place: New York, USA Item Description: Wills, Vol H-I, 1842-1851. Will book H, p. 100-101
5. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 12 July 2018), memorial page for Charity Pettibone Gunn (18 Mar 1781–2 Jan 1852), Find A Grave: Memorial #90948089, citing Howlett Hill Cemetery, Howlett Hill, Onondaga County, New York, USA ; Maintained by noelle nann fairbanks (contributor 46830790) .

• John Pettibone was the fifth man in succession who reached adulthood to bear the name. Since the junior and senior suffixes are meaningless in this case, I labelled them with Roman Numerals: I, II, III, IV, and V. Unfortunately, others who thought they were researchers but fail to confirm or source their data, took this Roman numeral V and turned it into a middle initial. It's a very handy way to spot these would-be researchers when you see the name "John V. Pettibone." DWF
  • John Pettibone the fifth purchased the land from William Wilson, DWF's 4th great-grandfather. Note that the deed was not recorded until 29 years later.

Deed

William Wilson and Mary his wife to John Pettibone, dated 9 July 1805, recorded 7 June 1834

This Indenture Made the ninth day of July in the year of our Lord one thou- sand eight hundred and five Between William Wilson and Mary his wife of the town of Lysander and county of Onondaga of the first part and John Pettibone of the town of Onondaga and county aforesaid of the second part Witnesseth That the said party of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of One thousand Dollars to them in hand paid by the said party of the second part the receipt whereof is hereby confessed and acknowledged have granted bargain ed sold remised released aliened and confirmed and by these presents do grant bargain sell remise release alien and confirm unto the said party of the second part in his actual possession now being and to his heirs and assigns forever all that certain piece or parcel of land being a part of lot number One hundred & Twelve in the late Onondaga Reservation and butted and bounded as follows. Beginning at the south east corner of said lot thence one hundred rods thence west one hundred thirty rods thence south twenty rods thence west eighty rods thence south eighty rods thence east to the place of beginning containing One hundred and fifteen acres which said described premises is subject to a mortgage executed by Nathaniel and Birdseye Norton to the people of the state of New York for the sum of Nine hundred and forty Dollars or thereabouts as by said mortgage reference thereto being had will more fully appear which land above described and hereby conveyed is subject to such proportion of the said Mortgage money and the interest now due or shall hereafter become due thereon or the quantity of land herein conveyed in proportion to the whole of said lot Together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining and the reversion and reversions remainder and remainders rents issues and profits thereof and all the estate right title interest claim or demand whatsoever of the said parties of the first part either in law or equity of in and to the above bargained premises with the said hereditaments and appurtenances To have and to hold the said described piece or lot of land to the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns for the sole and only proper use benefit and behoof of the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns forever. And the said parties of the first part for themselves their heirs executors and administrators do covenant grant bargain promise and agree to and with the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns the above bargained premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns against all and every person or persons lawfully claiming or to claim the whole or any part of the above mentioned and described premises will forever Warrant and Defend In witness whereof the parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and year first above written Wm Wilson [ss] [ss] Signed sealed and delivered by Wm Wilson in presence of Jonathan Thompson State of New York Fs. I Medad Curtis Master in Chancery to hereby certify that on the ninth day of July Eighteen hundred and five William Wilson a person to me known to be the person described in [sic] & who executed the written in denture came before me and acknowledged the same to be his free act and deed. Medad Curtis Recorded the 7th day of June 1834 at 10 O'clock A M R S Hefs clerk

FHL film #872514, accessed at the FHL in SLC, 10/2/03