Surname/tag: American Gunns
The goal of this project is to carefully research the various Gunn family lines in the United States. The first Gunns to arrive in British Colonial America were Thomas and Jasper in New England, and Thomas in Virginia, all English Gunns. There were also Scottish Gunns and Scot-Irish Gunns who need to be identified and their lines clearly established.
Right now this project just has one member, me. I am James Gunn.
Here are some of the tasks that I think need to be done. I'll be working on them, and could use your help.
- Identify Scottish Gunns brought to America as English prisoners during the several Anglo-English conflicts, or as indentured servants, and of course those who came voluntarily.
- Identify, clarify and differentiate the English and the Scottish Gunn lines in America (including the Scot-Irish who originated in Scotland but spent a generation or two in Ireland before going on to America.
- Identify and develop any other Gunn lines that came to America, before and after Independence.
Will you join me? Please post a comment here on this page, in G2G using the project tag, or send me a private message. Thanks!
Here is a cautionary statement: For genealogists our objective should be simple, show documented evidence (or at minimum give a convincing argument) for any claim that you make. Example, declaring a Gunn to be a Scot for no other reason than to claim membership in Clan Gunn and wear the clan tartan is not an acceptable reason. That desire has seduced some descendants of Gunns to make fanciful conclusions (I admit that it did me at the very beginning of my research 25 years ago). But emotionally based "conclusions" should have no place in a carefully thought out genealogical site. Just think, today there may be over 3 million people who have been born with the surname Gunn in the United States since the early 1600s. That's a lot of people to sort through!
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