This article concerns John Whitfield Bunn, Jacob Bunn, and the entrepreneurs who were interconnected with the Bunn brothers through association or familial and genealogical connection.
John Whitfield Bunn (June 21, 1831 – June 7, 1920)Illinois State Historical Society, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. 13 (Illinois State Historical Society, 1921) P. 273 was an American corporate leader, financier, industrialist, and personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, whose work and leadership involved a broad range of institutions ranging from Midwestern railroads, international finance, and Republican Party politics, to corporate consultation, globally significant manufacturing, and the various American stock exchanges. He was of great historical importance in the commercial, civic, political, and industrial development and growth of the state of Illinois and the American Midwest, during both the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. John Whitfield Bunn was born June 21, 1831, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.James Alfred Ellis, "History of the Bunn Family in America" (Publisher: Romanzo Norton Bunn) (1928) P. 210 (See: Ancestry.com). Although every one of the business institutions co-founded or built by the Bunn Brothers has ceased to exist, and fallen purely into the realm of history, each of these businesses left an important legacy of honorable industrial, commercial, and civic vision for Illinois, the Midwest, and the United States.
Jacob Bunn (March 18, 1814 – October 16, 1897),Cemetery Marker for Jacob Bunn, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois. an older brother of John Whitfield Bunn, was also an important Illinois industrialist, financier, and close friend of Abraham Lincoln.See generally: James Alfred Ellis, "History of the Bunn Family in America" (Romanzo Norton Bunn, 1928) (See: Ancestry.com).
Early life and early business experiences John W. Bunn was the third son of Henry Bunn and Mary (Sigler) Bunn, both of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The Bunn family was Presbyterian, and they recorded the baptisms of several children in a Presbyterian Church located at one time in Alexandria, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.James Alfred Ellis, "History of the Bunn Family in America" (Publisher: Romanzo Norton Bunn) (1928) P. 200 (See: Ancestry.com). There exists evidence that the Bunn family ancestors had originally purchased property from the heirs of William Penn.Bunn Genealogical Records.
Henry Bunn was born October 19, 1772, in Alexandria Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.James Alfred Ellis, "History of the Bunn Family in America" (Publisher: Romanzo Norton Bunn) (1928) P. 203 (See: Ancestry.com). Henry Bunn was the son of Jacob Bunn (born 1736; died 1808) and Maria Elizabetha (surname unknown) (born 1744; died 1817). Henry Bunn married Mary Sigler (born April 7, 1788; died July 31, 1833). Henry Bunn and Mary (Sigler) Bunn owned a prosperous farm in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and at the time of Henry Bunn's death in 1859 he left an estate valued at a quantity in excess of $34,000. There exists evidence that Henry Bunn, the father of Jacob Bunn, John Whitfield Bunn, and George Whitfield Bunn, engaged in the banking business in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.Last Will and Testament of Henry Bunn, 1859. Bunn Genealogical Records.
Jacob Bunn married Elizabeth Jane Ferguson (born May 12, 1832; died 1885), daughter of Benjamin Ferguson and Sarah (Irwin) Ferguson, both natives of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Benjamin Ferguson was a building contractor who contributed to the construction of the old Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Sarah Irwin was the sister of the bankers and merchants Robert Irwin (born November 7, 1808; died 1865) and John Irwin (born January 20, 1804; died 1857). Robert Irwin acted as the personal debt collector for Abraham Lincoln, and served as a member of the board of directors of the State Bank of Illinois. The Irwins were all natives of Monongahela City, Pennsylvania, were Presbyterian, and were of Scottish origin. A daughter of Robert Irwin married William Marston, a Wall Street speculator and financier who often worked in partnership with Cornelius Vanderbilt, and who was responsible for the nearly $7 million stock price rally of the Michigan & Prairie du Chien Railroad Company in 1865. William Marston gained a personal profit of between $1 and $2 million, in 1865, from the artificial rally, which he manipulated and caused when he rapidly purchased nearly 22,000 shares of stock in the Michigan & Prairie du Chien Railroad Company. The Irwin family also was interconnected with the Holden Family of Cleveland, Ohio, which owned the Island Creek Coal Company, the Pond Creek Coal Company, and the Forest City Publishing Company, publisher of The Plain Dealer newspaper, and the Hollenden Hotel.
John Bunn spent his childhood and early adulthood on the family farm located near Milford, New Jersey.
In 1847, at the age of 16, John W. Bunn left New Jersey to join his older brother Jacob Bunn in the wholesale grocery trade in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, having been induced to make the migration to Illinois by the positive and promising description that Jacob Bunn had furnished during a return visit to the New Jersey farm where both men had been raised.
In 1858, John W. Bunn achieved the status of partner in the wholesale grocery firm of "J. Bunn Company."
The Springfield, Illinois, grocery enterprise altered its corporate name to reflect the new change in partnership, changing its official name to "J. & J. W. Bunn Company."
As an adult, he achievied a prominent status among the commercial leadership of Illinois. Through his position he was able to form a close friendship with statesman and lawyer Abraham Lincoln.James Alfred Ellis, "History of the Bunn Family in America" (Publisher: Romanzo Norton Bunn) (1928) P. 211 (See: Ancestry.com). He became one of the most important members of Lincoln's political network, and was described by historian and scholar George A. Lawrence as one of the closest personal and political friends of the future president.Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1919: (May 12, 1919) P. 91
Friendship with Abraham Lincoln, middle and later life in Illinois, and industrial contributions to Illinois and the United States Abraham Lincoln acted as the attorney for Jacob Bunn, who was the older brother of John W. Bunn. In his very own words, in the relation of an interview concerning his personal memoirs and acquaintanceship with Abraham Lincoln, John Bunn stated that he and Lincoln had been extremely close friends and political allies.Paul McClelland Angle, "Abraham Lincoln, by some men who knew him: being personal recollections of Judge Owen T. Reeves, Hon. James S. Ewing, Col. Richard P. Morgan, Judge Franklin Blades, John W. Bunn" (Ayer Publishing Co.: 1969) Pp. 100-117 Abraham Lincoln served on the committee for the formation of the Alton & Springfield Railroad Company along with Jacob Bunn, leading Springfield merchant and banker John Williams, John Todd Stuart, John Calhoun, B. C. Webster, J. N. Brown, Pascal P. Enos, William Pickrell, and S. B. Opdycke.Illinois State Journal, July 6, 1847, 1:6.
Jacob Bunn and John Whitfield Bunn, along with many of their colleagues and friends, such as Stephen Trigg Logan, John Williams, and Ozias M. Hatch, became close friends of Abraham Lincoln, and assisted Lincoln in various ways in his 1860 presidential campaign.See generally: Reference sources that follow immediately herein, infra. As a part of his 1860 presidential campaign strategy Lincoln acquired, in May, 1859, the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger, a German-language newspaper of Springfield, Illinois, to further the cause of Republican Party politics among the German-speaking community of the region.Carl Sandburg, Edward C. Goodman, "Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years" (Illustrated Edition, 2007), P. 104 Lincoln acquired the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger through his banker Jacob Bunn, who was a close personal friend and client of Lincoln.Jesse William Weik, "The Real Lincoln: A Portrait," (1922) P. 214 Jacob Bunn and his brother John Whitfield Bunn were close personal friends of Lincoln and his family,Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Volume 13, P. 273 (1921) and were industrialists and financiers who established a national and international network of industrial corporations ranging from Chicago railroads and banks to manufacturing corporations of global scale in production and economic impact.See generally: (1) Andrew Taylor Call, "Jacob Bunn: Legacy of an Illinois Industrial Pioneer" (2005), and (2) Papers delivered before the members of the Abraham Lincoln Association (1939) John Whitfield Bunn served as the treasurer of, and as one of the initial financial contributors to, the $5,000 1860 presidential campaign fund for Lincoln whose establishment and formation had been originally suggested to John W. Bunn by Judge Stephen Trigg Logan, a former law partner of Lincoln.Jesse William Weik, The Real Lincoln: a portrait (1922), P. 283 Jacob Bunn, John Williams, Ozias M. Hatch, Thomas Condell, and Robert Irwin were also among the initial financial contributors to the campaign fund.
John Whitfield Bunn spent the remainder of his life in Illinois, and maintained a varied and successful commercial, industrial, and philanthropic career that lasted from 1847 until 1920.James Alfred Ellis, "History of the Bunn Family in America" (Publisher: Romanzo Norton Bunn) (1928) Pp. 210, 211, 212 (See: Ancestry.com). A multimillionaire, John W. Bunn exhibited financial commitment and philanthropic loyalty to public causes in Illinois.The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois), October 7, 1903 (See: Ancestry.com).
During the period lasting from 1847 until 1920, John W. Bunn accomplished numerous commercial and industrial objectives, and contributed to the development of numerous distinct industrial and civic sectors of Illinois during the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. Many of the businesses and civic institutions with which the Bunn brothers and their extended family were connected are discussed below.
The J. & J. W. Bunn Grocery Company Beginning as an entry-level employee in the wholesale grocery house owned by his brother, John rapidly ascended to increased levels of responsibility, not only within the grocery enterprise, but within a diverse array of additional commercial and civic organizations in Illinois, and throughout the United States as a whole. The J. & J. W. Bunn Grocery Company generated approximate sales of $200,000 around 1871.John Carroll Power, "History of SpringfieldHistory of Springfield, Illinois, its attractions as a home and advantage for business, manufacturing, etc. Published under the auspices of the Springfield Board of Trade" (1871) P. 80 During the period when John W. Bunn acted with executive leadership within the J. & J. W. Bunn Grocery Company, the profitability of the firm increased, and in 1880 the sales volume of the firm reached $450,000, with prediction in 1880 of sales volume growth to $500,000 for 1881.History of Sangamon County, Illinois, Vol. 2 (Inter-State Publishing Company, 1881) P. 647 This venture subsequently became known as "Bunn Capitol Wholesale Grocery Company" in the 1950s. George R. Bunn Jr. managed this company and created a beverage division that eventually turned into the Bunn-O-Matic Corporation, which also owns the "BUNN" brand.
Illinois Watch Company and Sangamo Electric Company