I Mary

[Steve Whitlock]

(04-26-2021 12:51 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  I checked the Fehrenbachers' book to see the rating they gave to Bunn's reminiscences. The two compilers included several of Bunn's recollections, and the majority received a "C" --> a quotation recorded non contemporaneously. From what I can tell, Mr. Bunn was a respected and successful gentleman.

Here's a little more about John W. Bunn and his brother, Jacob Bunn:

John W. Bunn [John Whitfield Bunn]
Birth 21 Jun 1831
Hunterdon County, New Jersey, USA
Death 7 Jun 1920 (aged 88)
Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, USA
Burial
Oak Ridge Cemetery
Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, USA
Plot Block 10, 19
Memorial ID 52258533 · View Source
Aged 88yrs, 11mos, 17dys. Younger brother of Jacob Bunn; John never married.

Pioneer Springfield business man. President of Springifeld Marine bank and an officer and director in many other institutions. Came to Springfield in August 1847 and became a clerk for his brother Jacob in the wholesale grocery business. In 1858 he became a member of the firm, with the name being changed to J. and J. W. Bunn & Company. He later branched out into other enterprises, holding various offices: M. Seiz and Co., a wholesale boot and shoe business; Springfield Marine Bank; Illinois Watch factor; Sangamon Meter Works. Served four terms as city treasurer from 1857-1860. Treasurer of the state board of agriculture from 1859 to 1895. Treasurer of the University of Illinois from 1868 to 1893. Member of the Republican state central committee from 1872 to 1886, returning in 1900 and serving until 1902. Member of the Sangamo and Illini country clubs and of the Chicago club and Union League club of Chicago.
He was one of the only two or three men living who were intimate friends of Abraham Lincoln. Many of the Springfield business were closed the day of his funeral out of respect.
IL State Register, Springfield, IL, 6-7-1920
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John W Bunn
in the 1850 United States Federal Census
Name: John W Bunn
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Birth Year: abt 1832
Birthplace: New Jersey
Home in 1850: Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois, USA
Occupation: Clerk
Industry: Not Specified Retail Trade
Line Number: 22
Dwelling Number: 219
Family Number: 229
Household Members Age
Henry Carrigan 33
Susannah Carrigan 33
Hugh Carrigan 14
Henry Carrigan 2
Ellen Carrigan 14
Joseph Paine 18
Lewis Bullett 50
Phebe Todd 40
Susan Howard 18
Mary Howard 0
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John W. Bunn
in the Illinois, U.S., Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947
Name: John W. Bunn
Birth Date: 21 Jun 1831
Birth Place: Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Death Date: 7 Jun 1920
Death Place: Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois
Burial Date: 9 Jun 1920
Death Age: 88
Occupation: Banker
Race: White
Marital status: S
Gender: Male
Father Name: Henry Bunn
Father Birth Place: New Jersey
Mother Name: Mary
Mother Birth Place: New Jersey
FHL Film Number: 1562486
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Papers. [1939]
Abraham Lincoln Association (Springfield, Ill.), Lincoln centennial association.

Page 11

FOREWORD
Mr. John W. Bunn, Vice-President of the Association
since its organization, succeeded Judge Humphrey as President, and presided at the banquet in 1919, at which time the Honorable Clinton L. Conkling of Springfield, gave the address "Lincoln in his Home Town." Mr. Conkling was the son of James C. Conkling, a Springfield lawyer, who practiced at the bar with Lincoln from 1837 and who had also been intimately associated with Lincoln politically and socially. It was to him that Lincoln addressed the well known letter of August 26, 1863 dealing with
the national political issues then under discussion.

Mr. Bunn had come to Springfield in 1847 as a boy of sixteen to clerk for his brother, Jacob Bunn, who in connection with his wholesale and retail grocery business, conducted a banking business. Lincoln was Jacob Bunn's attorney. Lincoln, Jacob Bunn and John W. Bunn from 1847 onward were active members of the same political party. This association between client and attorney brought John W. Bunn into intimate contact with Lincoln, the association being that of a younger man with a man twenty years his senior. This intimacy extended to their association in politics, and John W. Bunn became one of the younger men through whom Lincoln conducted his political operations. In 1857, at Lincoln's suggestion, Bunn became a candidate for city treasurer, and on March 7, 1861, President Lincoln

Page 12
12 ABRAHAM LINCOLN ASSOCIATION PAPERS
appointed Bunn to the office of United States Pension Agent for Illinois. This was one of the first appointments made by Lincoln. It was natural, therefore, that Mr. Bunn should have a lively personal interest in the formation and permanent continuance of an association for the purposes given in the charter of the Lincoln Centennial Association.* The Association, too, had as it were, a living touch with the Lincoln of the fifties because of Mr. Bunn's personal association with him, which touch vitalized the organization. Mr. Bunn continued as President of the Association until his death in 1920. For a period after Mr. Bunn's death, the Association almost ceased to function.

In 1920 Mr. Logan Hay was elected President of the Association. Shortly afterwards Miss Mary
Humphrey, daughter of Judge Humphrey, was elected Vice-President after the death of Philip Barton Warren and Mr. George W. Bunn, Jr., a grand nephew of Mr. John W. Bunn, was elected Secretary.

Upon the death of J. H. Holbrook, Treasurer in 1935, Robert E. Miller was elected his successor. All these persons have continued to serve as such officers since their original election.

* Mr. Bunn's account of his personal relations with Lincoln and his estimate of him is one of the finest and most important in print. It is too little known. It may be found in his letter to Isaac N. Phillips, October 25, 1910, published in Abraham Lincoln By Some Men Who Knew Him, edited by Mr. Phillips.
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https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/ob...ln%3A35608
The link just above goes to a Lincoln day by day chronology. Do a Find for "bunn" and you'll see Mary Lincoln started an account with the Jacob Bunn store. Subsequent charges and payments are listed in the "Bunn Journal". As we go further we come to many court cases for the Bunns, which are litigated by Abraham Lincoln and William Herndon. I didn't see any mention of the $100 fee paid to Abraham; however, this clearly shows it is a possibility with all the legal cases involved.