Independent Research
Gunns in America is an independent family history project — no institutional backing, no grant funding, no advertising. Everything here is sustained by one researcher's time and personal resources.
This site is the companion to a book tracing the Gunn family from Jasper Gunn's 1635 arrival aboard the Defence through four centuries of American life. The research draws on primary sources — ship manifests, probate records, church registers, census data, pension files, personal correspondence, and family memoirs — assembled over years of archival work.
The site holds what the book cannot: a searchable database of more than 7,000 individuals, a growing gallery of photographs and documents, primary sources in family members' own words, and the ongoing research journal that records what is found, what remains uncertain, and what has been lost.
This project is deliberately independent. The site carries no advertising, accepts no sponsored content, and is not affiliated with any institution. That independence is a feature, not an oversight — it means the research follows the evidence without commercial or institutional pressure.
Patron support is the only outside funding this project accepts. Every contribution goes directly toward the research and the site.
Patrons receive early access to new articles and biographies, research notes before they appear in the Journal, and the satisfaction of knowing this work continues.
Financial support is not the only way to contribute to this project. Family members who carry memories, documents, photographs, or letters are encouraged to share them through the Family Recollections page. Researchers who spot an error or have a source to suggest are welcome to reach out directly.
The archive grows through the family itself.