Research on the internet showed that much has already been written about John Williams Gunnison, the father of Deloney, and this piece by Shirley DeBoer, of the Grand Rapids Historical Commission is very inclusive. John was murdered, purportedly by Mormons dressed as Indians, while on a mapping expedition in Utah for the US Army. The year before, while he was in Salt Lake City, he had written an expose about the Mormon religion which angered many, and may have been one of the reasons for his murder. The other reason may have been the hatred of the Mormons for anyone other than themselves being able to travel through Utah on their way to California. A survey of the state would show the places best suited for railroad tracks and roads, which would bring in millions of the kind of people the Mormons didn't want in their territory. You can read the original book using the link I gave.
Here is a transcript of a very interesting lecture given by Dr Robert Kent Fielding, entitled "John Gunnison and the Mormons: Could John Gunnison Have Changed the Mormons?, An Analysis of Mormon History and the Path Not Taken, 1830-1857" given in January of 1994, which presents another view of the reason for the murder. Dr Fielding has also reprinted Gunnison's book, with extensive notes and additional material, including letters written by Mrs Gunnison and William W Drummond, Federal Judge for the Utah Territory, who tried to force an investigation of the murder and blamed the Mormons, instead of the Indians, for it.
An account of what happened is detailed in a blog post by Col Dick Kindsfater.
Many places in the West bear Gunnison's name, and there is even a prairie dog named after him!
John Williams Gunnison married Martha A Delony 15 April 1841 in Camden, GA. They soon after settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan while John was mapping the Wisconsin-Michigan border. He eventually bought the SE quarter of section 26 in Walker Township, planning to start cranberry farming in the cedar marsh. That never happened, and the area was known as Gunnison Swamp.
Section twenty-six, township seven north, range twelve west:
William Peaselee, southwest quarter southeast quarter, September 6, 1845
J. W. Gunnison, northwest quarter southeast quarter, December 11
William Peaselee, northeast quarter southeast quarter, September 9
J. W. Gunnison, south half north east quarter, March 1, 1848
John Ball, north half northeast quarter, November 9, 1854
Section twenty-three, township seven north, range twelve west:
J. W. Gunnison, northeast quarter southeast quarter, December 19, 1844.
Peaslee was John Gunnison's brother-in-law, marrying his sister, Sophira. They moved together to Grand Rapids.
Peaslee built for John and his family of two girls and one boy, a beautiful fieldstone octagonal house on Butterworth Street, made from indigenous rocks. It was torn down in the 1960's.
Son, Delony Gunnison became a realtor and loan agent, selling off parcels of his father's land, after efforts were made to fill in the swamp for residential use. In the 1870 Grand Rapids city directory, Delony and his mother were listed at 49 Pearl St. He was listed in the 1875 Grand Rapids city directory as a real estate agent boarding at Sweet's Hotel. I did not find him in subsequent online directories.
And,
All of these from the book, Grand Rapids in 1874.
This shot of the 1876 map shows Gunnison property south of Butterworth that is yet undeveloped. What is not showing is a vast area extending from the Lincoln Park line south to Butterworth and bounded on the west by what would become Garfield Avenue. This was all the drained swamp area.
In his book, "Memorials of the Grand River Valley", 1878, Franklin Everett wrote a section about the naming of several streets. He had this to say about Deloney and Gunnison streets:
De Lony —Mr. De Lony Gunnison, it is to be hoped you will recollect whose son you are.
Gunnison-from Capt. Gunnison, of the U. S. Engineers. See biographical notice.
One can only wonder what prompted him to make that admonishment.
The following is also from Everett's book.
Martha Delony Gunnison was not listed in another Grand Rapids city directory after 1870. She died in Hawthorne, Passaic, New Jersey 18 January 1898.
Daughter Elizabeth Delony Gunnison married Dunbar O'Neill, 30 August 1870 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had 5 children, 1 born in Ireland, 1 in France, and 3 in New York City. Elizabeth lived in Grand Rapids in 1896, and in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1898 while Genevieve was going to college. She was listed as a widow both years. Dunbar O'Neill died in 1898 in New York City. Sometime before 1916, both Elizabeth and Genevieve moved to Pasadena, California where Genevieve worked as a translator. The 1922 Voter's Registration for Los Angeles County lists them both as Democrats. Elizabeth died in 1923.
Here is the family in New York City in 1880:
| Self | Dunbar O'Neil | M | 34 | Ireland---(occupation is Agent) |
| Wife | Elizabeth O'Neil | F | 34 | New York, United States |
| Other | Mathew Gunison | M | 54 | Georgia, United States---(this is Martha Delony Gunnison incorrectly listed) |
| Dau | Maria Gunison | F | 36 | Michigan, United States |
| Other | Heny Duing | M | 65 | Vermont, United States |
| Wife | Sarah Duing | F | 60 | Vermont, United States |
| Other | Louisa Kincade | F | 35 | Scotland |
| Son | Travis Oneil | M | 8 | Ireland |
| Son | Mathew Oneil | M | 5 | France |
| Dau | Jane Oneil | F | 2 | New York, United States |
| Dau | Earline Oneil | F | 0 | New York, United States |
| Other | Edword Stevens | M | 32 | New York, United States |
| Other | Mary Houston | F | 16 | Ireland |
| Other | Kate Hunnessy | F | 16 | New York, United States |
Daughter Maria D Gunnison was listed as a portrait artist in Newark, New Jersey in 1910.
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