He was a veteran of the Austro-Prussian War (1866-1867) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). He served in Austro-Prussian War as a footsoldier (infantryman), and in the Franco-Prussian War as an elite mounted cuirassier (cavalryman).

Photograph of a woman speculated to be Augusta Kunde or Augusta Hunke, taken in Warsaw, probably in the 1870s. Photo from collection of Brian Kunde.

Johann married, about 1870, Auguste R— —. She was born October –, 1847, in the state of Pomerania, Prussia. Her parentage has not been discovered, though again both parents were German. Johann and Auguste had eight children, of whom the names of three are known, and only these three were living in 1900, the other five having died of diphtheria in infancy.

Children:

1. Albert Eduard Gustaf Kunde (Albert Edward Kunde), born September 16, 1874 near Stettin in the state of Pomerania, Prussia, Germany.
2. Wilhelmine Henriette Augustina Kunde (Minnie Kunde), born March –, 1877 in —, Pomerania, Prussia, Germany.
3. August Kunde, born April 23, 1884 in Germany.

It is unclear whether Johann became a citizen of the U.S.; he is called a naturalized citizen in the 1900 census, but an alien in the 1910 census. Both he and his wife were literate in their native German, but neither learned English.

In 1900 Johann, his wife and their younger son August were living with their daughter and son-in-law John Carl Eckers on Eckers's farm in Union Grove Township, Meeker County, Minnesota.

In 1910 Johann and Augusta were living in a rented house by their son Albert's farm on County Road in Visalia Township, Tulare County, California.

Johann Kunde died the night of May 10, 1911, at the age of 71, at his home near Visalia in Tulare County. The funeral was held on the 11th at 1:00 in the afternoon from the Locey funeral parlors. Burial was in Visalia Cemetery.

Augusta survived him, spending her last years in an institution. She died October 18, 1914 in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, at the reported age of 65 [sic: if the birthdate given in the 1900 census is correct, she should have been 67, or nearly].