Charles Jefferson Hunt (1803 - 1879)

Born 20 Jan 1803 in Bracken, Mason County, Kentucky, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Celia (Mounts) Hunt — married 1 Dec 1823 in Albion, Edwards, Illinois

Husband of Matilda Jane Nease — married 7 Feb 1846 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Il

Descendants

Died 11 May 1879 at age 76 in Oxford, Bannock County, Idaho, USA

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Jefferson became a member of the LDS Church between 1830 - 1848.

Jefferson Hunt was a Latter Day Saint pioneer.

Captain Jefferson Hunt served with the Mormon Battalion of Volunteers during the Mexican-American War
Service Started: Jul 1846
Unit(s): Mormon Battalion, Company A
Service Ended: Jul 1847

Biography

Jefferson Hunt, born to John Hunt and Martha Jenkins on January 20, 1803 in Bracken County, Kentucky, "was a U.S. western pioneer, soldier, and politician. He was a captain in the Mormon Battalion, brigadier general in the California State Militia, a California State Assemblyman, founder of the town Huntsville Utah, and a representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature."^[1] According to Sutak:^[2]

The Hunt family sold their farm in late 1815 and moved to southeastern Illinois near the present community of Albion. In December 1823, twenty-year-old Jefferson married eighteen year-old Celia Mounts, and their first child, Gilbert, was born in April 1825. In the fall of 1834, Jefferson and Celia were introduced to the teachings of Joseph Smith ... and were baptized on March 7, 1835.^[3] In February 1837, Jefferson and Celia (who was expecting their seventh child) moved their family to a new home south of Far West in Caldwell County, Missouri...

Hunt became a major in the Caldwell County militia and participated in the Battle of Crooked River. Following the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri, the Hunts settled on a farm near Bear Creek, Illinois, about twenty miles southeast of Nauvoo.^[4]

On July 12, 1845, Celia Hunt gave birth to twins, Mary and Parley, bringing their family to ten children, five of whom were ten or younger. A family named Nease lived near the Hunts at Bear Creek. Both parents died in late 1845, leaving a married daughter, Mary Ann, and four minor children. Rhoda Nease, age fifteen, went to live with her married sister, Mary Ann; and the Hunts took in the three youngest: Matilda, seventeen; Peter, eleven; and Ellen, nine. On January 2, 1846, the day after Matilda Nease's eighteenth birthday, she, Jefferson, and Celia received their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple. On February 7, Celia and Matilda were sealed as wives to Jefferson in a second temple ceremony. The Hunt family, now consisting of fifteen members, fled from Nauvoo on February 15, 1846, and went to Kanesville (Council Bluffs, Iowa).

Jefferson and Celia's eleven children were:

1. Gilbert Hunt (1825–1858)
2. Nancy Ann (Hunt) Daley (1827–1920)
3. Marshall Hunt (1829–1915)
4. Jane (Hunt) Stoddard (1831–1899)
5. John Ephriam Hunt (1833–1917)
6. Harriet (Hunt) Mayfield (1835–1918)
7. Joseph Anthony Hunt (1837–1916)
8. Jefferson Hunt (1839–1841)
9. Hyrum Hunt (1840–1880)
10. Mary Ermine (Hunt) Black (1845–1930) (twin)
11. Parley Hunt 1845–1847 (twin)

From Andrew Jenson's LDS Biographical Encyclopedia entry:^[5]

When the call was made for the Mormons to enlist for service against Mexico, [Jefferson] joined the Battalion and was chosen captain of the first company. His eldest two sons also enlisted in the Battalion, his son Marshall being the youngest member (seventeen years old). The Hunt family accompanied the Battalion as far as Santa Fe.^[6] After making the march to California, Captain Hunt and son Marshall reached Salt Lake Valley in October, 1847. That fall Captain Hunt went to California with his sons and fifteen others to obtain provisions, cattle, seeds and grain. They took the southern route, reaching what is now San Bernardino, on Christmas day, 1847. With two hundred head of cattle, seeds, etc., they returned to Salt Lake, reaching the "Valley" in May, 1848. In the spring of 1849 he helped to settle Provo, remaining there until 1851, when he was called to go to California with Elder Amasa M. Lyman and Chas. C. Rich, to establish the settlement of San Bernardino. He lived there until 1857, when he was called back to Utah on account of the Johnston Army troubles. Captain Hunt served as a member of the first legislature of California and erected the first sawmill in San Bernardino County. After his return to Utah he lived in Ogden Valley, Huntsville being named in his honor. He also lived in Oxford, Idaho, where he died May 11, 1879.

Further details on Jefferson's military and political careers can be found in the ample online sources. He is buried with his second wife, Matilda, at Red Rock Pass Cemetery, Bannock County, Idaho, USA.

Research Notes

Some online family trees give Jefferson's name as "Charles Jefferson Hunt", and at least one mentions "Jefferson David Hunt" as an alternative name, both without documentation. Military documents, historical accounts, the Wikipedia article, his Find a Grave memorial and his LDS record all use "Jefferson Hunt", as does his biographer, Pauline Udall Smith.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Jefferson Hunt.
2. ↑ Sutak, 2010, pp. 83-84. In this section, Sutak relies heavily on Smith (1958).
3. ↑ Celia was re-baptized in Salt Lake City on 8 August 1847.
4. ↑ With broad powers granted by the State of Illinois, the Mormons created their own militia, the Nauvoo Legion, in which Jefferson also became a major.
5. ↑ Jenson, 1936, p. 748.
6. ↑ It is not clear when the family was detached from the Battalion and sent to winter quarters at Fort Pueblo. If it was with the first detachment, when most family members were detached, they would have left from Kansas, before reaching Santa Fe. A detailed account of the Sick Detachments is found among Randy Madsen's San Diego Seagull newspaper articles, published onlne by California Pioneer Heritage Foundation.

• Black, Susan Easton (Ed.). Members of the Mormon Battalion: A sesquicentenial remembrance, p. 37-38. FamilySearch digital publication.
• Familypedia. Article on Jefferson Hunt (1803-1879).
• Find A Grave: Memorial #22927878 for Captain Jefferson Hunt (1803-1879). The memorial contains the transcription of a lengthy address given at the dedication of a monument erected at the grave of Captain Jefferson Hunt in 1950. The speaker was his great grandson, Jesse A Udall. The memorial also contains a transcription of the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia entry for Jefferson Hunt.
• Jenson, Andrew. LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 4. Salt Lake City, Utah: Andrew Jenson Memorial Association, 1936. Article on Jefferson Hunt.
• LDS Pioneer Database 1847-1868. Record for Jefferson Hunt.
• Madson, Randy. Research articles on the subject of the Mormon Battalion. San Diego, CA: San Diego Seagull. Available online at the California Pioneer Heritage Foundation, 2009.
• Smith, Pauline Udall. Captain Jefferson Hunt of the Mormon Battalion. Salt Lake City: Nicholas G. Morgan, Sr., Foundation, 1958.
• Sutak, Tom. Jefferson Hunt: California's first Mormon politician. Mormon History Association, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Summer 2010), pp. 87-117.
• Tyler, Daniel. A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War, 1846-1847. Published by the author, 1881.
• US Mexican War Index and Service Records, 1846-1848, Iowa, Mormon Battalion, volunteers H-R. Entry for Jefferson Hunt. FamilySearch database (NARA Series M351, Roll 2).
• Wikipedia. Article on Jefferson Hunt.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Hunt-1395 created through the import of heinakuu2011-6.ged on Jul 5, 2011 by Johanna Amnelin. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Johanna and others.

• WikiTree profile Hunt-2084 created through the import of Welder Family Tree.ged on Sep 10, 2011 by Deborah Anne Welder. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Deborah Anne and others.