James N. Y. Hunt (1781 - 1869)

Born 19 Feb 1781 in Sharon, Litchfield, Connecticut, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Jewel) Hunt — married 4 Jan 1810 in Chelsea, Orange, Vermont, USA

Descendants

Died 21 Feb 1869 at age 88 in Northville, La Salle, Illinois, USA

Biography

James N.Y. Hunt, son of Daniel and Hannah (Miller) Hunt^[1], was apparently born 19 Feb. 1781 (or 1782) in Sharon, Connecticut.^[2] As with his birth date, the exact name of James N.Y. Hunt is not certain. His name is given as J.N.Y. Hunt in the family Bible record and on his gravestone. His first name is usually given as James, but it is given as Nelson in the 1850 census, and "Nelson" was given as the middle name of one of the sons of his daughter Sarah. James N.Y. Hunt was one of a pair of twins: one named Nelson James and the other named James Nelson.^[3] Both twins usually went by the name of James. The other twin lived for most of his adult life in New Hampshire.

As a child James N.Y. Hunt came from Sharon, Connecticut to Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. James Hunt married Sarah Jewel 4 Jan. 1810 at Chelsea, Orange Co., Vermont.^[4] Sarah was born 22 July 1789 at Chelsea, daughter of David and Sally (Moore) Jewel.^[5]

By 1817 James had brought his family to Crawford Co., Pennsylvania.^[6] James Y.N.(?) Hunt (the pair of middle initials are hard to read) appears in the 1820 census in Sadbury, Crawford Co., PA as follows: 1 male under 10 (son James); 1 male 26-45 (James); 3 females under 10 (daughters Sarah, Mary and Frances); 1 female 16-26 (not a daughter); 1 female 26-45 (wife Sarah). James’s uncle David Hunt also appears in the 1820 census in Crawford Co., PA.

James Hunt was a blacksmith, and in 1830 brought his family to Erie Co., Pennsylvania.^[7]

James N.Y. Hunt appears in the 1830 census in Waterford, Erie Co., PA as follows: 1 male 5-10 (son David); 1 male 10-15 (son James); 1 male 50-60 (James); 2 females under 5 (daughters Esther and Ann); 1 female 10-15 (daughter Frances); 1 female 15-20 (daughter Mary); 1 female 30-40 (wife Sarah). James’s brother Simeon is also listed in Waterford in the 1830 census.

James has not been located in the 1840 census. He brought his family in 1844 to Naperville, Du Page Co., Illinois.^[8]

He appears as “Nelson” in the 1850 census in Northville, La Salle Co., IL as follows: David Hunt, 27, b. PA; Nelson Hunt, 70, b. CT; Sarah Hunt, 60, b. VT; Edward Thomas, 27, b. Canada; Ann Thomas, 20, b. PA; Simeon Hunt, 18, b. PA; William Hunt, 15, b. PA. James’s children Frances, James and Esther appear in Naperville, Du Page Co., in the 1850 census.

Sarah, wife of James Hunt, died 8 July 1860, presumably in De Kalb Co., Illinois. This date of death is given on her gravestone, in Northville Cemetery, Northville, La Salle co., Ill.^[9]

James Hunt appears in the 1860 census in Victor Twp., De Kalb Co., IL, in the household of his daughter Frances and her husband William Bond as follows: James Y. Hunt, 79, b. VT (inaccurate), retired.

His gravestone, in the Northville Cemetery in La Salle Co., Ill. together with that of his wife and two children, reads J.N.Y. Hunt, with date of death 21 Feb. 1869. The stone has a Masonic emblem on it.^[10]

Children^[11]:

1. Hannah Miller, b. 14 Oct. 1810, d. 21 Dec. 1810.

2. Sarah, b. 30 Dec. 1811.

3. baby, b. 30 Apr. 1814.

4. Mary H., b. 5 Aug. 1815.

5. Frances, b. 25 Dec. 1817.

6. James J., b. 19 Aug. 1820.

7. David J., b. 30 Mar. 1822.

8. Esther Marie, b. 29 Aug. 1824; m. Prince Tobey 1847; d. 3 May 1887.

9. Ann, b. 2 Oct. 1829; d. 15 Sept. 1854.

10. Charles (Simeon), b. 30 Mar. 1831; d. 7 Oct. 1852.

11. William, b. 2 Sept. 1835.

Footnotes

1. ↑ The parentage of James is given in a letter dated 15 Nov. 1985 from Mitchell Hunt of Willow Grove, Penn., citing a genealogy by Evelyn Merryman Hunt of Haverhill, Mass. In this letter Mr. Hunt corrects his earlier work “Hunt Families of Tunbridge, Vermont,” in which he had mistakenly combined James with his twin brother. Note that James named his eldest daughter Hannah Miller Hunt, after his mother.
2. ↑ The Hunt family Bible, as shown in an extract sent to me by Mary Lou Brammer of Iowa, gives the birth date of James as 19 Feb. 1780. However, it also gives the birth of his wife Sarah as 22 July 1787, which is exactly two years too early (as shown by her birth record in Chelsea, Vermont). I believe that the birth date of James as recorded in the Bible is also a year or two too early, for the following reason: James’s older brother Stoddard, the first child of his parents, was born 14 Feb. 1780, apparently the only Hunt child recorded in the Sharon vital records. Also, in the Hunt Bible record, the births of the first two children of James and Sarah Hunt are off by a year, as compared to the vital records from Tunbridge, Vermont. The Hunt Bible record would appear to have been compiled by daughter Esther as an adult.
3. ↑ letter from Mitchell Hunt, 15 Nov. 1985, citing the Evelyn Merryman Hunt Genealogy, Haverhill, Mass.
4. ↑ Vermont Vital Records; the office was in Montpelier, but I understand that it has sinced moved to Waterbury.
5. ↑ Vermont Vital Records. The Hunt Bible gives Sarah’s date of birth as 22 July 1787. See note above.
6. ↑ Letter from Bessie (Tobey) Rasmussen to John Schmeeckle stating that Frances Hunt (daughter of James) was born in Crawford Co., Penn. Frances was born 25 Dec. 1817, according to the Hunt Bible record.
7. ↑ Portrait and Biographical Record of Du Page and Cook Counties, Illinois (1894), p. 209.
8. ↑ Portrait and Biographical Record of Du Page and Cook Counties, Illinois (1894), p. 209. The relevant paragraph reads: “James J. Hunt, a retired merchant of Naperville, claims Pennsylvania as the State of his nativity. He was born in Crawford County, in 1824, and is a son of James and Sarah (Jewell) Hunt. The parents were natives of the Green Mountain State, and had nine children, of which James J. was the fourth in order of birth. The father was a blacksmith, and in 1830 went with his family to Erie, Pa. In 1844 he came to Naperville, but not long after went to De Kalb County, where he and his wife spent their remaining days.”
9. ↑ e-mail 23 June 2001 from Joanne Martin of Littleton, Col., who has a photo of the gravestone; there is now a photo of the gravestone on Sarah’s memorial page at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46651332
10. ↑ There is a photo of his gravestone on his memorial page at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46651279
11. ↑ Dates of birth of the first two children are from Vermont Vital Records; later children from the extract of the Hunt Bible provided by Mary Lou Brammer.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to John Schmeeckle for creating WikiTree profile Hunt-5498 through the import of Tobey.ged on Dec 4, 2013.