Some say that this Ralph Hunt came to America in 1635 at age 22. Penn. Register of Colonial Dames, p. 221: "Ralph Hunt,Newtown, Long Island, Lieut. under Gov. Nicholls in 1655". We have no problem with this. Willrecorded at Hall of Records in N. Y. Will admitted to probate Feb.26, 1676/7.
Carl Fletcher, a descendant of Ralph Hunt, recenty sent a passenger list of the ship "Primrose" that sailed from London to Virginia, July 27, 1635 with 138 on board. One of the passengers was a Ralph Hunt aged 22. Perhaps this was our Ralph Hunt and provides the proof of when and how he arrived??? - Copy of Passenger List: 'Primrose' - London to Virginia, July 27, 1635 originally discovered by Dr Allan Mortensen of Ripon WI. (another Ralph Hunt descendant).
The earliest information on Ralph Hunt is his arrival on Long Island
near Manhattan Island in an area governed by the Dutch in 1652 "among
a party of Englishmen". Some have added "came from England" but that
is something not yet established as of 1985. For a meaningful and
accurate treatise on this Ralph read Mitchell Hunt's "An Evaluation of
the Consuelo Furman Manuscript" 1985. Copies available from LDS.
His will dated Jan12 1676 codicil 13 Jan 1676-7, administration
granted 25 Feb. 1676-7 to his son Edward as sole executor with Captain
Betts and John Burroughs as overseers.
He died at Newtown Long Island. Will could be in Hall of Records as
stated above. When he came to America is a matter of speculation in
spite of other speculative dates published in other genealogies.
Lewis D. Cook of Philadelphia, PA has made the most thoroughexamination and documentation yet found on the descendants of RalphHunt of Long Island. Work extending through the period 1940-1970, withan unpublished manuscript and two other volumes of supportinginformation filed with the Pennsylvania Historical Society Library inPhiladelphia.
Source: The Pioneering Spirit. The Hunt Family.
Compiled by Beverly (Wynn) Yount. Richmond IN Copyright 1956.
Mrs. Charles O. Yount
2414 N.W. "B" Street
Richmond IN 47375
Sent to me by Imogene B Moore.
The following are portions of material in the AMERICAN HUNT FAMILY
GENEOLOGY, June 15, 1912, Vol. 1, No. 24 on file in the Los Angels
Public Library.
"Ralph Hunt, founder of the Long Island and New Jersey families, was among
the first settlers in what is now Newtown, Long Island in 1652. His name
appears on the Indian rate of 1658. On June 9, 1653, he was one of seven
citizens of trust appointed to conduct the affairs of the town for the ensuing
year. He seems to have been a leader in all the public affairs and was
foremost among his neighbors in defying the authority of the Dutch govenor
Stuyvesant on Manhatten Island. He was one of seven men who went across
the Long Island Sound to Westchester in the night and brought Panton with a
company of men over to beat arms against the Dutch. When the English
family acquired New Netherlands and drove the Dutch away, he was one of
the first two magistrates appointed under the English rule. On April 21, 1665,
he was commissioned Lieutenant by the English Governor Nicoll.
When the Indian title was extinguished and the new town, now called
Newtown, ??ected, march 1, 1664, he was one of the patentees included in
the royal charter.
He was one of the first three surveyors appointed to lay out the lots of the new
settlers; was appointed one of the magistrates in 1673; and was named one of
the patentees when the charter of the town was confirmed by the Governor. It
was said of him that he enjoyed the confidence of the people and was their
guide and counselor in all matters of importance in the community."
=======================================================================================
Source: HUNT HOUSEHOLDS OF SUSSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
from Various Sources by William C. Armstrong, A.M.
Author of the Armstrong Record and of the Lundy Family
vol. 1 & 2 combined N.J. GENEALOGICAL MAG. 1925-27
Ralph Junt settled at Newtown, Long Island, before April 1656, when he was
assessed L1 as his quota toward the purchase of 13,332 acres of land from the
Indians. In 1671 he donated land for the first church edifice. He died early in
1672. His fourth child, Samuel Hunt, removed to Lawrenceville.
Source: Imogene B Moore.
The will of Ralph Hunt is recorded at the Hall of Records, New York, Liber 1-2
"First, I bequeathe my soule to God my Maker through my Lord Jesus Christ my redeemer
and my body to the earth from whens it came and as for what earthly Estate the Lord hath
bestowed on me I by this will of Mine Give and bequeath as follows:
First my will is that all my just debts be truely paid and the Remainder to be disposed of
as followeth. It is my will and desire to have my sonn Edward to be hole and sole
administrator of this my estate paying until his other three brothers as they come of age
their portion by equal for my daughter Mary I do give to her two cows six sheep and the
feather bed which I now ly on. And as for my daughter Anna's three children, I give to
each of them a sheepe. This will of mine being Ritt when I had my perfect Memory
although very sick and weak. Captayne Betts and John Burroughs I doe desire to be
overseers with my son in law Theophilus Phillips of this my will."
his
Ralph Hunt
mark
Witness
Edward Stevenson
John _______
Thomas Morrell
"Memorandum January the 13th in the (year) of our Lord 1676/7. My will and full desire is
also that my daughter Anna shall have as full and as good a porshon with that she hath all
Redy as any of the Rest of my children and as for the Red Coate shee hath all Redy in
her possession it is my will and desire to have it evalued and the one ha1£e to be given
unto my daughter Mary this is my full will and desire."
his
Ralph Hunt
mark
Witness
______Burroughs
Edward Hunt
(Will admitted to probate Feb. 26, 1676/77)
“In Riker's "Annals of Newtown" we find the name of Ralph Hunt among a party of Englishmen who emigrated to Long Island in 1652. He was also one of the party who purchased Middleburg in 1656, his share of the purchase being one pound. January 7, 1662-3, he was chosen one of seven men to conduct the affairs of the town. In 1663, he, with other leading men, was denounced for resisting Dutch authority, aiding to form a junction with the Connecticut colony.
In February, 1663-4, he was chosen, with six others, in the name of his majesty, Charles II, to town office in Hastings (the new name of Middleburg), for the ensuing year. In 1664 he was admitted as a freeman of the colony of Connecticut, and was chosen a surveyor to view the "Indian reserved lands," which the town was to purchase. April 21, 1665, he was commissioned lieutenant of the military in Newtown (the new name of Hastings), by Governor Nicholl, and from November, 1666 to April, 1668, was the town overseer.
December 4, 1666, he was a freeholder of Newtown named in the list, and the same year was also "overseer" of Edward Jessop's will. January 4, 1666-7, he was one of the eleven land holders who agreed to enclose their lands in a single field for cultivation. March 1666-7, after having been appointed by the town to get a draught of boundaries, he became one of the patentees of "Newtowne, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, upon Long Island." April 2, 1667, he was chosen constable. About 1668, his house and barns, with all his effects, were destroyed by fire, together with the corn which he had collected for rates. January, 1667-8, he was chosen permanent surveyor, and in 1670 elected town overseer.
In 1671, the first church edifice in Newtown was erected on a "gore" of land appropriated for the church by Ralph Hunt. The site is at the corner of Main street and Jamaica Road, the corner house recently owned by Peter Duryea.
On September 6, 1673, he was sworn to office as a "Shepen," or magistrate, upon the reinstating of Dutch authority. He died early in 1677, and his biographer gave a glowing tribute to his high character and usefulness as a man and citizen.
His children were: (1) Ralph, (2) Edward, who died in 1716 after a life of eminent usefulness;(*) (3) John, of Newtown, L. I.; (4) Samuel, (5) Ann, who married Theophilus Phillips??, and
(6) Mary. “
The Original Lists OF PERSONS OF QUALITY [Regi]ster of the names of all ye Passinger wch Passed from ye Port of London for on whole yeare Endinge at Xpmas 1635.
RALPH HUNT 22
Paulette (Hunt) Crawford
Hunt History #1, Ralph Hunt of Long Island. No relation to Thomas
Hunt of Westchester.
RALPH HUNT.1652, pioneer at Long Island, first appears on Long
Island across the East River from Manhattan Island in 1652,
apparently at that time with a wife and one daughter (ANNA). He
subsequently had four sons (Edward, Ralph, John, Samuel) and a
daughter Mary b. on Long Island, identified in his will of Jan
1676/7, administration granted to his son Edward 25 Feb 1676/7.
Most of his children and grandchildren were pioneer settlers at
Maidenhead (Lawrence) and Hopewell Townships, NJ, in the years
around 1700 and from there many descendants became explorers and
traders along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, NC, KY, TN, IA, IL,
MS, OK, and across the plains to Utah, California, Oregon and
Washington. There has been nothing to indicate that any of this
family ever settled in Vermont or elsewhere in New England,
although a few moved up the Delaware River and into Western New
York State in the 19th century. However, Ralph Hunt of LI produced
a prolific line of Hunts which had many outstanding people of
National significance in the development of the U.S. It is well at
this point to point out many of the errors which appear in
histories and genealogies respect to Ralph Hunt and his descendants
for several generations, errors which have continued to appear in
publications up to and through the mid 1900s.
Ralph Hunt has variously been reported (erroneously) as a
brother or son of the pioneer Thomas Hunt of Westchester, NY; also
as the same Ralph Hunt who appears in Virginia in 1635 (also
untrue--a 1955 study which claims to have demonstrated that the two
were the same produces evidence to the contrary). Various dates are
given for his birth (all incorrect) and statements are made
purporting to give the name of his wife (it remains unknown). He
is assumed to have come from England (probably true) but extensive
contemporary research in early New York records and records in
England by a group of dedicated descendants in person and through
professional genealogists in New York area and England have failed
to come up with any clue as to where he came from or who his
ancestors were. His grandson John Hunt (with brothers Samuel,
Edward, Ralph--the four sons of the pioneer Ralph's son John) were
early settlers in Hopewell NJ, where they are mixed in with various
uncles and cousins with similar names. A pervasive legend was
started in the mid-1800s that the grandson John Hunt (who married
Margaret Moore 8 FEb 1714 at the Presby. Church of Newtown, LI, and
settled in Hopewell NJ) was not a descendant of Ralph Hunt and
relative of many other Hunts of Hopewell, but a son of John and
Elizabeth (Chudleigh) Hunt of an armorial family of Hunts of
Chudleigh, the son presumed to have come briefly to Long Island,
and then moved Hopewell, NJ where he was "the start of the New
Jersey Line of Hunts." This legend , questionable on its face, has
been subject of controversy for over 100 years and appears in
numerous histories and genealogical works. It should finally be laid to
rest by the direct documentary evidence found through the WILLs
(two of them) of John's brother Samuel Hunt of Hopewell NJ which
identify the John Hunt who married Margaret Moor(e) as the son of John
Hunt of LI and grandson of the pioneer Ralph Hunt. This is not to say
that the various errors discovered on Ralph Hunt will not continue to be
perpetuated--they are found in numerous published works through the mid
20th century; some lists of early Hunts who migrated from England to
America include John Hunt who m. Margaret Moore in the list; some
professional genealogists in England fed back answers to inquiries
giving the same information: all springing from the same fabricated
legend."
"Sources of further information are cited below.
"[The late Lewis D. Cook, then of Philadelphia, has made the most
thorough examination and documentation yet found on the descendants of
Ralph Hunt, work extending through the period 1940-1970 and culminating
in an unpublished ms of 216 pages which was left with the Pennsylvania
Historical Society Library in Philadelphia. The
present writer(Mitchell Hunt)was sufficiently impressed with this
document that microfilm copies were made and distributed to other
libraries (VT. Historical Society, CT STate Library, NEHGS in Boston, NY
State Library, and Library of Congress, and a few other places) where it
would be available to researchers. The present
writer has continued to expand upon the work of COOK and assembled much
more data,. especially on the families which were pioneers at Rowan Co.,
NC, and their wanderings from there. For a brief review of the family of
Ralph Hunt in relation to that of his neighbor,Thomas Hunt of
Westchester, see Mitchell J. Hunt, "An Evaluation
of the Consuelo Furman Manuscript"...Dec. 1985, copies of which were
given the same distribution noted for the Cook manuscript above.]"
(but no name index-copies are now available with an index-just ask)
This completes the discourse on Ralph Hunt and family of which Col.
Jonathan Hunt was a descendant.
Descendants of Ralph HUNT - 25 Jun 1997
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
FIRST GENERATION
1. Ralph HUNT was born between 1620 and 1630 in unknown. He died in
1676/77 in Newtown, Long Island, New York. Some say that this Ralph
Hunt came to America in 1635 at age 22. Never proven. Penn. Register of
Colonial Dames, p. 221: "Ralph Hunt, Newtown, Long Island, Lieut.
under Gov. Nicholls in 1655". We have no problem with this. Will
recorded at Hall of Records in N. Y. Will admitted to probate Feb. 26,
1676/7.
The earliest information on Ralph Hunt is his arrival on Long Island
near Manhattan Island in an area governed by the Dutch in 1652 "among
a party of Englishmen". Some have added "came from England" but that
is something not yet established as of 1985. For a meaningful and
accurate treatise on this Ralph read Mitchell Hunt's "An Evaluation of
the Consuelo Furman Manuscript" 1985. Copies available from LDS.
His will dated Jan12 1676 codicil 13 Jan 1676-7, administration
granted 25 Feb. 1676-7 to his son Edward as sole executor with Captain
Betts and John Burroughs as overseers.
He died at Newtown Long Island. Will could be in Hall of Records as
stated above. When he came to America is a matter of speculation in
spite of other speculative dates published in other genealogies.
Lewis D. Cook of Philadelphia, PA has made the most thorough examination
and documentation yet found on the descendants of Ralph Hunt of Long
Island. Work extending through the period 1940-1970, with an unpublished
manuscript and two other volumes of supporting information filed with
the Pennsylvania Historical Society Library in Philadelphia.
He was married to Ann UNKNOWN about 1649 in Long Island, New York. Ann
UNKNOWN was born about 1628. Ralph HUNT and Ann UNKNOWN had the
following children:
+2 i. Anna HUNT.
+3 ii. Edward HUNT.
+4 iii. Mary HUNT. <<<******************************
+5 iv. Ralph HUNT.
+6 v. John HUNT.
+7 vi. Samuel HUNT.
SECOND GENERATION
2. Anna HUNT was born in 1650. She died on 6 Feb 1681/82. Married
Theophillus Phillips. The father Theophilus m. 2nd Patient_______ and m.
3rd Elizabeth Townsend, having twin daughters Elizabeth and Mary by
third wife before he died testate in Newtown, LI 26 Jan 1688-9, his
brother Joseph Phillips, brother-in-law Edward Hunt and fatgher-in-law
(John) Townsend as oversears, his wife and Elizabeth and son Theophilus
executors.
She was married to Theophillus PHILLIPS about 1671. Theophillus
PHILLIPS was born about 1650.
3. Edward HUNT was born about 1652 in Long Island, New York. He died
on 15 Feb 1715/16 in Newtown, Long Island, New York. !Edward was
executor of his father's will. Edward left a will, Probated 29 Feb. 1715,
naming his children. This comes from Mrs. Orson Haynie's research paper,
original in Genealogical Soc. of New Jersey archives. The children I have
listed are not necessarily in correct order and have approximate birthdates.
(FKG) He was married first to Sarah Betts (no known children).
He was married to Sarah BETTS about 1652. Sarah BETTS died before 16
Mar 1711. Edward HUNT and Sarah BETTS had the following children:
8 i. Edward HUNT was born on 4 Feb 1683/84 in Newtown LI.
She died in Dec 1759 in Maidenhead (now Lawrence), NJ. Edward, b. 4 Feb.
1683-4; removed from Newtown, LI "in 1716" to land owned by his father in
Maidenhead Township, Hunterdon Co., NJ, on which he was living (and
inherited part of his father's will of 1715-16), where he died testate in
December of 1759. The name of his wife has not been discovered (but not the
Elizabeth, dau. of Jonathan and Hannah [Lawrenson] Hazzard as reported in
WYMAN), and she is not mentioned in his will dated 28 Oct. 1757 and proved
13 December 1759. Had children: Edward (who m. Charity Hunt, p. 17, and died
before his father); James, b. 1725 (who was left by his father "the
plantation" on which he [James] now dwells) (in New Jersey!); Sarah who m.
Isaac Lanning; Anna bapt. 13 Sept. 1715 at Hopewell, m. before 1757 but name
of husband not discovered; Angelica who m. Ebenezer Erle; Eleanor, b. 1728,
m. Henry Cook.
+9 ii. Richard HUNT.
+10 iii. Ralph HUNT.
11 iv. Sarah HUNT. Sarah, who m. in Jan. 1715 Silas Titus,
per register of the Presb. Ch. of Newtown, LI
12 v. Martha HUNT was born Living in 1716 NFI.
13 vi. Anna HUNT died before 1716. Anna who died before
1716 and not mentioned in father's will; probably the Anna Hunt who m. Isaac
Reeder 21 May 1711. Reeder later died testate in Trenton Twp., Hunterdon Co.,
NJ in 1763, aged 85 years.
He was married to Elizabeth HAZZARD about 1680 in Long Island, New York.
Elizabeth HAZZARD was born about 1660. Edward HUNT and Elizabeth
HAZZARD had the following children:
14 i. Thomas HUNT was born after 1695 in Newtown LI. He
died 1759 (see notes) in Freedon, Sussex Co., NJ. By 2nd wife Elizabeth
Hazzard.
Thomas Hunt, b. after 1695, underage at time of father's will of 15 Jan.
1715/16. He and brother Jonathan divided the paternal homestead in Newton,
LI, and has been presumed to have died before 3 Sep 1747 in as much as he
was not mentioned in his mother's Will in LI at that date. However, his name
is found in admissions to the Presby. CH of Hopewell, NJ, abt 1733, he had
(according to Ralph Ege, a noted Historian of Hopewell and a descendant) a
daughter Margaret who m. in 1749 at Hopewell Adam Ege, b. 1728. Thomas Hunt
appears to be the one living later at Whitehouse, Somerton Co., NJ and
removed about 1756 to Fredon, Sussex Co., NJ. His only known son was Edward
Hunt of Fredon, b. abt 1739 (an erroneous date of 1744 has been seen) who m.
Hannah Pierson and had 12 children of which details are available but passed
over at this point. This Edward has been erroneously reported in several
genealogical compilations as the son of Thomas-3, son of Samuel-2 (see p. 26)
but this Edward appears to have been the grandson of Edward-2. Much remains
to be learned about subject Thomas Hunt.
+15 ii. Jonathan HUNT I.
16 iii. Elizabeth HUNT was born about 1686. Elizabeth,
appears to have died between 1733 and 1747 as she is not mentioned in her
mother's will. On 22 Oct. 1733 one John White of Newton, LI. conveyed land
there to "Elizabeth Hunt, spinster dau. of Edward Hunt, deceased" and she
was received into membership by the Presb. Ch. of Newtown on 5 Feb. 1738
and is presumably the Elizabeth Hunt who m. there John Reeder on 14 May,1739
17 iv. Hannah HUNT was born about 1696 in Long Island.
Hannah, b. 21 Mar. 1709, m. Thomas Smith by whom she had 7 Ch. born between
1735 and 1755, died 7 Aug. 1759 aged 47, per her gravestone as Hannah Smith
in Upper Burying Ground in Lawrenceville, NJ.
18 v. Abigail HUNT was born about 1690 in Long Island.
Abigail Hunt, b. 17 Nov 1712, died unmarried at Newtown, LI 26 Aug. 1747.
***************************************************************************
4. Mary HUNT was born about 1654 in Long Island. Some documents say Mary
married Francis Combs (ancestor of Charles Carroll Gardner, vice-pres. of
Genealogical Society of New Jersey).
Later research shows convincingly that she m. John Hart of Newtowne, LI. See
Mitchell Hunt; manuscript on Consuelo Furman. (op.Cit). He may have married
twice.(Page 14).
The Hart families of New Jersey included some quite distinguished people
including a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Further detail can be
found.
The death date of Mary has not been discovered. (1996).
She was married to Francis COMBS about 1675. Francis COMBS was born about
1650.
She was married to John HART. John died in 1712/13 in Maidenhead (now
Lawrence), NJ. He was born in Newtowne, LI.
(sbh) Col. Sanford B. Hunt <sbh3@juno.com>
JOHN HUGHES HUNT.
John Hughes Hunt, of Williamsport, born April 18, 1830, in War ren county, New Jersey, is a lineal descendant of Ralph Hunt, a native of England, who was supposed to have been a Royalist and a warm partisan of Charles Stuart II, in whose army he was probably engaged against the commonwealth, and who upon the defeat of the young king and his consequent flight into Normandy as well as the unsettled condition of affairs in England during the reign of Cromwell, was led to look to America, whither he came and settled in what is now Queens county, Long Island, where he was one of a company that purchased from the Indians the land on which Newtown, in said county, is situated, in 1656, and was one of the patentees thereof. The purchase money for the land of Newtown was one pound. Ralph Hunt settled on the island when Peter Stuyvesant was Governor of the Dutch and was admitted to an equality with them in the management of their affairs, but afterward incurred their displeasure on account of his opposition to some of Stuyvesant's despotic acts toward the English Connecticut colony. In 1662 he was chosen one of the officers to conduct the affairs of the town; in 1663 was chosen to town office by Charles II; in 1664 was admitted as a freeman of the Connecticut colony; in 1665 was commissioned lieutenant of the militia of the town by Governor Nickoll; in 1666 was elected freeholder of Newtown, and in 1667 was chosen constable, besides filling other similar positions. His house and barn with their contents were destroyed by fire in 1668, and the first church edifice in New town was erected on land donated by him in 1671. His will was dated January 12, 1676. He was survived by the following children: Ralph, Edward, John, Samuel, Anna and Mary.
Samuel Hunt, youngest son of Ralph and Anne Hunt, settled at Maidenhead (now Lawrenceville), Mercer county, New Jersey, where he possessed considerable lands and other large estate. His will was dated January 15, 1717. He was survived by his wife Abigail and seven children: Samuel, Ralph, John, Thomas, Jesse, Mary and Anna. He bequeathed his homestead farm to his son Samuel and his widow Abigail. He bequeathed to Ralph and John other lands, and to the remainder of his children certain legacies.
Thomas Hunt, son of Samuel and Abigail Hunt, was born about the year 1705. He was a resident of Amwell township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, where he is supposed to have been the owner of considerable real estate. He was also the owner of several hundred acres of land in Greenwich, Sussex (now Warren) county. His wife, Abigail Hunt, bore him several children.
Edward Hunt, son of Thomas and Abigail Hunt, was born in 1734. At some period prior to 1772 he became a resident of Greenwich, Sussex county, and lived on his father's land in that township. In the same year he purchased of Israel Pemberton two hundred and twenty-two and a half acres of land lying at the junction of the Delaware and Musconetcong rivers, which is described in the deed as a part of a tract of sixteen thousand and five hundred acres that William Penn, Gawen Lourie, Nicholas Lucas and Edward Billinge conveyed to Robert Squib in 1676, and the same which Squib's executors, Nathan Filson and Johnathan Johnson, conveyed to Thomas Byerly in 1705, whose representatives, Charles Williams and Thomas Jones, granted the same to Israel Pemberton in 1771. In 1779 Edward Hunt purchased of his father a tract of two hundred and sixty-six and three-quarters acres adjoining the Pemberton tract, which is set out in the deed as a part of what Thomas Hunt purchased of Peter Lott in 1758,-and his lands then extended from the Delaware river to Chelsea Forge (Finesville). When Mr. Hunt came to this part of the country it was mostly an unbroken wilderness and the government of New Jersey subject to the British Crown. Here he erected a log cabin and commenced clearing up a home for himself and family, and after an active life of prosperity for a period of fourteen years, died on some day between the tenth of March, 1786, the date of his will, and the eleventh of April, 1786, the date of its probate. He left a widow and eight children : Edward, William, John, Ann, Rebecca, Katurah, Amelia and Hannah. By his will his lands were to be equally divided between his sons, Edward, William and John, his wife Mary to receive forty pounds per year, have a room to live in with necessary furniture, fire, wood and cow kept during her life. The residue of his personal estate he gave to his five daughters equally divided among them, except that he remembered his grandsons, Thomas Sproul and Edward Vaugn, and directed his negro man Samba to be appraised and kept on the plantation by one of his sons, such son paying the valuation thereof.
William Hunt, son of Edward and Mary Hunt, was born about 1766. He was allotted the upper division of his father's land and included the land on which Finesville is situated. He, like most of the early settlers, first erected on it a log tenement, and afterwards, probably 1800, built himself a stone house, which in 1894 was still standing. He married Rebecca Beavers, who was a daughter of Joseph Beavers, who was a colonel of the Second Regiment, Hunterdon County Militia, in 1776 and held the office during the war. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and settled in Hunterdon county before the Revolutionary war. He was a justice of the peace, and was noted for his love of right doing. He contributed largely toward building the Presbyterian Church at Greenwich, New Jersey, in 1775, of which he was a member. He was the father of two sons and thirteen daughters. His remains were interred in the Greenwich Cemetery of the Presbyterian Church. William and Rebecca Hunt were the parents of four sons and nine daughters Wilson, Joseph, Ralph, Edward, Nancy, Amelia, Katurah, Rachel, Elizabeth, Harriet, Sarah, Pleasance and Mary. William Hunt (father) died at the age of forty-five years; his wife died November 22, 1853, aged eighty-one years.
Ralph Hunt, son of William and Rebecca Hunt, was born in Finesville, New Jersey, February 22, 1800. When a young man he learned the trade of shoemaker, at which he worked until his marriage, when he became a farmer and finally engaged in the business of general store keeping. He was an old line Whig and Republican in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He was united in marriage to Eliza Hughes, daughter of Dr. John S. and Eliza (Bergen) Hughes, and granddaughter of Hugh Hughes, who came from Wales to America and settled on the Musconetcong in Greenwich, Sussex county, New Jersey, about 1750, where he built and operated a forge. He was a lawyer, and in 1764 was appointed by George III. judge of common pleas of Sussex county, and in 1775 was a member of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. He married Martha Breckenridge, of Philadelphia. Three children were born to Ralph and Eliza (Hughes) Hunt: John Hughes, mentioned hereinafter. Mary Martha, who became the wife of Stewart Mellick and resided in Harmony, New Jersey, afterwards removing to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where her death occurred in 1887 or 1888. Henrietta, who became the wife of Elias Deemer, resides in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Mr. Deemer is a prosperous lumber merchant and leading politician, recently elected to Congress, third term.
John Hughes Hunt, son of Ralph and Eliza Hunt, was born in Warren county, New Jersey, April 18, 1830. Throughout his active career he has been prominently identified with the lumber industry and railroad interests. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and of the Masonic fraternity. In 1861 he married Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of John H. Johnson, and after her death married Martha Young, of Ringoes, New Jersey, daughter of John H. and Mary Young, the ceremony being performed in 1880. One child was the issue of the first marriage, Charles Derr, born March 23, 1862. He received a public school education, was engaged in business for four years, after which he learned the trade of machinist. He read medicine with Dr. Doame, and graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1887. He immediately began practice in Williamsport, and has since built up a lucrative professional business. He is a specialist of the eye, ear and throat. He is a member of the State Medical Society. In 1889 Dr. Hunt was married to Anna Maria Schuman, daughter of August Schuman, of Williamsport, and they have one daughter : Helen Elizabeth Hunt.
Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Lycoming County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1906.
"Abstract of Wills on File in the Surrogates Office, City of New York, NY"
(Volume I. 1665-1707)
Vol. 1, Liber 1-2, pp. 41-42, in:
Cornell Library New York State Historical Collection
http://historical.library.cornell.edu:80/Dienst/UI/1.0/Display/cul.nys/nys054 (Dated 13 Jan 1676/77; proved 26 Feb 1676/77. Refers to daughters Mary and
Anna, son Edward and three minor sons, and to son-in-law Theophilus Philips.)
"Genealogy of the Name and Family of Hunt"
Thomas Bellows Wyman
Boston,MA; J. Wilson and Son, 1862-3; p160
"The Annals of Newtown in Queens County, New-York"
James Riker
New York: D. Fanshaw, 1852; p85
"Ralph Hunt was a useful citizen, as the records abundantly prove. He served long as a town surveyor, and as an overseer; and during the reoccu-pation by the Dutch, held the office of schepen, or magistrate. He died early in 1677, leaving sons Ralph, Edward, John, and Samuel, and daughters Ann and Mary - the former then the wife of Theophilus Phillips."
"A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England"
James Savage
Pub. Boston, 1860-1862, Vol. 2, p. 501
"RALPH, Newtown, L. I. 1656, adm. freem. of Conn. 1664; d. 1677.
His s. Ralph, Edward, John, and Samuel, were valua. inhabs. and
he had two ds. Ann, and Mary, d. Ann m. Theophilus Phillips.
Branches of this fam. are at Jamaica, L. I. and Newtown, L. I. and
one went to N. J. Riker, 83.
"New England Marriages Prior To 1700"
Clarence A. Torrey,
(as found on NEHGS CD-ROM, Boston, 2001)
"HUNT, Ralph (-1677) & _____ _____; by 1656; Newtown, LI", ,