Am looking for any information on a HUNT family located in Macon County from at least 1860. The family was originally from Ireland and came to the US probably between 1849 and 1856 (see note below for 1900 census.

IN THE 1860 CENSUS HERE IS WHAT IS LISTED:

Father's name Edward, (Ned in only 1 census) age 50, born Ireland;
Mother was Catherine, age 35, born Ireland
CHILDREN:
William, age 19, born Ireland
James, age 12, born Ireland
Catherine, age 8, born Ireland
Bridget, age 6, born Ireland - Married Andrew FLYNN in Macon Co. in 1877
Anna, age 2, born Illinois - Full name Anastasia, married a T. (?) PADGETT
Margaret, age 4 months - Still single, age 49 in 1910 Census, Macon Co.

In the 1900 census Edward was listed age 89; Katie age 79; married 61 years, 9 children, 5 living. He shows having immigrated in 1851 and she shows 1854.

If any of this rings a bell please contact me.
Thanks, Gretchen FLYNN
EMAIL: dddarwin@aol.com

Gretchen,

I found a reference to the death of an Edward Hunt in an end of the year survey, printed on 2 January1903 in the "Decatur Herald." So I searched the paper for the day after his death, and found this obituary. Although the age does not agree with the census, this appears to be the father of the family your are searching for. This is the kind of obituary all of us would like to find for an ancestor - it tells a little bit of information about his whole life.

"The Decatur Semi-Weekly Herald," Decatur, Illinois, Friday, 9 May 1902, p. 7

"LACKED FEW YEARS
Of Having Reached His One Hundredth Birthday

THE DEATH OF EDWARD HUNT
At age of 96 years - Was the Father of Contractor P. H. Hunt - Funeral Saturday

The death of Edward Hunt, father of Contractor P. H. Hunt, occurred at his home, 1060 East Eldorado Street, Thursday morning at 2:30 o'clock. The demise of Mr. Hunt was not unexpected, he having been in failing health for some time and being well advanced in years. Notwithstanding this he manifested wonderful vitality, having been up and around his home on Wednesday morning. About 10 o'clock that morning the old gentlmen felt tired and went to bed. The family physician was called and said that Mr. Hunt could not live, that his time had come. When the dissoultion came he was surrounded by his venerable wife, Catherine Hunt, and his children, Mrs. Anna Padgett, Miss Maggie Hunt, Patrick Hunt, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
At the time of his death, Mr. Hunt was in his 96th year. He was born in Ireland and was married there to Catherine Bronnock. The couple came to America in 1840 and first took up their residence in Kentucky, but five years later removed to Springfield, where they resided for five years. In 1850 Mr Hunt became a citizen of Macon County. He revoved to Niantic and there built the first house in that town and made his home there for several years. He went there to assist in the work of building what is now known at the Wabash Railroad. When the track laying reached the town a wood and water station was established and for a time Niantic, from a railroad point of view, was looked upon as more important that Decatur.
For a period of ten years he looked after the station for the company, assisted by some of his sons. In those days the engines, which were not many on the road, had to take water from hand pumps and Mr. Hunt looked after that work in addition to piling the cord wood which was used for fuel, and looking after the station.
He invested in land north and east of the town, the settlers and neighbors at that time being Jesse Lockhart, Joab Wilkinson, Dr. Henry Clark, Dr. Pharis and the decedent, who is the last of that coterie of old settlers to die. With the breaking out of the war and the entry of his sons in the service, Mr. Hunt abandoned his duties as agent for the company and devoted himself to farming, which pursuit he followed until 1875, when he removed to Decatur and has since been a resident of this city.
Up until the time of his death his mind remainded clear and his memory good. The morning before he died he was recounting old times. He was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
Two of his sons died several years ago; one was William Hunt, who in the war of the rebellion was a member of the 116th Illinois; he died about sixteen years ago; another son, who died twenty-two years ago was James Hunt; in the war he was a member of the 10th Illinois Cavalary. Patrick Hunt, a surviving son, was also in the service of Uncle Sam during the war; he acted as a carpenter.
The funeral services will be held from St. patrick's Catholic Church on Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock."

Hope this helps you with your search

Donnie Nazelrod

Good Morning Donnie,
Thanks so much for the Obit on Edward HUNT. Sorry to have taken so long to get back to you but was busy trying to check and cross check all the information that I had on Edward and his family.

Haven't been able to find Edward in 1850 in Illinois, nor have I been able to prove (with the obit) that Edward and Catherine were the parents of my Bridget Hunt who married Andrew FLYNN on January 24, 1877 Macon County, Illinois.

Bridget HUNT was listed with her husband Andrew FLYNN in the 1880 Census. She was age 24 and living in Brookfield, Linn County Missouri. In the 1885 Nebraska Census she was listed as age 27 in Grand Island, Hall County, Nebraska. That would put her being born probably between 1856 & 1858 but that also is not positive. She died in January 1886 so no further records are available. Even her's and Andrew's gravesites are unknown.....only comment was in Andrew's obit stating he would be buried west of Grand Island where his wife was buried earlier. Andrew died June 22, 1887 only about a year and a half after Bridget. They left 3 small children, Joseph 9; Pearl 7; Annie 5.

1860 CENSUS: Niantic, Macon County, Illinois
Ned 50, Catherine 35, William 19, James 12, Catherine 8, Bridget 6, Anna 2, Margaret 4 months. All born Ireland except Anna & Margaret who were born Illinois.
NOTE: This does not jibe with when the obit says he came over in 1840.

1870 CENSUS: Niantic, Macon County, Illinois
Edward 50, Kate 45, Kate 14, Annie 12, - Maggie 9, William 29
NOTE: William & Maggie HUNT are on lines 1 & 2 - Previous page lists the other 4 but they are indexed "HANTY". This time is lists Kate 14, Annie 12 & Maggie 9 as having been born in Illinois. Missing is James who would be about 22 and Bridget about 16.

1880 CENSUS: Decatur, Macon County, Illinois
Edward 68, Catherine 63, Margaret 19.

1900 CENSUS: Decatur, Macon County, Illinois
Edward 89, Katie 79, Maggie 37 - Also living with them are Anasticoa PADGETT 39 daughter; Theodore 21 grandson, Clara 22 granddaughter, Theodore 11 months great grandson.

1910 CENSUS: Decatur, Macon County, Illinios
T.P. PADGETT 31, Clara 32, Theophilus 10, Geraldine 9, Edwina 7, Kathyrn 4, Phillipp 1, Anastasia 50 mother, Margaret HUNT 49 aunt.
NOTE: Page was very faint and hard to read.

1920 CENSUS - Decatur, Macon County, Illinois
Anna S. PADGETT 54, Edward Keating 34 (or 54) nephew.

1930 CENSUS - Decatur, Macon County, Illinois
Stasia PADGETT 71 servant. Living with Manada BUNN 87 & her daughter Edna M 55

PROBLEMS:
(1) Patrick was listed in none of the censuses but he could have been older than William. In which case he might have moved away from home before the 1860 Census.
(2) Bridget shows up only in the 1860 census - Could have been any number of reasons why she was not in the 1870 census. After that she was married (if she's the correct Bridget).
(3) Bridget was not mentioned in Edward's obituary - Edward faithfully mentioned his sons, Patrick, William, James. However only 2 daughters were mentioned in the obit - Anna PADGETT & Maggie Hunt. Bridget and Catherine? Neither were mentioned.

All this means is that it puts me back to square one to do a lot more checking. I will join the HUNT list and send the data there and also put it on the Macon County Message Board in case anyone else is searching for this family.

Thanks for all the time and effort you put on this, Gretchen

There was a Pat Hunt listed in the Heritage Quest index to the 1900 census of Decatur - he was 53 years old and born in Ireland. If this is the right man, it would make him younger than James and older than William. The image was very blurred at the bottom of the page and I was unable to read it (Ward 1, Decatur, Macon Co., IL - T623/323, p. 74), but it was continued on the next page with WInfield Hunt, son, 20, b. KY, father b. Ireland, mother b. KY (Law Student); Katie J. Hunt (named for Catherine?), dau., 17, b. Illinois, parents b. Ireland/KY; Patricia M., dau., 16, same nativities; Carlisle F.,
son, 14, same nativities.

In 1880 I found a Patrick Hunt listed in Ward 9, Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky (p. 16B). His birth place was given as Illinois (?) and his parents births as Ireland. His wife Maria was born in KY. They had an unnamed son, 1 month old, which would make him the same age as WInfield of the 1900 census who was born May 1880. Although the birth place for Patrick given here is dicey, it looks like these may be the same people - if you could read the return for 1900 to see if the names of the older son matches those in the 1880 census.

From this is would appear that Patrick may have stayed in Kentucky, or returned to Kentucky, after his parents settled in Illinois. He married there, had children, and then migrated to Macon County. An obituary for Edward Hunt that was in one of the other Decatur papers was almost identical to the one I sent you, except it said that the Hunts settled in Kentucky, where they had relatives, and that they moved to Sprinfield, where a sister of Edward's lived. So if they had family in Kentucky, Patrick may have stayed with them.

I also found a 16 year old Bridget Hunt, born in Ireland, living in Ward 7, Louisville, KY, in 1870. She was working as a nurse (there was a 1 year old and a 1 month old baby in the household) for the family of Edward and Dora Graner (both b. Prussia so not related to the Hunts). It is possible that this would be your Bridget, and that she was living in Kentucky with relatives and had gotten a job on her own. Something to consider.

Since Bridget died in 1886 (and not being a son) it is understandable that she was not mentioned in the obituary. The obituary only gives the number of grandchildren, etc, who were attendant at the old man's death bed - not the total number of descendants he had. So this would not exclude Bridget Flynn's children from a total count.

Edward's will was filed soon after his death - he left his estate to his widow Catherine, and after her death to pass to Maggie and Anastasia Padgett. I suppose he felt Patrick was able to take care of himself, and the maiden daughter and the widowed daughter would be better able to use the proceeds of the estate. No mention was made of Bridget or her children.

Another thing that lends credence to Patrick's living outside Illinois, was the mention of the military service. William and James service is Illinois companies is detailed, because it would be of interest to other people with connections to Illinois units. Patrick's service is only that he served as a carpenter. If you checked for a Patrick Hunt who served from Kentucky, you may be able to connect him - perhaps through the 1890 veteran's schedule of Macon County.

William and James are buried in Calvary (Catholic) Cemetery, and probably Edward and Catherine are also. This cemetery has been published (I think in Vol. 6) by the Decatur Gen. Soc. If you could get someone to do a look-up for you in this cemetery you may find their gravestones. If their daughter Bridget died as a child, she may be buried there (but she may also be buried in Niantic township where they lived before1875).

These are just a few suggestions on avenues that you may persue - I looked in the indexes of several Macon/Decatur history & biography books, but could see no entry for Edward or Patrick Hunt that might name their whole family.

Good luck with your searching.

Donnie

Found the obituary of Patrick H. Hunt in the Decatur "Daily Review" of 19 May 1909. He was the son of Edward Hunt and Catherine Bannock, born in County Kilkenny, Ireland on 1 December 1844. His family came to this country when he was two years old (1846). He was one of nine children, with only two sisters surviving him, Anastasia and Maggie.

Patrick did move to Louisville, Kentucky when he was 18 years old and learned masonry work and sold marble. He married Maria Tierney there, and eventually returned to Decatur where he ran a large contracting company.

So Edward and Catherine had nine children, but only the surviving children and the two sons who fought in the Civil War were mentioned in his obituary. This leaves plenty of room for your Bridget to fit in there. She may well be the Bridget who was working in Louisville in 1870.

Donnie Nazelrod

Hi Donnie,
Thanks for all of your help on this. Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner.....house is in "Chaos" due to a broken water line, looks like it will be that way for quite a while.

In the meantime, until I can get further proof that this was Bridget's family, it is on hold.

I did find one other family that looks even more promising but since I can't do a thing until I can get some concrete information I'm at a standstill.

The other family is found in 1870 and 1880 in Peoria Illinois. In 1870 the Father is James, age 28; mother is Mary, age 27, Children are: Bridget 11; Joseph 5; Annie 3; Mary 6 months. In 1880 Bridget was no longer their (my Bridget and Andrew were married 1877). Joseph is now 15, Annie 12 & Mary 10. There are two more children, James 7 & Louisa 4.

The reason I think this looks even more promising is the fact that Andrew Flynn & Bridget Hunt had at least 3 and maybe 4 children. Their names were: Joseph, Pearl & Annie. If there was a 4th child her name was Mary.

Anyway, thanks again for all you imput and help, Gretchen Flynn

Just had to share with you. Edward and Catharine's son James Hunt who married Mary Tobin is my GrGrGreatGrandfather. I have been working on this family for the past week and came up with exactly the same problems you did. Wish I had read this message board first. The only new tidbit I found that you didn't mention, was an article in The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois)on 09 Sept 1911 about daughter Anastasia Padgett (Ancestry.com 5 of 18)
Saying she had lost a court case in Denver, Colorado regarding her claim to the estate of the late David H. Padgett. She wanted Mrs. Katherine Padgett whom he married in 1891 removed as administratrix(?) of the estate. So Anna wasn't a widow after all. Bigamy? Nice to see I'm not the only one looking for answers to this mixed up family.