William H. Hunt

William H. Hunt was born in 1828 in Washtenaw County, Michigan, probably the son of William (b. 1798) and Mary (b. 1800).

New York native William (elder) married Massachusetts native Mary and they settled in New York for some years. Between 1826 and 1828 they moved to Michigan settling in Washtenaw County. By 1850 William (younger) was living with his family on a farm in Lyons, Ionia County.

He was married to Louisa or Marcia Taylor (d. 1856), and may have had one child: Eli J. (b. 1855).

William (elder) was probably a widower living in Ionia County when he married his second wife Michigan native Emily Smith (1838-1911), on January 2, 1858, in Portland, Ionia County, and they had at least four and possibly six children: Lillie Belle (b. 1858, Mrs. Rodgers) Emily (b. 1860) and William K. (1862-1939), Abraham (b. 1870), Ruth (b. 1872, Mrs. King) and Edward (b. 1876).

By 1860 William was working as a laborer and carpenter living with his wife and children in Portland, Ionia County.

William (younger) stood 5’11’ with black eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion, and was 33 years old and still living in Portland when he enlisted as a Corporal in Company D on May 13, 1861. (Company D was composed in large part of men who came from western Ionia County and Eaton County.) By June of 1862 he was hospitalized in Bottom’s Bridge, Virginia, suffering from an injury to the back. He was transferred to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, admitted to Fourth and George Streets hospital where he was discharged for chronic hepatitis on November 30, 1862.

After his discharge from the army William eventually returned to Michigan. By 1880 he was working as a farmer and living with his wife and children in Jasper, Midland County. By 1890 he was living in Greenwood, Oscoda County. He was still living in Michigan in 1882 when he applied for and received a pension (no. 480759), drawing $12 per month by 1891.

William died of gastritis on April 20, 1905, near Luzerne, Oscoda County, and was buried in Luzerne cemetery (see photo G-519).

In May of 1905 Emily was living in Red Oak, Oscoda County, when she applied for and received a pension (no. 612074), drawing $12 per month by 1905.