THE LIGHT & THE GLORY

Hebrew Translate into German, French, Spanish Italian or Portugeuse, Russian, Japanese, Korean or Chinese
Hungarian Polish Serbian-Slovakian Hindi Norwegian Chinese, Japanese, Korean Romanian Turkish/Czech Croatian Indonesian, Dutch Danish Persian Thai,Africans, Arabic Malaysian Vietnamese Bulgarian Ukrainian Icelandic Farsi Finnish Tagalog Esperanto

THE HUNT HISTORY

Then I answered and said to him, What are these two olive trees; at the right of the lampstand and at its left? And I further answered and said to him, What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains? Then he answered me and said, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. So he said, These are the anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. (Zechariah 4)

THE LIFE & TIMES OF THOMAS ANDERSON HUNT
SON OF JAMES HUNT & MARY DAVYS/DAVIS/DAVID

The origin of our surname Hunt is possibly an Americanized spelling of German Hundt, meaning a "wolf." Was our surname originally Wolf? Probably, as Hundt in German has this meaning. The surname Hunt is often times considered of Celtic origin, as British Hunt's use this anglocized spelling. The fact is that ships of European origin and others stopped in Britain for water and supplies. There were refugee camps there where people ended up at times, for any number of reasons. Illness, lack of money, a change of plans.

Our family has common ancestors surnamed Wolf, such as Abraham and Jeremiah. What happened concerning the translation of surnames is that immigrant ships coming from Germany, had to stop in England to take on supplies. If your money ran out, was stolen aboard ship because on most passages you paid when you arrived at the destination, not when you boarded ship, or one often became quite ill, or decided to pay your way to Britain and work till you had enough to journey on, you would then live for a time in Britain, where the name Hundt, meaning Wolf, was spelled and pronounced Hunt. Some ancestors who both began with the name Hundt, may have taken the name Hunt and the others Wolf, both surnames having been derived from one German surname. Catherine Wolf born in Boncouer, Germany 22 April 1713 married Andreas Schantz, the son of Johann Schantz, of Hochhausen, Franconia, Bancour, Germany and Susanna Catharina Schantzin born 1633 in Boncour. The marriage took place 1721-1723 in German Coast Louisiana. The children are as follows:

  • Marie Anne Schantz born before 1726 in German Coast
  • Jean George Schantz born 1723-26 in Hochhausen, Franconia, Bancour, Germany.

    Johann Andreas Schaantz married 2) Susanna Maria Wirth born abt 1700 in Waldenburg Hohenloh, Wurttenberg, Germany.

Andreas was born 1698/99 in Hochaussen, Franconia, Boncouer, Germany, one of the five great stem, or Stamm (tribal), duchies—the other four being Saxony, Lotharingia (Lorraine), Swabia, and Bavaria—of early medieval Germany. Today it is divided between Rhenish Franconia, now located in the Länder (states) of Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse, and East Franconia, now in the Länder of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.

The region is divided in three parts:

  • Lower Franconia, Ger. Unterfranken, 3,277 sq mi (8,487 sq km), is a hilly region in NW Bavaria, famous for the forested Spessart hills. It is traversed by the Main River. Agriculture is widely pursued, and industry is centered at WUrzburg (the region's capital), Schweinfurt, and Aschaffenburg. Bad Kissingen is a noted resort.
  • Middle Franconia, Ger. Mittelfranken, 2,941 sq mi (7,617 sq km), in N central Bavaria, is a hilly, fertile region located in the Franconian Jura Mts. It is drained by the AltmUhl, Rednitz, and Pegnitz rivers. Ansbach is the capital; NUrnberg, FUrth, and Erlangen are important industrial and cultural centers.

  • Upper Franconia, Ger. Oberfranken, 2,896 sq mi (7,501 sq km), in NE Bavaria, is a hilly, forested region, drained by the Main and Pegnitz rivers. It includes the Frankenwald and the Fichtelgebirge near the Czech border. Bayreuth, the capital, and Bamberg, Coburg, and Hof are the chief cities and industrial centers.

Andreas Schantz died in German Coast Louisiana. He was an ancestor closely related to the Wetzstein/Diehls/Dillus lineage. The marriage to Catherine Wolff/Wolffine took place in 1721/1723 in German Coast, Louisiana. Her second marriage was to Johann Leonardus Gabel (Hans) born before 1686 in Franconia, Boncouer, Germany. The marriage took place in Obergimpern, Franconia, Boncouer, Germany.

The German Coast was a region of the early Louisiana settlement located above New Orleans on the Mississippi River — specifically, in St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and St. James parishes of present-day Acadiana. Its name derives from the large population of German pioneers, who were settled in 1721 by John Law, and the Company of the Indies. When the company folded in 1731, the Germans became independent land-owners.

Despite periodic flooding, hurricanes, and the rigorous frontier life, the German pioneers made a success of their settlement. Their farming endeavors provided food not only for themselves but also for New Orleans' residents. Some historians credit these German farmers with the early survival of New Orleans.

In 1768 they joined with Acadians from the Cabannocé Post area to march on New Orleans and overthrow Spanish colonial governor Antonio de Ulloa. The German and Acadian settlers united again, under Spanish colonial governor Bernardo de Gálvez, to fight the British during the American Revolution.

Most of the German Coast settlers hailed from the Rhineland region of Germany and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland, and at other places today bearing their name, Bayou des Allemands and Lac des Allemands ("Germans' Bayou" and "Germans' Lake," in French). However these areas were not solely settled by people from Germany or Acadia, in fact many of the "Germans" came from the largely German-speaking region of Alsace-Lorraine in France and some from Switzerland and Belgium.

Eventually, the Germans immigrants intermarried with the Acadians and their descendants, began to speak French, and were transformed along with the Acadians and other regional settlers into the Cajun culture. As an example, German settlers had introduced the diatonic accordion to the region, which would become a predominant instrument in Cajun music by the early 1900s.

With regard to family surnames, at times, portions of a name was simply lopped off by immigration authorities. How did the name originate? It may have been through various evolutions during the past several hundred years, such as the surname Wolford, which is not a family surname of ours. But an example of how a name can come about. One conjecture, is that it's a place name, or town in which a family resided in ancient times. People who lived near where the wolves crossed a stream and soon found themselves known by that (Wolf-fijord), which came to be derived as Wolford. When surnames became common they found themselves so named. That the wolves had something to do with it isn't far fetched. In very ancient times, we know that Vikings made their living along the North Sea or the Baltic, gradually moving down into Germany by the 1600s and emigrating to America in the early 1700s. This appears to have taken place with the Hundt, or Wolf family. Without understanding a few of these variables, it can be difficult to trace certain surnames. Abraham Wolford (spelling varies) who sponsored Abraham, son of Niklas Wolford and Catherine, October 28, 1750 in the same church at Trappe. We know Niklas didn't come to America until 1743 and was still living in 1775, but we don't know whether the older Abraham came a lot earlier or the relationship--father, brother, or some other relationship. An Abraham Wolford was on the New Jersey tax list in 1778, not very far away. The earliest Wolford we have found in Pennsylvania is Anna Catherine Wolfhardt born October 6, 1663 at Castle Steinberg, Germany (daughter of Johann George Wolfhardt born December 31, 1639, Castle Steinberg, Germany). Anna Catherine married Jacob Schwab and came to America with their children. They settled in the Conestoga Valley near Mill Creek, Lancaster County. This location isn't all that far from Johann Wolfhardt, who came to America in 1739 and settle in Tulpehoken, Berks County. His son, Johann George, born in 1725 and died in 1794 in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County. Johann Wolfhardt who came in 1739 was born in 1695 supposedly in Switzerland.

Wolves were once hunted, and hunters were paid a bounty. In Europe and Britain at one times wolves were so numerous and destructive that taxes were paid in wolves ears. In the middle of the seventeenth century, any English colonist in Virginia who killed a wolf earned a bounty of one hundred pounds of tobacco. Indians who performed the same service received a rather different reward. According to the terms of a 1656 statute, for every eight wolves' heads brought to the county commissioner, the native hunters' "King or Great Man" would be presented with a cow. This reward, Virginia's burgesses insisted, would "be a step to civilizing" the Indians "and to making them Christians." It would also dissuade them from attacking their English neighbors, since cattle-owning sachems would have "something to hazard & loose besides their lives" in any ensuing conflict. Each cow bestowed on Indians in this way thus served not just as a bounty but also as an emissary of English-ness. The burgesses' confidence in the civilizing power of cattle, however, reflected their general belief in English cultural superiority more clearly than their actual experience as livestock owners in the New World.

In Britain it was an English occupational name for a hunter, Old English hunta (a primary derivative of huntian "to hunt"). The term was used not only of the hunting on horseback of game such as stags and wild boars, which in the Middle Ages was a pursuit restricted to the ranks of the nobility, but also to much humbler forms of pursuit such as bird catching and poaching for food. The word seems also to have been used as an Old English personal name and to have survived into the Middle Ages as an occasional personal name. Compare Huntington and Huntley. Irish: in some cases (in Ulster) of English origin, but more commonly used as a quasi-translation of various Irish surnames such as Fiaich (see Fee). One of the earliest Hunt's apparently came to England from France in 1295, and resided in Nottingham. His his name is listed Adam le Hunt. The official motto of the Hunt family is "Semper Fidelis "Always Faithful."

THE EARLY INHABITANTS OF WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia lies in the very heart of the Appalachian Highlands, and its predominantly mountainous terrain and picturesque scenery have led to its nickname as the Mountain State. The state's irregular boundaries, formed largely by rivers and mountains, give it the shape of a large pan with two handles, one in the north and one in the east. For this reason it is sometimes called the Panhandle State.

West Virginia was part of Virginia until 1863. Although Virginian revised charter of 1609 from the king of England left its boundaries open on the west, the mountain ranges the Blue Ridge and, west of them, the Alleghenies made an effective barrier to expansion. No concerted effort was made to cross them for more than 60 years.

In 1716 Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia led an expedition over the Blue Ridge to determine the feasibility of crossing and settling beyond the mountains. The Spotswood party brought back glowing reports of the fertile valleys that inspired people to cross the mountains. The first settlements in West Virginia were connected with the desire to establish a buffer colony between its plantations and the French and Native Americans to the west.

The first Native Americans in present-day West Virginia are known to archaeologists as Paleo-Indians and lived in the area 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. They were nomads who pursued buffalo and other large game animals, some of which are now extinct. Most Native American remains, however, are from the Adena and Hopewell cultures, or the Mound Builders, another name by which the Adena people were known. Remnants of the Mound Builders civilization have been discovered throughout West Virginia. Several thousand Hurons occupied present day West Virginia during the late 1500s and early 1600s. When the first Europeans arrived, the territory was for the most part, an unpopulated area used by settlers and Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, and other tribes as a hunting ground. As early as the 1670s, this location was being explored by explorers and fur traders, it's rugged mountains causing it to be isolated and uninhabited for more than a century after Virginia was being colonized.

The present Eastern Panhandle drew the first settlers, who were of Germans or Scotch-Irish descent, making their way down the valleys from Pennsylvania. The Germans established a settlement on the Potomac around 1730, naming it Mecklenburg. It's now called Shepherdstown, and is known as the oldest town in the state. Cabins soon appeared along the rivers, but the Allegheny Plateau was not crossed until after the British government, concerned about French claims to the Ohio valley, granted (1749) the Ohio Company large tracts of land in the trans-Allegheny region.

THE FRENCH-INDIAN WAR & EARLY SETTLEMENTS

Settlers making their way over the mountains, came into conflict with the French, and a conflict ensued, which was the direct cause of the French and Indian War (1754-63. During this war, many settlers relocated, returning after the English captured Fort Duquesne in 1758 and broke the French hold on the Ohio valley. When the French-Indian War ended, England's King George feared that more tension would erupt between native Americans and settlers. With France removed from North America, the vast interior of the continent lay open for the Americans to colonize. The English government decided otherwise. To induce a controlled population movement, they issued in 1763, a Royal Proclamation that prohibited settlement west of the line drawn along the crest of the Alleghenny mountains and to enforce that meassure they authorized a permanent army of 10,000 regulars (paid for by taxes gathered from the colonies; most importantly the "Sugar Act" and the "Stamp Act"). This infuriated the Americans who, after having been held back by the French, now saw themselves stopped by the British in their surge west. The Proclamation was for the most part, ignored, with great numbers poured back over the mountains to settle on land in the region.

Our ancestor, Thomas Anderson Hunt's father James Hunt was one of the first settlers of this region. Thomas Anderson Hunt's father James Hunt is described in Morton's History as "a son of a pre-Revolutionary War settler." He was born about 1789 in Granville Co; North Carolina. He died: 22 December 1844 nr Newburg, WVA. It's believed James Hunt's father, was also named James Hunt and was born in Ireland, but came to the U.S.A. as a child, perhaps an orphan, and died in America. He was crippled in his feet. The family settled in Maryland after the Revolutionary War. Later the trip was made from Maryland to Wheeling, Virginia by boat on the Potomac and by wagon and ox team. They decided to settle near Alexandria, and his father called his family around him and sang "How Firm A Foundation." He prayed the Lord's Prayer and gave thanks to God for a safe journey. James Hunt was a shoemaker by trade. They moved again and settled near Newburg, Preston County in what's now known as West Virginia. Here, a home was hewn from the wilderness and a living wrested from it's soil.

The Monongolia County records were destroyed by fire in 1796. Because of this, S.T. Wiley assisted A.W. Frederick in writing "The History of Preston County in 1882." The book is now out of print.

THE CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS, SHABBAT, & PROPHETIC MANIFESTATIONS

The Catholic Church had for centuries held an iron sway over the populations of Europe and Great Britain. God was using the religious persecutions of these regions to restore the foundational truthes of His holy Word. There was a passionate hunger growing in the hearts of many to get "back to the bible." They suffered great persecution. But in the shackles of man-made tradition being broken, they were coming into God's presence through the new and living Way God has made.

The first settlers in Preston County were the Dunkards or German Baptists. The community was descended from the pietistic Schwarzenau Brethren movement of Alexander Mack of Schwarzenau in Germany. The Baptist Brethren movement came into being in about 1521, when the Zwickau Prophet arose in Saxony, preached baptism and prophesied the coming Millenium. Most of the early emigrants who came to America in the 1500s, 1600's and early to mid 1700s were Sabbath keepers, who were sometimes called "The Church In The Wilderness." The first split or schism which occurred the general body of German Baptist Brethren occurred in 1728, over those who wanted to celebrate Shabbat on Saturday. They were founded by Johann Conrad Beissel (1690-1768). Sabbath keepers were known in England from the time of Elizabeth 1 (1558-1601). Records speak of the celebration of the Fall Feasts, and Passover. In Russia these were called Sobotniki or Sabbotniki. They considered themselves true Jews. In the days of Constantine, Sunday worship was embraced during a time when the bishops under Constantines leadership wished to disassociate themselves from the Jewish apostles and prophets who had embraced Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ as both their Lord and their God, especially at Jerusalem. This was a necessary phase for the Council of Nicea to formulate the trinitarian doctrine and to propagate it, because of the importance of "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord," in the minds of Jewish people. (Deut. 6:4).

In the 1600's Jews were emigrating from Armenia. Count Zinzendorf founder of the Moravians was astonished to find the hold Sabbatarian doctrine held upon the German population in Pennsylvania. You ask me why this would occur? It was because William Penn and George Fox, came into an understanding of the biblical and apostolic doctrine of the Godhead, and centuries of Constantinianism was being overthrown, as Europeans embraced the truth of salvation as seen in Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5.

Some Dutch Anabaptists embraced Sabbatarianism, and may have helped to introduce these practices into England. Since the Reformation Movement came out of the highly Catholicized religious structure of the day, the majority of the reformation movement churches were Sunday worshippers, because Emporer Constantine instituted Sunday worship in 325 A.D. God was doing a "new thing in America. The Lord's Word and wisdom are seen in the this Saturday Sabbath. Those who held the reformed truth of Acts 2:38, had no desire to mingle it with the Constantinian day of worship, which was Sunday! God was moving, and those hungry for truth were thus free to go to these Saturday services. The followers of John Traske (1585-1636) observed Shabbat, with Traske preaching a form of Sabbatarianism which embraced Mosaic Laws. Traskite Sabbath keepers were generally considered radical in their Jewish practices. There was also a very large segment of Quakers, such as William Penn, and Camisards who came into a biblical understanding of water baptism in Jesus Christ's name. This placed them more in the doctrine of the early Apostolic apostles and Apostolic church. (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5)

George Fox who was a close friend of Will Penn, and held similar doctrinal views on the Godhead (Penn authored "A Sandy Foundation Shaken") and believed in baptism in Jesus name, also traveled and preached on the North American continent in Maryland, where he participated in a four-day meeting of local Quakers. He remained there while various of his English companions travelled to the other colonies, because he wished to meet with some Native Americans who were interested in biblical New Testament ways. Fox was impressed by their general demeanour, which he said was "loving" and "respectful". Elsewhere in the American colonies, Fox helped to establish organizational systems for the Friends there.

The Sabbath, or Shabbot in Hebrew literally means "to rest". The early Christians observed the Jewish Sabbath until the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364) which banned the practice on pain of excommunication. Sunday worship was established as the norm. These Shabbat keepers in the American Colonies may have been German Jews who had become converts of Jesus Christ, or they could have simply read of Shabbat in scripture, and wanted to keep it.

In 1744 Alexander Mack Jr, the son of Pastor Alexander Mack, together with Israel Eckerlin and Samuel Eckerlin broke away from the Euphrata Settlement which was under Conrad Beissel's leadership, journeying toward Dunkards Bottom, on New River called Manahaim and the Setting of the Sun 7th Day Settlement. Samuel Eckerlin and some of his family members were part of a group which began in 1708 in Germany, emigrating to Germantown (Pennsylvania) in 1729, under the Sr. Alexander Mack's leadership. Alexander Mack Jr. did not stay long because he was given a prophetic dream regarding an upcoming Indian raid.

The Eckerlins left Dunkard Bottom and New River and moved on to the Monongalia River area on the West Virginia and Pennsylvania border. The first settlers on the New River land belonged to the generation that established the earliest American frontier. More than forty first-generation New River families who came into that border area between 1760 and 1790 have been identified through study of county land, tax, and marriage records, court cases, wills, and lists, as well as United States census and pension records. The majority of settlers did not come alone, but as members of large extended families, usually those of married brothers headed by a father-patriarch, or by a widowed mother.11 Further, an extended family of one surname was generally linked to two or more other families by intermarriage and by other associations that extended back in time over thirty or more years before the settlers arrived in the New River Valley. Thus their settlement on the southern frontier must be viewed in the larger context of the massive population movements of the eighteenth century.

Although the census of 1790 shows only five percent of the total population living west of the mountains, this group was the vanguard of a steady stream of western pioneers.

The Monongahela River also known as The Mon) is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in the United States. At Pittsburgh, it meets the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River. The Monongahela is formed by the confluence of the West Fork River and the Tygart Valley River at Fairmont, West Virginia. Here in this location where the Eckerlin brothers were, the Indians took them captive.

PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA

Seeking fertile soil and freedom of religion settlers entered the territory in 1750 and settled on Cheat River, the place since known as Dunkards Bottom. The Native Americans resented this encroachment on their hunting grounds, and their hostility was fueled by the often unjust treatment they received at the hands of settlers. The massacre of the family of chief James Logan provoked a series of attacks that resulted in Lord Dunmore's War (see Dunmore, John Murray, 4th earl of), in which the Native Americans were decisively defeated (Oct. 10, 1774).

In 1756 the little colony of German Baptists was running short of salt and ammunition. Samuel Eckerlin, who was one of their group returned east to the Shenandoah Valley with a pack of furs to trade for a fresh supply of ammunition, salt and clothing. On the way home, he stopped at Fort Pleasant on the South Branch of the Potomac River. The settlers imprisoned him, believing him to be a spy for the Indians. He was allowed to return from Fort Pleasant under guard. When they arrived at Dunkard's Bottom, all the members of the colony had been killed and scalped, and their homes burned. A survivor named Shilling stated that the settlement was attacked by a party of about 50 indians, led by a French priest. Shilling was made a slave and sent to an indians encampment on the Sandusky River. He later escaped and was eventually united with Samuel Eckerlin.

After 1760 settlers arrived with increasing frequency and the Indians did not trouble them from 1775-1780. In the last part of the 18th century, the movement to create a state beyond the Alleghanies was revived and, in 1776, a petition for the establishment of "Westsylvania" was presented to Congress, on the grounds that the mountains made an almost impassable barrier on the east. By 1790s John Miller and Hugh Morgan laid out land which would later become the Preston County Seat. They laid out the town and offered the plots to settlers.

Enormous deposits of coal were discovered around Sand Ridge. In 1853 the Baltimore and Ohio railroads dug one of the longest tunnels in the United States. The Hunts of Preston County either purchased or settled on partly improved property on Sand Ridge. Possibly for this reason we have not located a patent or land grant for James Hunt.

THE JAMES HUNT FAMILY

James Hunt married Mary Davys/Davis, a daughter of Mary Orr Davys and her husband. The Orrs, with whom the Hunt family had a long standing friendship, lived near the Old Hunt Place. James Hunt and Mary Ann Davys/Davis/David's of Preston County's children are as follows:

  • Thomas Hunt Sr. who married Barbara Fortney, the daughter of Daniel Fortineaux.
  • James Hunt
  • Jenny who married James England Barbour.
  • Mary Ayers Hunt who married Henry Snyder/Snider on March 1, 1811. He was the son of Henry Snider Sr. and Mary Browning. He died in 1805 and is buried in Old Baptist Cemetery. Scotch Hill, Preston County, WVA
  • Sarah Hunt who never married.

James Hunt was born: 1789, Granville, NC
He married Mary Ann Davys/Davis/David, the daughter of Solomon Davis/David of Granville County, NC, on October 22, 1811 in Monogalia, WVA. His Marriage #2 was to Margaret McMillan. The children of James Hunt are as follows:

James Hunt settled on land her father had taken up. The Davys Place ajoining the Orr Place became the Hunt Place. The photograph on the right is of William Chester Hunt standing in front of the cabin on the Old Hunt Place in 1933. James Hunt died: 1844. In this ground is the Hunt Family Cemetery where James Hunt is buried. I do not know the exact location of James Hunt's grave, but in the 1930's, folks at Newburg told my father they must have been buried in the Hunt Cemetery in unmarked graves. He died on December 22, 1844 (Morton's History-Gravestone records date as December of that year.)
He's buried in the Hunt Cemetery, near Newburg, WVa. Source: A History of Preston Co. Vol. 1 By Oren F. Morton. Our Preston County WVA James Hunt may be the son of John Hunt Sr. who was born March 12, 1752 in Granville Co. NC who married Francis Penn on 5 August 1771 in Granville Co. NC or Virginia. This is in the lineage of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. He died: 12 May 1818 in Granville Co. NC. John Hunt Sr. was the son of yet another John Hunt.

(*Researcher Notation: Records state James Orr arrived in America in 1758. Within 2 years, he married Mary Dale, daughter of a prominent slave holder of Hartford and Baltimore Counties, Maryland. James and Mary had 9 children. Of these was John Dale Orr, born in 1765 in Baltimore County, Maryland before his father moved to Pennsylvania. John Dale Orr did not move from Pennsylvania to Ohio, but came with the rest of his family to Sand Ridge in 1798 and took land adjoining his sister, Mary Orr Davys/Davis. John Orr - After the Revolution, the son served under Crawford at Harmar's, St. Clair's and Crawford's Defeats. He was wounded in Crawford's disastrous defeat at the hands of the Indians in Pennsylvania.

John Dale's son, John Dale Orr, substituted for his father in military service in the Revolutionary War. John Dale Orr had sons named 1) Hiram Orr,(born 1804 and died 1855 who had a son Uriah M Orr.

The families of Orr, Dale and Johnson were all early settlers of Upper Node Forest, Hartford County, Maryland......Baltimore area.

-------------------------------------------------------

The WILL OF JOHN DALE

Hartford Co., Md. Wills Liber AJ#2, Vol. 144 (WK 828-829) Hall of Records, Annapolis, Md. In the name of God Amen. I John Dale of Hartford County in the State of Maryland being weak in Body but Sound and perfect mind and memory blessed be God do this Day make and publish this my last will and Testament in manner following viz- - First I give to my loving wife Mary Dale all the Estate that I may Die Seized of for and during her natural life or widowhood. She yielding and paying yearly and every year the Sum of five pounds to my Daughter Mary Orr. Secondly I give and Bequeath to my Grandson John Dale Orr the Sum of fifty pounds Common money at the or marriage of my wife Mary. Thirdly I give unto the Children of Mary Orr who Shall Survive their Mother one hundred pounds to be equally Divided between them Share and Share alike. Fourthly I give unto my Grandson Richard Colegate Dale my Negro Ben and forty punds Common money at the or marriage of my wife. Fifthly I give unto my Grand Daughter Nancy Dale my two female Negroes Dinah and Pricilla and forty pounds Common money at the or marriage of my wife. Sixthly I give to my loving Brother William one Suit of Clioaths and ten pounds Common money. Seventhly I give to my Nephew Joseph Demster one Suit of Cloaths and ten pounds Common money. Eighthly and all the remainder and residue of my Estate I give unto the Children of my Daughter Mary Orr to be equally Divided between the Survivours of their Mother Share and Share alike. And Lastly I make ordain and appoint my true and trusty friend James Clendinen to Execute this mylast will and Testament and he is hereby appointed Sole Executor. In witness where of I the said John Dale hath to this my last will and Testament set my hand and Seal this Second Day of April 1778. In presents of us- - John Dale (SEAL) James Amos Senr. Joshua Amos Hannah Amos James Clendinen the within named Executor proves this to be the will and Testament of John Dale the Testator and that he knows of no other. 1778 July 4th came James Amos Senr. and Joshua Amos Son of James and made oath on the Holy Evengils that they did see John Dale the Testator herein named Sign and Seal this will and that they heard him publish pronounce the Same to be his last will and Testament and he was to the best of their apprehention at the time of Sound and Disposing mind memory and understanding and that they subscribed their names to this present writing in the presence and at the request of the Testator herein named and in the presence of each other and in the presence of Hannah Amos who subscribed her name as a witness at the Same time. Certified by J. Geo. Bradford, Regr. of wills for Hartford County

------------------------------------------------------

During the Civil War he was a major in the 173rd West Virginia Militia. In 1800, Major Orr was elected Preston County representative in the West Virginia House of Delegates. His name frequently appears as a participant in records of county meetings after the Civil War period. Uriah had a son Judd Orr, who was 70 years old in 1933, when my father Galen Hunt did his history. Judd Orr gave my father much of his information, on this part of the family. Mary Orr died in 1810 and James Orr in 1815.

In 1758, James Orr immigrated to Baltimore County, Maryland and from there to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, near Uniontown in 1782. A family history of ours, states that a James Hunt married Miss Mary Dale. She was the sister of a military officer named Commodore Richard Dale, a naval officer of Revolutionary fame. Richard Dale was born in Norfolk County, Virginia, on 6 November 1756. He went to sea at the age of twelve and had command of several merchant vessels before his twentieth birthday. After the outbreak of the American Revolution, Dale became an officer in the Virginia State Navy. Taken prisoner by the British, he joined the Loyalist forces but was subsequently captured by the Continental Brig Lexington. That vessel's Commanding Officer, John Barry, persuaded young Dale to return to the American cause.

He was an officer on Lexington from mid-1776 until she was taken by the British cutter Alert on 19 September 1777. Imprisoned in England, Dale twice escaped, finally making his way to France. His next position was as a Lieutenant on board the Continental warship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones. He performed valiantly during her desperate fight with HMS Serapis on 23 September 1779. For the remainder of the war, Dale served in the frigates Alliance and Trumbull, and was Commanding Officer of the privateer Queen of France.

After the Revolution Dale was again a merchant marine officer. When the United States established its Navy in 1794, he was one of the first six men appointed to the rank of Captain, though the Navy's lack of ships ensured that he was primarily employed in commercial trade for the next four years. In 1798, after undeclared war began with France, Dale took command of USS Ganges, in which he cruised in search of enemy shipping. Returning to the merchant marine, he made a cruise to China in 1799. In 1801 Captain Dale was given command of a U.S. Navy squadron and sent to the Mediterranean Sea to confront the piratical states along the North African coast. Relieved of this command in 1802, after a successful cruise, he resigned his commission shortly afterwards.

Dale spent the rest of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was a prominent citizen and was active in local defense efforts during the War of 1812. Richard Dale died in that city on 26 February 1826.

The following is an excerp from history.

By the time Thomas Jefferson was appointed president (1801) the situation had changed: a treaty had been signed ending naval war between the US and France, and the American ship George Washington, transporting the yearly tribute to Algiers, had been ordered to sail on to Constantinople to deliver the money directly to the Ottoman sultan. (To add to the humiliation, Captain William Bainbridge was instructed to fly the Ottoman flag whilst in harbour at Algiers.) America had, by this time, paid over $2,000,000 in tribute and ransom to the Barbary States - but this was only one-fifth of what was expected.

Angered by delayed and undersized payments the Barbary State regents demanded more. The escalating situation was finally brought to a head by the Pasha of Tripolitania, Yusuf Karamanli. On May 14, 1801, he ordered the flag staff (flying the 'Stars and Stripes') standing in front of the US consulate to be cut down. This symbolic act was taken as a declaration of war against America.

A squadron of four ships were being made ready at that time in the US. Under the command of Commodore Richard Dale they were dispatched to the Mediterranean. On the 17th of July, 1801, a blockade was imposed on the harbour at Tripoli. Although there were a few naval successes against the corsairs, the squadron proved too weak to effectively control the situation.

A family history note from one of the Dale descendants, states the following: The Dale family bible records that John Dale was in the British army. He fought in the American Revolution.

John Dale had at least 2 sons:

Records state Mary Dale was born abt. 1747 in New Castle, Delaware, and married James Orr Sr. who was born before 1739 in County Derry, Ulster Province, Northern Ireland in Northern Ireland. They were married in 1761 in Baltimore, Maryland. He died in 1815 in Orrsburg, Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Mary Dale was the daughter of John Dale who was born in 1710 in Dublin, Ireland, and Mary Jones-Brownborn abt 1710 in Welsh Tract, Pencador, New Castle, Delaware. Mary Jones-Brown was the daughter of David ap John Jones born 1668 in Altgoch, Cardigan County, Wales and Esther Morgan born 1678 in Altgoch, Cardigan County, Wales. Esther Morgan was the daughter of Morgan Rhydderch and Jane. John Dale was the son of John Dale, born April 1644 and died in St. John's Parish, Dublin, Ireland. Mary Jones Brown's 2nd marriage was to George Brown before 1747 and their children were 1) Thomas Borwn 2) John Brown 3) William Brown 4) George Brown) He died before 1748. The children of Mary Dale and James Orr were as follows:

Mary Dale Orr died in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Marriage #1 Wife: Mary Ann Davys/Davis/David Here James Hunt intermarries with the David line, from Glamorgan, Wales.

Children of James Hunt

Marriage #2

Wife: Margaret McMillan

Children:

THOMAS ANDERSON HUNT

Thomas Anderson Hunt, known to his friends and family as "Tommy Hunt" was born to James Hunt & Mary Davis on 27 July 1826, Preston Co. West VA. When he was an infant of just 3 monthes old, his mother died. His father, James Hunt brought Thomas Anderson Hunt to Iowa in 1845. In about 1847, they moved to Vernon in Van Buren County, and in 1849, each of them homesteaded, or bought a quarter section of land in David County near Chequest, about five miles from Troy. Chequest had disappeared as a town before now. This property also has the name the Old Hunt Place. James Hunt died in 1844. Young Thomas Anderson Hunt was probably 19, when the long journey was undertaken by covered wagon to Iowa. The main reason for settling in the hills of Davis County was the availability of logs for building purposes and to secure land with natural drainage.

Thomas Anderson Hunt followed his older brother John Wesley Hunt a year or so later. John Wesley Hunt married Maria Gandy, the daughter of Levi Gandy and Mary Watson, on 12 Jul 1832, before the trip was made. Levi Preston was the son of Samuel Gandy and Rachel Combs. After spending a year or two each in Lee and Vernon Counties, during which Iowa became a state, they reached their destination of Chequest, in Davis County, Iowa. Shortly after the home was built in Davis County, young Thomas A. met and married Sarah Swaim.Preaching, farming and raising the family were the routine order of the day. Thomas was noted for a clear strong musical voice and members of the family claim his voice could be heard, and every word distinctly, more than half a mile away.

When the Civil War broke out, Thomas enlisted on April or May 1862. Fall wheat had been sown, and mother and Jim and John harvested it after he was gone. Jim cradled the wheat, and mother and John bound it. Thomas Anderson Hunt enlisted in the Union Army at Troy, Iowa, in the Seventh Iowa Infantry (or Calvary) I Company, and was assigned to military units in the northwest. The Seventh Iowa Infantry Volunteers was organized at Burlington, Iowa, in 1861. The first companies were mustered into the United States service on the 24th July, and the last company, I, was mustered in on the 2d day of August. Thomas Anderson was later transferred to the Medical Dept. and became a nurse for wounded soldiers. For a while he was stationed at Keokuk, Iowa. Company I, was recruited partly in Keokuk and partly in Washington County. Captain Elrod, a Methodist minister, and lieutenant Lynch, were principally instrumental in recruiting this company.

The following is an excerpt which describes those closing days of the war for the Seventh Iowa Infantry (or Calvary in 1864. The regiment moved from the front of Atlanta, and struck the West Point railroad near Palmetto, and from thence to Jonesboro, supported Kilpatrick's cavalry in driving the enemy, and was with the command under Gen. Sherman, which compelled Hood to evacuate Atlanta. The regiment went from East Point by rail to Rome, Ga., where it arrived about the 20th of September. The regiment was ordered to Allatoona on the 4th of October, but from to the cars did not arrive in time to take part in the fray of the 5th, but arrived there just after the repulse of the enemy. Returned to Rome on the 7th of October, where we remained till November 11th, then took up the march through the heart of Georgia, and entered the city of Savannah, Dec. 21st. For particulars of march, &c., I refer you to my report accompanying this paper, which brings the regiment to the close of the Georgia campaign.

Thomas was never home on furlough. Eventually he was honorably discharged from his military duties. John Wesley Hunt and Maria Gandy/Gandee Hunt, had a son named Levi Fletcher Hunt. John Wesley Hunt's wife Maria died 25 January 1885 in Chequest, Davis County, Iowa.

Thomas Anderson Hunt married Sarah Swaim, who was the daughter of Elias Swaim of Pennsylvania and Rachel Foster Swaim, born 12 November 1802 in Monroe County, Ohio. The marriage of TA Hunt and Sarah Swaim took place on November 12, 1832.

Their children were as follows:

Elias Swaim was
born: 25 March 1787-92, in PA/New Jersey
Married: Rachael Foster Yost Swaim who was born November 12, 1832, and died Sept. 24, 1872, at age 70 years 11 monthes.
Sarah Swaim Hunt died on the Old Hunt Place: 10 Sept. 10, 1863 in Salt Creek Twp. Davis, Iowa

Sarah SWAIM Sex: F Birth: Monroe Co., Ohio Married: May 8, 1851 Death: FEB 6, 1881 Father: Elias SWAIM b: 25 MAR 1787-92 in NJ
Elias Swaim is listed in the Ohio Census of 1850 as 63 years of age at the time and his birthplace is listed on the census as Pennsylvania. He died: 1863, at age 71 years. Thomas Anderson Hunt's mother: Rachel FOSTER was born: 12 NOV 1802 in Monroe Co., Oh, and married Elias Swaim on July 5, 1820. He died on 10 Sept 1863 and is buried in Heidelbaugh Cemetery, in Davis County, Iowa. Rachel Foster died 26 October 1873.

Their children were as follows:

MARRIAGE #1
8 May 1851, Davis County, Iowa

Thomas Anderson HUNT who was born: 27 JUL 1826 in Preston Co., West Virginia
Wife's name: Sarah Swaim and she was born: 12 Nov, 1832 in Monroe County, Ohio. She is buried in Heidelbaugh Cemetery, Davis County, Iowa.

THOMAS A HUNT & SARAH SWAIM'S CHILDREN

Thomas Anderson Hunt and Sarah Swaim's children are listed as follows:

Sarah Swaim Hunt died on the Old Hunt Place in Davis County, Iowa, October 4, 1881 at age 48 and is buried in Heidelbaugh Cemetery a few miles away.

MARRIAGE #2

Wife's name: Jerusia Brown

Thomas married Jerusia Brown after his return from military service in the Civil War, on 10 June 1895. He was pensioned by the Federal Government. They were married only a short time. He died in the home of his son William Chester Hunt, who was my paternal grandfather.

During his lifetime, Thomas A. Hunt was licensed by the Methodist denomination, to preach in Troy, Iowa. Preaching, farming, and raising a family were the natural order of the day, until the Civil War broke out. He enlisted in April-May 1862, in the Seventh Iowa Infantry, I Company. While Thomas was away at war, and Sarah was left with the 4 small children, southern bushwackers raided the home. Bushwacking was a form of guerrilla warfare during the American Civil War that was particularly prevalent in rural areas where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The people doing the attacks were called bushwhackers.

Bushwhackers were not, generally, part of the military command and control of either side. While bushwackers conducted a few well organized raids in which they burned cities, most of the attacks involved ambushes (hence, the term) of opponent individuals or families in rural areas. In areas affected by bushwackers the actions were particularly insidious since it amounted to a fight of neighbor against neighbor and the attacks bordered on vigilante justice. Since the attacks were non-uniformed, the government response was complicated by trying to decide whether they were legitimate military attacks or criminal actions.

My paternal grandfather, William Chester Hunt wasn't born yet at this time. The ages of the Thomas Anderson and Sarah's children at the time of this raid ranged from about infancy to age 8. It was not totally unknown for the southerners who raided their cabin to be deserters, raiding to obtain food, clothing, horses, supplies, or other valuables. Somehow Sarah and the children fought off their attackers and survived, and Thomas came home in another year or two. The bushwackers that raided Sarah and Thomas Hunt's home, were probably looking for money. They killed a neighbor named Benee. During military service, letters from home sometimes alarmed the soldiers so much that they deserted to protect their families. These men that preyed on helpless women and children, seemed not to be sympathetic of families with children.

Thomas was later transferred to the medical unit, and cared for wounded soldiers. He was honourably discharged, and returned home, yet with some sight impairment.

THOMAS ANDERSON HUNT'S CIVIL WAR SERVICE

Organized at Davenport April 27 to July 13, 1863, Companies "A" to "H." Thomas was in 7th Iowa Infantry, Company "I," organized as Sioux City Cavalry November 14, 1861, and three Companies organized for 41st Iowa Battalion assigned as Companies "K," "L" and "M." Regiment moved to Omaha, Neb., June, 1863, and assigned to duty at various points in Nebraska and Dakota, as garrison, guarding lines of telegraph and travel, escorting trains and protecting Emigrants, having frequent combats with Indians in the Departments of Missouri, Kansas and the Northwest. Sully's Expedition against hostile Sioux Indians August 13-September 11, 1863. Actions at Whitestone Hill September 3 and 5. Niobrara December 4, 1863 (1 Co.). Sully's Expedition against hostile Sioux Indians July 25-October 8, 1864. Actions at Tah kah a kuty July 25. (Cos. "K" and "M"). Two Hills, Bad Lands, Little Missouri River, August 8 (Cos. "K" and "M"). Scout on Smoky Hill Fork, Kansas, August 1-5 (Co. "H"). Smoky Hill Crossing August 16 (Co. "H"). Operations against Indians in Nebraska August 11-November 24, 1864. Fort Cottonwood August 28 and September 18 (Co. "B"). Near Fort Cottonwood September 20. Detachment of Company "C." Operations against Indians in Nebraska and Colorado Territories September 29-November 30 (1st Battalion). Cow Creek near Fort Zarah December 4 (Detachment). Julesburg, Indian Territory, January 7, 1865 (Co. "F"). Rush Creek February 8 (Co. "D"). Mud Springs February 8-9. Rush Creek February 9. Boyd's Station June 3 (Co. "E"). Cow Creek Station, Kansas, June 12 (Co. "O"). Horse Creek, Dakota Ter., June 14 (Cos. "B" and "D"). Tongue River August 29 (Co. "F"). Duty on the plains till June, 1866. Mustered out June 22, 1866.

WILLIAM CHESTER HUNT

William Chester Hunt was born to Thomas Anderson Hunt and Barbara Fortney on 6 Sept. 1868 in Chequest, Davis County, Iowa. William Chester Hunt was born in Chequest, on the Old Hunt Place. In those days, plowing was done with a team and a walking plow. Oaken walnut logs were split into fence rails and the fences made by piling up the rails. The farmers still hunted with an old muzzle loading rifle with it's smoothe bore. Wild turkeys, rabbits, and small quail were still quite common. Work on the farm was plowing, harvesting grain by the old fashioned hand cradle and tying sheaves so that the shocks could be made of them. This was the process used for hundreds of years.

Young William finished the grades and entered the Southern Iowa Normal School at Bloomfield, a distance of some ten or twelve miles covered as often as not on foot. It was here he became acquainted with such men as B.F. Carroll, who later became governor of Iowa, and Smith Brockhart with whom he "batched," one winter, who later became United States senator from Iowa.

After he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree he began to teach school. His first school was located between Elden and Selma on a spot the indians used for a camping ground. Here 17 year old Maggie Burger came to school, and she eventually became his wife on May 19, 1897. Margaret Elizabeth Burgerwas born on December 27, 1879 in Russell County, Kansas. Maggie Burger's father was Joseph Madison Burger who was the son of Christian Whetstone Burger, and Sarah Brown was born on the Old Burger Place on June 28, 1850, in Jefferson County, Iowa. Her mother was Selinda Jane Ridenour, daughter of Samuel Ridenour and Phoebe Murphy, born 24 April, 1853,in Wabash County, Indiana. My father stated that my grandmother Maggie Burger's family came from the Yellow Creek Congregation of the Brethren, which was organized as early as 1796. Samuel Uhlrich was pastor there prior to 1876. Present ministers are Replogles.

THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH MADISON BURGER & SELINDA JANE RIDENOUR BURGER

  • Almira Jane Burger born: 18 April 1872 Washington County, Iowa, died: 19 Nov. 1918 in Washington County, Iowa
  • Samuel Malachi Burger born: 7 March 1873, in Washington County, Iowa, died: 12 JUly 1955 Modesto, Calif. He married: Fannie Wagner 14 February, 1894 in Washington County, Iowa.
  • Minnie Ann Burger born: 26 March 1877, Appanose County, Iowa, died: 6 April 1959 Harnett County, NC, She married Jerry Abraham Wolf.
  • Margaret Elizabeth Burger born: 27 December 1879, Russell County, Kansas, died: 17 January 1905 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, She married William Chester Hunt
  • Joseph Warren Burger born: 14 October 1883, Washington County, Iowa, died:23 May, 1892 in Washington County, Iowa
  • Cora Iva Burger born: 19 November 1886, died: 17 August, 1899
  • John Irvin Burger born: 3 July 1889, Libertyville, Iowa, died: June 11, 1980 in Udell, Appanoose, Iowa. He married Verna Whistler.
  • Sadie Belle Burger born: 3 October 1891, in Jefferson County, Iowa, died: 30 June, 1971, Modesto, Calif. She married: John H. Price

In 1860's, the old square cut nails had just come to take the place of wooden fastening pegs. The square cut nails were still very expensive and it was impossible to get them in larger sizes so they were avoided in favor of wooden fastening pegs whenever possible. The barn at present on the place (1930s) was built entirely of native wood and it's rood was oak clapboard shingles. This farm thus became what we call the Burger Place and it was in the hands of Burger descendants for many years.

Selinda Jane Ridenour, born in Wabash County, Indiana, and came to Iowa at age 11 years, the daughter of Samuel Ridenour, and Phoebe Murphy. Sam Ridenour had come from Illinois to Wabash County, Indiana and later to Iowa. He moved to a place in Jefferson County, Iowa, where he married Augusta bent and these children were born to he and the second wife: William, Alice, Sadie, Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Margaret (Maggie) Sam then sold his place near the Burgers and moved to California where his second wife, Augusta Bent Ridenour died. After that Sam Ridenour moved to Dutch Ridge in Van Buren County and married Mary Nedrow. There were two children born: Samuel who died in early childhood and is buried on Dutch Ridge and Mary Ridenour who married a Simpson. She lived in Oakdale, California. Mary Ridenour Simpson was born on Dutch Ridge and was small when her father died.

In 1879 Joseph Madison Burger with his family of 3 children moved to Kansas and lived for some time near his sister Sarah Ridenour, who had been previously married to David Daniel Ridenour, the brother of Selinda Jane Ridenour.

When William Chester Hunt married Margaret (Maggie) Elizabeth Burger they lived on the Old Burger Place. Their two sons were born here, Galen (Born: May 22, 1898) and Ivo. (January 10, 1902) The same Spring, the family moved from the Chequest locality and established themselves about 3 miles southeast of Batavia. After a year at this place, they moved to Udell in Appanoose County, Iowa. At Udell, the older son was first put to school. After 2 years there, there was a family exodus to Idaho Falls, Idaho. Those who went were Joseph Madison Burger, William Chester Hunt's wife's father, with the two minor children, John and Sadie; Sam Burger, the brother of Joseph; Sam Burger the oldest son of Joseph, Jerry A Wolf with his wife, Minnie Burger Wolf, and their children; and William Chester with his wife Maggie Burger, and their two children. Tragedy followed and Margaret Elizabeth Hunt died from an attack of appendicitus at age 23, leaving behind a grief stricken husband and their two young sons, age 6 and 2. William Chester Hunt buried his sweet young wife Maggie there near Idaho Falls, at New Sweden Cemetery. About a year and a half later, WC married Alice Rhodabaugh whose ancestors on both sides were early settlers in Jefferson County, Iowa. William Chester Hunt died May 1937 at Batavia Iowa.

Children of William Chester Hunt and Margaret Elizabeth Burger born: Dec 27, 1879, near Dorance, Russell County, Kansas. Died: at age 25 in Idaho Falls where she is buried in New Sweden Cemetery.

William Chester Hunt's #2 Marriage
Alice RodaBaugh

William Chester & Alice Rodabaugh Hunt's Children :

After returning from Idaho, they rented a farm southeast of Libertyville, Iowa. A year later they purchased a farm three and one half miles southeast of Batavia where they resided for many years.

In 1911, William Chester Hunt and Samuel Burger, his wife's brother, bought a section and one half of land (960 acres) near La Comb, Central Alberta, Canada. They operated this extensive place in common, but the joint enterprise did not prove satisfactory, and the Hunts returned to Iowa in the Spring of 1913. Sam Burger lived in Alberta with his wife and his children settled there.

Tom and Alana Campbell live in Washington state and enjoy sharing family history with their 6 children, Anthony Lee, Robert Donovan, and David Gabriel, Lisa Marie, Amber Nicole and Cazanne Ajalon Lark and other family members or those with an interest in researching their own family history. They find that their children have enjoyed this hobby as part of their home schooling experience. Your family history familiarizes you with geography, various ethnic origins and cultures, the religious backgrounds of ancestors, and many other topics. The Campbells both have family members who saved information on genealogy for them, on both sides of their family and this gave them something with which to get sharted. You can check out your own family roots on Family Search
or RootswebYou can check out Skylark Studio, and Alana Campbell's paintings here.

Main
Back
Page 7

Email: adazio@lycos.com