In 1939 his daughter Julia wrote: "Father's mother died when he was 3 wks. old and his father when he was 3 mo. old. An aunt raised him....When my father was thirteen he took all he had in a bundle on a stick over his shoulder and started out for New York State. He found a woolen factory that would take him as an apprentice. I think it was at Itica [Ithica] when he was through he apprenticed to learn the tailor's trade. While there he became acquainted with my mother who was staying with a sister. Before this at the age of 15 he was converted and baptized and ever after was an earnest Christian. Soon after he learned his trade, he married my mother and went to the town of Rodman where most of his family was born. He learned his trade at Watertown."

Horace is found on a list of Members of the 1st Presbyterian Church, Watertown, Jefferson Co. NY, the entry reads: Hunt, Horace from Ithaca - admitted 1827, dismissed to Rodman 1834. He is listed on the 1830 census in Jefferson Co. Watertown; on the 1840, 1850 & 1860 in Jefferson Co., Rodman. By 1880 he is living in Hennepin Co. Minnesota.

Horace S. Hunt married twice. He married 1st Harriet Louise Bailey in Ithaca, NY on November 24, 1832. She was born in Sangerfield, Oneida Co. NY in 1809 or 1817 [accounts vary], the daughter of Lt. Vine Bailey & Patty Woodward. Her maternal grandfather Abisha Woodward was a gifted architect, stone mason and woodworker. In 1793, he won a federal contract to complete the original Bald Head Island Light at Cape Fear, North Carolina. In 1801 he built the New London [CT] Lighthouse [which is still standing] and in 1802, the Faulkner's Island [CT] lighthouse. Abisha is reported to have been a Rev. War Veteran, although I have not yet been able to find evidence of this.
[For more information on the Bailey & Woodward families please contact me]

Harriet was a 1st cousin of Julia Ann (Woodward) McCurdy who died intestate in 1884. Harriet's share of the estate was 1/35th; it was distributed among her 10 children.
Little else is known of Harriet, other than what her daughter has written: "Mother had three sisters; Mary Ann Charlotte, Azuba and Emeline who is the only one I can remember. She was like my mother I loved so much and it was hard to bid her good-by when I came to Iowa. She lived seven years after I came here. She had one brother, Vine Bailey. My mother had 10 children. I was next to the youngest. I was 6 when she died in 1856. She was 47 years old when she died." Harriet died in 1856 in Rodman, NY, at 47 years of age. She is buried in the Gulf Stream Cemetery, Jefferson Co., NY; situated about 1/4 mi. E. of Rodman.
Horace married second, Esther Sophia Van Hooser in Brownville, NY on April 12, 1856. She was born January 28, 1831 in Jefferson Co. NY; the daughter of Henry I. Van Hooser and Elizabeth Wilson. Horace’s daughter Julia continues: "My father married soon after mother died and had 3 sons by this marriage; Henry. Edmund & Charlie. My father was very sick all one summer and another man started a clothing store in our little town and broke him up in business, so they came to Iowa where my step-mother had relatives. She had a little money that her mother had left her and she bought a small home in Hardin. [Allamakee Co., IA] Father started a Tailor shop and had plenty of work as he was soon given the Post Office and elected Notary Public. My step-mother also had a milliner shop and did dress making which altogether made living expenses at that time, as it was in 1863, just before the close of the Civil War and everything went double in price."

It isn't known exactly where Horace and Esther made their primary home, nor exactly what Horace did for a living, although I believe he owned a series of tailor shops in Iowa & in New York. A history of Hardin, Allamakee co. Iowa mentions Horace Hunt as the proprietor of a tailor shop in the mid -1860's & he listed himself as a 'tailor' on the 1880 census. They moved from Iowa to New York and back, finally removing to Minnesota. A biography written in 1890 gives this information: "He was a merchant tailor in this city [Watertown, Jefferson co., NY] several years, and for a time was engaged in the same business in Rodman. In 1862 he went west and now resides in St. Paul."

They are found on the 1870 US census for NY. In the Watertown, New York Directories, 1888 -1892: Horace S. Hunt is listed for years 1888, 1889, 1890 & 1891. The St. Paul, Ramsey Co., MN city directory 1890-91 lists Horace S Hunt, boarder living at 867 Ohio St. in St. Paul and Henry W Hunt, occupation-tailor address (1) 978 Wabasha and address (2) 867 Ohio St.

Esther died on August 12, 1881. Horace died November 13, 1896 in St. Paul, Ramsey Co. MN at the home of his son H.W. Hunt. They are buried in the
Calmar Community Cemetery, Calmar, Winneshiek Co. IA. The grave of Horace & Esther is at the top of a gentle rise overlooking the cemetery.

Horace Stoughton Hunt and Harriet Louise Bailey had 10 children:
• Sanford Dexter Hunt
• DeWitt Clinton Hunt
• Clarissa Goodwin Hunt
• Mary Ann Hunt
• Horace Stoughton Hunt Jr.
• Harriet Amelia Hunt
• Emeline Louisa Hunt
• Theodore Lansing Hunt
• Julia Marcella Hunt
• Martha Bailey Hunt
Horace Stoughton Hunt and Esther Van Hooser had 3 children:
• Henry Wilton Hunt
• Edmund Hunt
• Charlie Hunt