Henry Clay Hunt

 This is a story about the Austian side of my family, my mothers side. My mothers  maternal Grandfather was Henry Clay Hunt( 1844-1936) . Henry served in the Civil war with the Union forces as a member of the 69th Indiana regiment. Though he was not wounded in his three years' fighting, he twice was captured by confederates, once at the battle of Vicksburg and another time in Kentucky.  He was, at one point, a member of an expeditionary force which went up the Red river on the Texas side. Hunt had enlisted from Randolph county, Ind. There is a family legend that at the war’s end he WALKED home...to Indiana from somewhere in the deep south. 

There is another family legend that he carved his initials on a tree in Indiana in 1883 and then returned to Indiana from his home in Oklahoma late in his life (1927) and had his photo taken next to the tree. His 1883 initials were still visible in 1927 (see photos).  H.R. Hamblen, a family friend wrote a poem about Henry's return to Indiana (see photos to read the poem).

Yet another family  legend  was that, just prior to the Oklahoma land rush in 1889, Henry was employed as a hunter and/or a scout by the U.S. Army, helping to feed the troops present to support the land rush and serving as a guide for some people who were looking for land to homestead. The Tull family is one of the families he helped find land and, he later married Ruth Jane Tull. The land designated for homesteading in Oklahoma was opened for settlement on April 22, 1889 and there was a, literal, “rush” starting that day.  Henry and his wife (Ruth Jane Tull Hunt) and their family made the run into Oklahoma from the Kansas line and filed his declaratory claim April 28 1889. He homesteaded 160 acres cornering on NW50 and Council road.  He was one of the few pioneers who continued to live on his homestead. until his death in 1936. 15 years later, on April 22, 1904, Henry's granddaughter, my Aunt Winnie (Winnifred Gladys Austian) was born to Henry's oldest daughter Armina Hunt Austian (my maternal grandmother). Perhaps because her birthday was on the anniversary of the land rush, Winnie always seemed to have a connection to the land rush and a special fondness for her Grandpa Henry. In 1948, I was born on Aunt Winnie's 44th birthday (and the anniversary of the land rush). I feel this connection to Henry, through Winnie. Vicariously, I’m a sooner. Even though I was born in California...  maybe I should buy an OU football jersey.  In 1992 my grandson Dillon Neighbors, was born on MY 44th birthday and Winnie's 88th (see the photo of the three of us).

OBIT from Oklahoma NewsPaper

Henry Clay Hunt:

OBITUARY: 09/12/1936

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The ranks of '89ers and Civil war veterans thinned Friday with the death of Henry Clay Hunt, 92 years old. Hunt, a retired farmer, died at his home north of the Lakeside golf course on Northwest Thirty-ninth street after an illness of three weeks.

Hunt, who lived on his homestead from April 28, 1889, until his death fought with the Union forces as a member of the 69th Indiana regiment. Though he was not wounded in his three years' fighting, he twice was captured by confederates, once at the battle of Vicksburg and another time in Kentucky.

He was a member of an expeditionary force which went up the Red river on the Texas side. Hunt enlisted from Randolph county, Ind.

Hunt made the run into Oklahoma from the Kansas line and filed his declaratory claim April 28. He was one of the few pioneers who had continued to live on his homestead.

He is survived by his wife, of the home; three sons, T. W. and R. O., both of the home, and J. L. Hunt, 3210 North Francis avenue, a carpenter, and seven daughters, Miss Bessie and Miss Jessie Hunt, twins, of the home; Mrs. R. E. Hilgenberg and Mrs. C. F. Goodart, both of the city; Mrs. A. M. Austin, Sparks; Mrs. K. L. Price, Elk City, and Mrs. H. M. Myers, Blanchard.

More About Henry Clay Hunt:

Burial: 14 Sep 1936, Bethany Cemetery, Oklahoma Co, OK

Military service: 69th Indiana Volunteer Infantry - Civil War (Union)

Obituary: 12 Sep 1936, Daily Oklahoman

Notes for Rutha Jane Tull:

OBITUARY: 05/07/1947

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Mrs. Ruth Jane Hunt, 91, of NW 50 and Council road, an 89er, died Tuesday at her home.

Mrs. Hunt was born in Nashville, Ind. With her husband the late Henry C. Hunt, civil war veteran, she made the run, coming here from Newton, Kan. They homesteaded 160 acres cornering on NW50 and Council road. She continued living at the home place until her death. Her husband died in 1936.

Survivors include two sons, J. L., Bethany, and R. O., Blanchard; six daughters, Miss Jessie Hunt and Miss Bessie Hunt, both of the home; Mrs. Fred Austin, Sparks; Mrs. H. M. Myers, Blanchard; Mrs. Charles Goodart, 1400 Drexel, and Mrs. R. C. Hilgenberg, 1435 NW 44. Seventeen grandchildren 37 great grandchildren and three great, great grandchildren survive.

The family requests that anyone who feels inclined to send flowers contribute the money to Woodward relief. Services will be Friday in the Bethany Baptist church, of which Mrs. Hunt was a member. Arrangements are by Merritt funeral home Bethany.

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OBIT from Indiana Newspaper (Brown County Democrat) 08 Oct 1936