Hunt, John R., 1842-1889.

Graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; veteran of 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and the 81st O.V.I. mustered out in 1864 to care for care for his mother and settle his father's estate near Cincinnati, Ohio; employee of the War Department at time his diary was written.

From the description of John R. Hunt papers, [ca. 1861-1865]. (Ohio Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 46833987

Hunt, John Randolph

Rank : Adj.

Regiment : 81st Ohio Infantry Regiment, Co. B (1861-1865)

Service : 1861 April 19-1864 September 20

John Randolph Hunt was born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1842 to Dr. John Randolph Hunt, Sr. (1800-1863) and Amanda Baird Hunt (1811-c.1896). He was one of five children in a wealthy and well-educated family. Hunt graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and moved to Cincinnati shortly thereafter. Hunt enlisted in Co. B of the 20th Ohio Infantry on April 19, 1861. After three months of service he became an adjutant in the 81st Ohio Infantry. Hunt is listed as having been commissioned as adjutant to the 81st "from civilian life" on September 9, 1862, however between January and March, 1862, he accompanied the 81st Regiment to Missouri as it headed south to take part in the Shiloh and Corinth campaigns. In late April, Hunt received a furlough to go home for a few days, but after returning to the regiment, left again in June for an extended sick-leave, and did not return until November. John was in poor health for most of the war and he was granted another sick-leave in July 1864. On September 20, 1864, he was allowed to resign his commission to return home to care for his ailing mother and settle the estate of his father, who had died the previous year. After the war, Hunt resided in Trenton, New Jersey, where he died on February 3, 1889, after suffering from paralysis.

Samuel Furman Hunt, John R. Hunt's younger brother, was born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1844. During the war, Samuel attended Miami University and completed his degree in 1864 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Though he never fought in the Civil War, he ministered to the wounded and dying at Shiloh and helped organize the Ohio 83rd Regiment. Samuel graduated from Cincinnati Law School in 1867 and was admitted to the bar in the same year. Samuel spent the next two years traveling through Sicily, Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land. Upon return, he served one term in the Ohio State Senate in 1870-1871 and ran for lieutenant governor in 1871. Over the next two decades, Samuel held various judgeships. He was a trustee of Miami University in 1872 and a dean of Cincinnati University from 1880-1890. Like his brother, Samuel never married; he died in Glendale, Ohio, in 1907.

From the guide to the John and Samuel Hunt papers, Hunt, John and Samuel papers, 1855-1883, 1861-1865, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)