James Lingard Hunter (1817-1846) was born in Charleston, South Carolina on April 14, 1817. In the early 1830s, he moved to Irwinton (later renamed Eufaula), Alabama with his family. By 1833, his father, General John Lingard Hunter (1795-1865), had become the largest slaveholder in Barbour County, Alabama. James L. Hunter married Sarah Elizabeth Shorter, who had moved to Irwinton with her family in 1837. Prior to moving to Alabama, however, Sarah Elizabeth's father, Reuben Clarke Shorter, had purchased a large cotton plantation on the Chattahoochee River, in Randolph (now Quitman) County, Georgia. It is possible that the site described in the gardening book in this collection was the plantation owned by Reuben Clarke Shorter, and was managed by James L. Hunter. Hunter died of malaria on June 22, 1846, less than three months after the last entry in his gardening book.
From the description of James L. Hunter Diary and The Gardening Book of James L. Hunter, A Southern Planter, 1845-46, 1996. (Atlanta History Center). WorldCat record id: 298438932
