GGGF Hunt probably died before the end of June 1870. He is not to be found on the 1870 census in Cross county, Arkansas which was enumerated as of July 1, 1870 . But neither is his wife, Elizabeth. Was she dead, too? Actually, he probably died before the end of June, 1869 as he is not found on the Mortality Schedule of the 1870 census (deaths recorded from 7/1/1869-6/30/1870) for Cross county.
I took it a step further and went looking for a will and/or probate records.
And I found them.
The documentation is not as complete as I would expect, but at least enough of it survives (thank you so much Familysearch for microfilming the will books). The probate court of Cross county, Arkansas convened a few times a year, from what I can tell. The records are in two separate book filmings.
On page 547 of probate volume A, we find, dated 1/4/1870 (look at that date) :
“Est of Jahue Hunt, decd, vesting order. (take note of that name, it is spelled that way on all the documents) Now on this day comes Mrs. Hunt into court and presents the court here her appraise bill of Personal Property–to wit: 1 cow and calf $30.00, 1 heifer $18.00, 1 yoke cattle $75.00. The right to which said property is hereby vested absolutely in the widow.” I don’t know what this means but it looks to me like she is claiming these items from the estate (maybe she brought them to the marriage) and the court agreed. This is the last we hear of Mrs. Hunt. If she died before the 1870 census was taken a few months after this, I haven’t found a record of it. She was only about 35 years old at this time, she could easily have remarried, but I have not found a record. This seems more logical to me than her death, but anything is possible.
On page 59 of administration and guardian and bonds letters volume A in Cross county, we find the first entry in the matter of Jahue Hunt who died intestate. “Letters of Administration to B. Rolison in the Jahue Hunt Est.” Britton Rolison was the local county assessor. On 2/10/1870, Mr. Rolison was appointed to administer the estate. It doesn’t use the word “executor,” but that was his appointment, from what I can tell. It doesn’t say when Jahue died, but we know it was before 1/4/1870.
On page 106 of the same book, we find Mr. Rolison, Thomas G. Stanley and J.J. Carnes putting up bond to administer the estate. This is also dated 2/10/1870. But this is all that I find. At the very least, I would expect to find an inventory and a settlement. There is another book of settlements from 1866-1911 (volume D) but I didn’t find the Jahue Hunt estate in it. These films are not indexed and it could be that I just missed them. I will go through them again.
But one thing I did find that was unexpected and surprising:
On page 610 of probate volume A, dated “January term, 1871:”
“C.S. Hunt pet[ition] for Guar[dianship] of Julia Hunt
Now on this day the petition of C.S. Hunt, heretofore filed praying for letters of guardianship, which petition for want of bond is not granted.”
Wait, what? Who was Julia Hunt and how old was she? Did GGGF Hunt and Elizabeth have a child together? Glenda’s book doesn’t mention Julia, but it also doesn’t mention the 1868 marriage to Elizabeth Cox.
So the mystery deepens. If Elizabeth was still living, and if Julia was her child, where were they in 1870?
The answer may be in Part III. To be continued…
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