COMFORT C. HUNT BIOGRAPHY AS RECORDED IN: COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 1069
COMFORT C. HUNT, one of the most highly respected citizens of Somers, Tolland county, is a descendent of William Hunt, who came from Yorkshire, England, to New England in 1635, in company with the Rev. Peter Bulkley. He settled in Concord, Mass., but passed his last years at Marlboro, where he died in 1667. David Hunt, the grandfather of Comfort C., was a farmer, and died in Monson, Mass., while still in early life. Hannah Stacy, his wife, bore him one child, Simon S., the father of Comfort C., and after she became a widow was again married to Wareham Keep, by whom she had one child, Lucy A. This daughter married William Rhodes, and died in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Simon S. Hunt was born Feb. 1, 1807,
in Monson, Mass. His opportunities for schooling were not good, as his parents
lived in a number of places in his native State and in New York. About the
time of his marriage he located on a farm in South Wilbraham, Mass., which
is now known as Hampden. This farm was owned by his mother, and on her death
he inherited it. For more than a quarter of a century he was engaged in
its cultivation, adding considerable to it in the way of land improvements.
In March, 1856, he sold his estate, Simon S. Hunt and Persis Chaffee were
married March 10, 1832. Mrs. Hint was born Aug. 4, 1807, in Hampden, Mass.,
a daughter of Comfort and Persis D. (Skinner) Chaffee, and died Oct. 2,
1868. To Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were born: Simon S., born March 23, 1833, married
Mary Durkee, engaged in farming in Comfort C. Hunt was born in South Wilbraham,
Mass., where he attended the old red school house in district No. 6. His
native town was his home until he reached the age of twenty-one, when he
accompanied his parents o Somers. His boyhood was devoted to hard work,
and after he was eleven years of age his schooling was confined to the short
winter term. In 1856 he went to the southern part of Illinois, where he
was a successful canvasser for books, and he spent a short time engaged
in the same business in northwestern Wisconsin. In 1857 the panic in business
drove him out of the canvassing field, and after visiting relatives in Michigan
and Ohio he returned to Connecticut after an absence of something more than
a year. Until the fall of 1862 he was engaged in assisting his father in
the farm work. At that time he entered the United States Armory at Springfield,
Mass., remaining about six months, when his father was taken ill with his
last sickness. Then he came back to the farm and took charge of it until
the death of his Comfort C. Hunt and Mary M. Kibbe were
married Dec. 13, 1864. Mrs. Hunt was born in Somers, Dec. 31, 1843, and
died Nov. 1, 1888. She was a daughter of Frederick and Naome (Cooley) Kibbe,
and a sister to Aretas F. Kibbe, of Somers, whose life is the topic of a
sketch that appears in another place. To this union were born: (1) Carrie
P., born March 18, 1867, attended the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass.,
and married Dr. Howard Truman French, Oct. 13, 1891. Her husband is a successful
physician at Deep River, Conn., and they have two children, Marion E., born
Aug. 15, 1895; and Harold C., born July 3, 1899. Dr. French was born in
Hartland, Conn., Aug. 24, 1866, and received his education in the common
schools of his native town, in the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass.,
in the Medical Department of Columbia Mr. Hunt was born and reared a Democrat; he became one of the first Prohibitionists in Somers, and is now a Republican. A member of the Congregational Church of Somers, he was first elected deacon of that church Jan. 18, 1884, and has filled the position continuously to the present time. He is an honest and hard-working man, with many friends in the community.
Reproduced by: Linda D. Pingel great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct. Biographies of Tolland County |