Full Finding Aid

Title:	Guide to the Papers of The Hunt Family, 1754 - 1941
Call Number:	Manuscript MS-1173
Collection Dates:	1754 - 1941
Size of Collection:	2 boxes (1.75 linear ft.)
Abstract:	Papers of the Hunt family contain journals, clippings, and correspondence documenting the American anti-slavery movement, the Connecticut River Railroad Company, an 18th century medical practice, and a printing business located on the summit of Mt. Washington.
Access to Collection:	Unrestricted.

Use & Access

The materials represented in this guide may be accessed through the Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College. Rauner Library is located in Webster Hall. The materials must be used on-site and may not leave Rauner Library.

Rauner Special Collections Library is open to the public and in most cases no appointment is necessary. The exception is in the case of materials stored off site for which there may be a delay of up to 48 hours in retrieval. Please consult the Access to Collection statement below or contact Rauner Reference.

• Rauner Library Hours
• Rauner Library Patron Information

Access to Collection

Unrestricted.

Use Restrictions

Permission from Dartmouth College required for publication or reproduction.

Introduction to the Collection

The Hunt Family papers consists of correspondence, diaries, newspaper clippings, physicians' records, a recipe book, and other items relating to the occupations of Hunt family members. The collection documents Seth Hunt's extensive involvement in abolitionist and other progressive causes as well as his work with the Connecticut River Railroad; Ebenezer Hunt's Northampton medical practice; and Frank Burt's activities as an author and stenographer.

Introduction

Ebenezer Hunt was born in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1744 and died in 1820. He and his son David (1773 - 1837) were both physicians.

Seth Hunt, son of David Hunt and grandson of Ebenezer Hunt, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, on July 28, 1814. He married Juliet Briggs of Keene, New Hampshire on October 2, 1838. Seth Hunt was an outspoken abolitionist and his house at 115 Bridge Street in Northampton served as a way station on the Underground Railroad. He was an active member of the Free Congregational Society of Florence, a radical religious group in the vicinity of Northampton. He wrote extensively for local newspapers on a variety of progressive subjects including abolition, temperance, vegetarianism, and vaccination. Among his notable correspondents were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Ward Beecher, Horace Greeley, and William Lloyd Garrison. A key developer of the Connecticut River Railroad, Seth Hunt served as the corporation's treasurer. He died on July 3, 1893.

Frank Hunt Burt, grandson of Seth Hunt, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts on November 9, 1861. He was the official stenographer for the Superior Courts of Plymouth County and Norfolk County, Massachusetts. His father, Henry M. Burt, founded "Among the Clouds," a daily newspaper printed at the summit of Mount Washington, in 1877. Frank Burt published several guides to the White Mountains, including "Mount Washington: A Handbook for Travelers" in 1904.