JAMES
K. HUNTER
JAMES
K. HUNTER is one of the representative farmers and popular citizens of Sunfield
Township and is one of the leading factors in the local contingent of the
Republican party, having served for some time as a member of the county central
committee and taking a lively interest in all that pertains to the welfare and
advancement of the community. He was born in the city of Rochester, new York,
July 31, 1855, and is a son of James A. and Ellen (Knox) Hunter, the former of
whom was born in Scotland, and the latter in Albany, New York, while both passed
their declining years in Sunfield township, Eaton County, Michigan, where the
father died at the age of sixty-three years, his wife passing away January 1,
1889. James A. Hunter was a carpenter and joiner by trade and followed the same
in New York, as did he also after coming to Michigan. In 1856 he took up his
residence in this state, buying one hundred acres of wild land, in section 20,
Sunfield Township, Eaton county, and there reclaiming a good farm from the
forest. For several years the family occupied the log house, which he built upon
his arrival in the county, and he later built the substantial frame residence
now on the old homestead. He was a stanch Republican in politics, was possessed
of those sterling attributes of character so typical of the true Scotsman, and
both he and his wife were zealous members of the Presbyterian Church. They
became the parents of six children, of whom the immediate subject of this sketch
was the first born; Mary Jane died at the age of seven years; Albert resides on
the old homestead farm; Ella is the wife of Dennis A. Hager, a prosperous farmer
of Sunfield township; Horace died at the age of two years; and Ernest is a
successful farmer of Sunfield Township. James K. Hunter was an infant at the
time of his parents' removal from New York to Michigan, and his early years were
passed on the pioneer farm. He lent his aid in the reclaiming and improvement of
the place and secured such educational advantages as were offered by the local
schools. He remained at the parental home until he had attained his legal
majority, when he bought forty acres of timbered land, in Sunfield Township,
clearing about ten acres and then selling the property, after which he purchased
sixty acres of his present homestead, in section 20, same township, the greater
portion having been cleared. The old log house, which was on the farm, he later
replaced with his present attractive and modern frame residence, and he has
added to the area of his original tract by the purchase of eighty acres of
well-improved land on the opposite side of the road. He has been energetic and
enterprising in his efforts and has met with deserved success in temporal
affairs. His attitude in matters political is one of uncompromising adherence to
the Republican Party, and he is a member of the township and county committee of
the same at the present time, being an active worker in the party cause. He
served two terms as township treasurer. He and his wife hold membership in the
Presbyterian Church. October 16, 1884, Mr. Hunter was united in marriage to Miss
Edna Brown, daughter of Sidney H. Brown, a sketch of whose career is given
elsewhere in this volume. They have no children.
