B. about 1780, Downpatrick, County Down, Ireland
M. before 1803, location unknown
Wife: Naomi _______
D. after 1850, (probably) Knox County, Indiana
Robert Hunter represents the non-French Europeans who began populating the Midwest at the turn of the 19th century. Many of these people were of the Mid-Atlantic English colonies who had just won their independence, but Robert came from Ireland with a heritage that traced back to Scotland.
Robert was born in about 1780 in the town of Downpatrick, which is in present-day Northern Ireland. Nothing is known of his family or childhood. This leaves the curious question, when and why did he come to America? If he came as a boy with his parents, that would have been during the American Revolution, which seems doubtful. More likely was that he traveled on his own as a young adult. He probably landed at a place like Philadelphia during the 1790s, and soon after, headed west.
As early as 1806, Robert was living in Vincennes, a former French trading post in what is now Indiana. Through later records, we know that he already had a couple of children and that his wife’s name was Naomi. She was of an English heritage, and had been born in Delaware, but without a maiden name, she’s been impossible to track. Between about 1803 and about 1832, they had up to a dozen children.
The village of Vincennes during Robert’s day was a lively place, with all of the characteristics of the American frontier. His neighbors were a mix of families from places like Kentucky and Virginia, and those descended from the French fur traders who came a generation earlier. Robert’s home was likely a log cabin, but also may have been a simple wooden structure; records show that he lived at the corner of 4th and Dubois.
Robert’s name turned up on several court records during this time, starting in June 1806 when he served on a jury. The record described the 12 jurors as “good and lawful men, who [were] elected tried and sworn.” The trial doesn’t seem to have gone forward, though.
In July 1813, he and his wife were somehow involved with unlawful actions concerning a woman named Fanny Dixon. The woman was assaulted by a man named Wrexham Ellis, and Naomi seems to have been an important witness. Then in a court case tried in February and March of 1815, Robert brought charges against the same woman for stealing a coffee pot and a tin pan in July 1813. The suggestion is that both incidents are related and may have happened at the same time. The coffee pot and tin pan were valued at 50¢ each. The court record said that Fanny Dixon took the items “with force and arms,” but this may have been boilerplate language.
In another colorful case that October, Robert was summoned to court along with three other men as witnesses to a “riot.” The details of this case are sketchy, so it’s hard to really make sense of it. In yet another case in 1816, Robert was named as owing some money along with three other men. One significant detail was that a transcript of part of the record indicated that his signature is on the document, meaning he was literate. Since Robert was an immigrant, at some point it seemed important to him to become an American citizen. So on March 1, 1830, he foreswore allegiance to Ireland and became naturalized.
Sometime during the 1820s, Robert moved out of Vincennes to a new area of farms in Knox County called Harrison Township. The 1830 census listed him there, and he was listed again in 1840 and 1850. The Hunters were members of the Indiana Church, a Presbyterian church in Knox County. Robert was admitted to the church for the first time in a meeting on July 4, 1824, and Naomi was admitted a couple weeks later.
Robert’s personality is revealed by an incident involving the church when he was brought in to “converse with” elders about charges against him. The record told that that in August 1830 he had shown up drunk at a church election, and in June 1831, he had struck another parishioner, and also had encouraged “fighting and swearing.” The elders ended up ruling that Robert be suspended from church membership until “he brings forth fruitment for repentance.” It wasn’t until June 29, 1834 that he was restored to his full standing in the church.
After his suspension from the church was lifted, Robert seems to have behaved himself because there were no further records of misconduct. The last known record of Robert and his wife Naomi was their appearance in 1850 U.S. Census. They were both missing in the 1860 census, so presumably they passed away before that date.
Children (the ones who are named in records):
1. Isabelle Hunter — B. about 1803, Indiana; D. 8 Jan 1872, Vincennes, Indiana; M. John Baptiste Edeline (1802-1849), 11 Jun 1826, Vincennes, Indiana
2. James Hunter — B. about 1805, Indiana; D. 12 Sep 1848, Knox County, Indiana; M. Parmelia Westfall (1808-1870), 10 Jul 1831, Knox County, Indiana
3. (possibly) Elizabeth Hunter — B. between 1805 and 1810, Indiana; M. Ephraim Jordon (~1809-?), 6 Mar 1834, Knox County, Indiana
4. (possibly) Jane Hunter — B. about 1810, (probably) Knox County, Indiana; M. William Jordon, 5 Nov 1828, Knox County, Indiana
5. Robert Hunter — B. about 1822, Indiana; M. (1) Martha Thacker, 1 Oct 1846, Knox County, Indiana; (2) Zerena Lafter (~1827-?), 21 Jun 1849, Knox County, Indiana
6. Naomi Hunter — B. about 1832, (probably) Knox County, Indiana; D. after 1880; M. John Kensler (1825-1899), 7 Oct 1851, Knox County, Indiana
Sources:
