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Record Group Number 4Roger W. Hunt PapersCompiled by John W. Harris May 1985 These papers are organized in six series, housed in seven boxes, as follows: Series I - Richmond Revolutinary Soldiers The first three series, having to do with Richmond, are the most significant part of this record group. They consist, in effect, of notes for a book that Hunt did not live to write on the Richmond men who fought in the Revolutionary War. The research was done between 1980 and Hunt's death in September, 1984. The origins and scope of the project are best told in Hunt's own words. "It all started when I was trying to learn more about two ancestors who lived in Richmond. One was Oliver Perry, a soldier of the Revolution from Mendon, Massachusetts, who settled in the northeasterly part of the town. The other was the widow Lydia Harris, who married widower Aquilla Ramsdell, also a Massachusets Revolutionary soldier who lived in Richmond for a few years before moving to Swanzey." "Oliver Perry died in 1817. Where was he buried? We have crawled under fallen trees, over rocks and through brush in the some 17 known burial places in Richmond without finding a gravestone. We have talked and corresponded with many others of his known descendants but have found none who could answer the question." This raised a question as to what happened to other soldiers of the Revolution who served from or lived in Richmond. Our initial research indicated that little information was available other than the meager data in Bassett's, "History of Richmond." "We concluded that something should be done about it by someone. Already, some 200 years had passed without collecting the life stories of these patriots. We figured that in a few months we would have everything neatly packaged. That was two years ago and we still have much to do." "Now that we had decided on the project, we had to decide as to just how much detail we would work up. Our first thought was that we would merely compile a listing of names and the units in which the men served but the final decision was to go for broke and write up everything we could find. Starting with the name of the soldier and the identification of the military units in which he served, we would expand to include his paternal line back to the imigrant ancestor, the name of his wife, where and when they were born, died and were buried and, where possible, the inscriptions on their gravestones. In effect, this meant writing a miniature genealogy on each of them." Correspondence with other history and genealogy buffs was the source of much of Hunt's information, (as well, one suspects, of much of the pleasure he derived from this pursuit). Researchers should not skip over the ten folders of correspondence which open Series I, since these contain information not necessarily covered elsewhere.Also of particular interest are Folders 18-21 which contain details of the various campaigns and battles in which Richmond men fought. Hunt defined "Richmond Revolutionary Soldier" to include all those men who served in the Continental Army and who ever lived in Richmond, whether at the time of their service or not. The final count was 138, plus four who he decided were Revolutionary Soldiers, but had never lived in Richmond (Caleb and Henry Ellis and Jesse and Timothy Martin; Series I, Folders 52, 53, and 82) and one who lived in Richmond but probably never served (Samuel Fassett; Series I Folder 55). The amount of information varies widely from man to man. Sometimes it is only a single sheet of notes; sometimes a fairly detailed biography and genealogy. Material on members of a single family has been filed in one folder. Where there is genealogical information, it is at the back of the folder, except where its volume required a separate folder or folders. Hunt's effort to find the grave sites of his Revolutionary Veterans prompted him to locate and explore 18 burying grounds in Richmond alone. The results of these explorations are preserved in Series II, Richmond Cemeteries. Series III, Richmond History, includes some miscellaneous offshoots of Hunt's research. Folders 7-11 record his tracing of early homesites, from the original settlement to the early 19th century. Hunt's Richmond project ends with Series III. Located in Series I, Folder 15, is an undated paper that is probably the text of Hunt's talk to the Richmond Historical Society, given in October, 1981. Series IV is devoted to earlier research in the town of Croydon, mainly into the history of the Putnam and Winter families, ancestors of his first wife, Mary Sibley Winter Hunt. Much of this project was an effort to trace the ownership of land once belonging to those families (Folders 4-15). It should be noted that though Croydon is now in Sullivan County, it was until 1827 in Cheshire County, so that the land title records referred to are in the Cheshire County Registry of Deeds. Series V, Miscellaneous Genealogy, contains all Hunt's genealogical notes about families not identifiable as connected with either Richmond or Croydon. For the most part these notes relate to forebears of his own or his wife's. Series VI is devoted to a few personal papers of Hunt's which did not fit in some other series. As will be seen, Hunt took great pride in his ancestry, being a member (and New Hampshire officer) of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars. He was born in Keene in 1912, and was educated at Keene High School and U.N He was an executive of the New Hampshire Public Service Co., first in Keene and later in Manchester, winding up his career as Vice-President in charge of employee relations. He died in September, 1984. These papers were given to the Society by his widow (and third wife), Marie Emily Hunt, in November, 1984. Though an amateur historian, Hunt appears to have been a careful and thorough researcher. His notes were neatly and logically organized and he was careful to record sources of information. It is a pity that he did not survive to complete his project. Series I - RICHMOND REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERSBox 1, Folders 1-22Correspondence w/ Harry Bachiochi, July-Sept. 1983 Correspondence w/ Harry Bachiochi, Oct. 1983-July 1984 Correspondence w/ Luke Faust Correspondence w/ George B. Fillian Correspondence w/ Norma Thibodeau, 1980-1981 Correspondence w/ Norma Thibodeau, 1982-1983 Correspondence w/ Robert S. Trim Correspondence w/ Richard J. Valente Correspondence - Miscellaneous, 1980-1981 Correspondence - Miscellaneous, 1982-1984 Genealogy - Miscellaneous Grave Sites - Miscellaneous Grave Sites - Richmond Grave Sites - Swanzey R. W. Hunt Essay Lists Pensions Service Records - 1775-1776 Service Records - 1777-1778 Service Records - 1779-1781 Service Records - Miscellaneous Vermont Settlers Box 2, Folders 23-50 Box 3, Folders 51-80 Box 4, Folders 81-110 * Served from Keene, not Richmond ** Did not serve *** Probably not from Richmond Series II - RICHMOND CEMETERIESBox 5, Folders 1-8General & Miscellaneous Aldrich Cemetery Ballou Cemetery Barrus Cemetery Benson Cemetery Boom Cemetery Boyce Cemetery Deacon John Cass Cemetery Series III - RICHMOND HISTORYBox 5, Folders 1-14Association Test, 1776 Censuses, 1790 - 1860 Clippings Correspondence w/ Harry J. Bennett Correspondence w/ Silas White Correspondence w/ Russell C. White Dwellings - Four Corners Dwellings - Northeast Dwellings - Northwest Dwellings - Southeast Dwellings - Southwest Mills, Grist & Saw Miscellaneous War of 1812 Series IV - CROYDONBox 6, Folders 1-17Allen Genealogy Croydon History, Correspondence w/ Rita Gross Croydon History, Misc. Land Records - Cheshire County Registry, vols. 27-94, 1796-1819 Land Records - Grantee Index, vols. 1-12, 1777-1786 Land Records - Grantee Index, vols. 13-27, 1779-1797 Land Records - Grantee Index, vols. 28-40, 1796-1803 Land Records - Grantee Index, vols. 41-54, 1798-1809 Land Records - Grantee Index, vols. 55-69, 1801-1815 Land Records - Grantee Index, vols. 70-104, 1815-1825 Land Records - Gustin Farm Land Records - Maps Land Records - Misc. Land Records Putnam Farm Land Records - Winter Farm Putnam Genealogy - Caleb to Frank E. Putnam Genealogy - Fred W. to Thomas & Misc. Roads Sibley Genealogy Winter Genealogy - Arthur to Margery Winter Genealogy - Reuben to Warren H. & Misc. Series V - MISCELLANEOUS GENEALOGYBox 7, Folders 1-16Annis, Anthony, Barton, Bellows, Bemis, Bridges, Brooks Carpenter, Carroll, Chase, Church, Clough, Coggeshall, Coldham, Combs, Coolidge Davis, Dix, Fiske, Foss Gay, Gibbs, Graves, Grimes Hager, Holmes, Hugg Hunt, Chapin to Mary Hunt, Nathan to Zebulon & Misc. Knight Lang Minot, Mixer, Moore, Nash Park, Pickering, Pierce, Pitcher, Powers Potter Potter (Rhode Island Records) Rand, Rawson, Sawin, Sawtell, Scott Taft, Tenney, Titus Wallis, Wheeler, Whitcomb, Whitney, Willard Series VI - ROGER W. HUNT - PERSONALBox 7, Folders 1-4Corespondence w/ Richmond Historical Society Corespondence w/ Sons of the American Revolution Miscellaneous Papers Review of Coniston  |
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