Esther Hunt (September 4, 1751 – February 5, 1820) was a

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

who lived on America's frontier as a wife, a mother and a leader in her Quaker faith.

Early life at Moorestown

Born Esther Roberts, she was the youngest of five children of Enoch Roberts and Rachel Coles. The Roberts family lived at

Evesham Township, New Jersey Evesham Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-most populous city. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 46,826, an incr ...

. Esther's mother died when she was about seven years old.''The Friend'' Esther Roberts and Joshua Hunt were married on November 19, 1778 in the Friends Meetinghouse at

Moorestown Township Moorestown is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

, New Jersey. Joshua Hunt was the first teacher in the

Moorestown Friends School Moorestown Friends School (MFS) is a private, coeducational Quaker day school in Moorestown, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 652 students (plus 43 in PreK) and 74.5 classroom teachers ...

. While living in Moorestown, Esther and Joshua had six children. In September 1790, Esther and Joshua and their five children, "with two wagons, seven horses, one cow, and provisions", began a three-week journey to Fayette County in southwestern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Their destination was a small, but growing, community located on the east bank of the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...

in close proximity to

Fort Burd Redstone Old Fort — written as Redstone or Red-Stone Fort or (for a short time when built) Fort Burd — on Nemacolin's Path, the Nemacolin Trail, was the name of the French and Indian War-era wooden fort built in 1759 by Pennsylvania militia ...

. In those days it was called

Redstone Old Fort Redstone Old Fort — written as Redstone or Red-Stone Fort or (for a short time when built) Fort Burd — on Nemacolin's Path, the Nemacolin Trail, was the name of the French and Indian War-era wooden fort built in 1759 by Pennsylvania militia ...

, or simply Redstone. Later, the name was changed to Brownsville.

Life at Brownsville

In early October, the tiny caravan reached the new home where the Hunt family would live in a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

during the winter season. On July 27, 1791 Joshua purchased a property, consisting of a dwelling and of land, from John and Sarah Cadwallader. Located on the south bank of Redstone Creek, Hunt's farm was about two miles (3 km) east of the creek's confluence with the Monongahela River and slightly to the west of Colvin Run. Their homestead, which they named "Hunt Pleasant", consisted of a log dwelling nestled amidst walnut trees and steep hills. Rachel Hunt, Esther and Joshua's seventh child and only daughter, was born October 24, 1791. After returning from a trip back home to Moorestown, Joshua Hunt died February 26, 1792. He was 39 years old. Esther Hunt wrote about her husband and her concerns:

He was one endowed with the savor of Truth, a good neighbor, a tender father, able to instruct his children, temporally and spiritually; except the Lord help we shall perish. My loss is inexpressible, having my dear companion taken from me by death, and I left in this strange land with six children, the youngest about four months old. I can but mourn under a sense thereof, though not as one without hope.

Esther decided to remain at Hunt Pleasant. The ages of her children ranged from Elisha, who was a little over 12 years, to Rachel, who was just four months. Now a widow, Esther continued to run the farm and raise her children alone, without her "dearest companion and bosom friend". Nevertheless, in June 1794 she was appointed an elder in the Redstone Monthly Meeting, a reflection of the high esteem that she was held by the men and women of her faith. She traveled extensively, always on horseback. In October and November 1796 she visited Moorestown and

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...

Later life at Moorestown

On June 3, 1807, Esther Hunt married John Collins, a Quaker minister from Moorestown, in the Redstone Meetinghouse. She had previously conveyed an equal portion of Hunt Pleasant to each of her children. Then Esther and her daughter, Rachel, removed to her husband's home in her previous hometown. Rachel Hunt and David Roberts, the son of Joseph Roberts and Susanna Coles, were married February 15, 1815 in the Moorestown Meetinghouse. Esther and her close friend Ann Edwards drowned February 5, 1820 while attempting to cross the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

in a horse-drawn carriage which broke through the ice.''Burlington Mirror'' (9 Feb. 1820). "Melancholy accident", page 3, column 2:
"Moorestown, February 7, 1820. On February 5, 1820, saturday, about five o'clock P. M. as Henry Warrington, Jr. of Chester Township, in Burlington County, was in the act of crossing from Heaton's ferry to Hopkinson's ferry, on the Delaware, with a pair of horses and carriage, with three Ladies, viz. Mrs. Stokes, widow of the late Dr. Stokes, Hester icCollins, widow of the late John Collins, and Miss Ann Edwards, daughter of the late Richard Edwards, deceased. The horses broke through the ice, and horses and carriage almost instantly disappeared; Mrs. Stokes and Mr. Warrington providentially escaped with their lives: but melancholy to relate Mrs. Collins and Miss Edwards, went down with the horses and carriage, and perished. Efforts have been made, and are still continued by their neighbors and friends, to recover the bodies of the unfortunate sufferers."

Images

Image: Widow HUNT plat.jpg, ''Hunt Pleasant''

Bibliography

* Horn, W. F. d.(1945), ''The Horn papers: early western movement on the Monongahela and upper Ohio, 1765–1795'', volume 3, Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press * Roberts-Hunt Family Papers, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania * ''The Friend'' (1873), "Esther Collins and Ann Edwards", ''The Friend, a religious and literary journal'', Volume XLVI, No. 46 and 47, Philadelphia: William H. Pile, pp. 362, 370-3 * Hynes, Judy, et al. (1997), ''The descendants of John and Elizabeth (Woolman) Borton'', Mount Holly, New Jersey: John Woolman Memorial Association, p. 23-4 * Lamborn, Suzanne Parry (2006), ''John and Sarah Roberts, with many related families'', Morgantown, Pennsylvania: Masthof Press, * Specht, Neva Jean (1997), ''Mixed blessing: trans-Appalachian settlement and the Society of Friends, 1780–1813'', Ph. D. dissertation, University of Delaware * Specht, Neva Jean (2003), "Women of one or many bonnets?: Quaker women and the role of religion in trans-Appalachian settlement", ''NWSA Journal'' 15 (2): 27-44 * Woodward, E. M. (1883), ''History of Burlington County, New Jersey, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men'', Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, pp. 270-1

Footnotes

External links

Biography of Joshua and Esther Hunt by their children

Hunt family history
By E. M. Woodward in ''History of Burlington County''
Fayette County warrant map
Map shows the location of ''Hunt Pleasant'', 195 acres, formed by the "No. 98. Thos. Downs" property, consisting of 151 acres bordering Redstone Creek, and a portion of the adjoining "John Jones" property, consisting of 44 acres.
Biography of Esther Hunt
Recorded in ''The Friend''
Esther Hunt's fatal accident
By Purdy and Lipponcott in ''Moorestown Old and New''
Website to search the ''Mirror'' newspaper
Provided by the Burlington County Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Esther 1751 births 1820 deaths American Quakers People from colonial New Jersey People from Brownsville, Pennsylvania People from Evesham Township, New Jersey People from Moorestown, New Jersey Deaths by drowning in New Jersey American pioneers