Submitted by Lisa McNeese Transcribed by "Allen D. Hunt" Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 From "The Choctaw Plaindealer", Thursday, May 16, 1991 -- PROFILE Esly Marion Hunt By: B.R. Hunt Esly Hunt was born April 29, 1816, in Greenville County, S.C. and was the eldest son of William Lacy and Keziah McClanahan Hunt. He died April 29, 1892 and was buried in Steve's cemetery located in the Panhandle of Choctaw County, Mississippi. He was obviously named after his paternal grandfather, Esli Hunt, who had distinguished himself as an American Patriot representing the states of Virginia and North Carolina during the American Revolution. Private Esli Hunt was one of the nine hundred backwoodsmen Patriots at the "Battle of Kings Mountain" who had soundly defeated Major Patrick Ferguson and his eleven hundred Loyalist and British troops. (Major Ferguson was killed in the battle). Esly's wife, Jane Quarles Hunt, was also born in the Palmetto state August 24, 1823. She died June 20, 1903 and is buried adjacent to Esly in Steve's Cemetery. (***NOTE: I, Allen D. Hunt, will state that this cemetery is known as and called "Steed Cemetery" by all persons in the surrounding MS area.***) Esly's father died in 1836 in Greenville County, S.C. and since Esly was the eldest son he had been required to assume the male leadership role as head of the family at a very early age. He had three brothers, Pilate, John Robert and George McDuffin and four sisters, Rosa, Orpha, Julia and Jane. His maternal grandparents, John and Mary Robinson McClanahan, and their family (excluding Keziah) had already settled in Southeast Choctaw County, Mississippi, and would later migrate to Louisville in Winston County. They operated some of the first businesses in Louisville, which included a hotel. Almost all of the lands of Choctaw, Winston and Oktibbeha Counties among others had been made available to white settlers sometime after 1830. The Choctaw Indians were given the option of leaving the land and moving to Oklahoma as a tribe or remaining on the land as U.S. citizens and given a section (640 acres) of land. This was a result of the "Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek" signed by Greenwood Leflore in Noxubee County who represented the Choctaw Indians. Oktibbeha, Winston and Choctaw Counties among others were not made official counties of the State of Mississippi until 1833; however, some settlers came in early and purchased lands from the Choctaws. In Oklahoma, under similar Indian treaties, these early settlers were called "Sooners" but in Mississippi they were just referred to as "Early Settlers." Most of the early settlers in these three counties were from the Carolinas and Virginia and many of these were of Scotch-Irish descent. These were a determined and stubborn breed of settlers and it has been said that when they prayed, they prayed the following prayer: "Lord, grant that I may always be right, for Thou knowest that I am hard to turn." Young Esly, who was only twenty one years of age at the time and in the true spirit of a young westward pioneer, rode a mule from Greenville County, S.C. to Southwest Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, in 1837, according to tradition. Here he bought land from a man by the name of Tom Davis and then returned to Greenville County S.C. on the mule. He rounded up the family slaves and returned to Mississippi. (His father, Lacy, was shown on the 1830 census of Greenville County, S.C. as owning 9 slaves). Esly and the slaves cleared some of the newly acquired land and they planted their first crop in Mississippi. This land, although in Oktibbeha County, bordered on the Southeast parameter of Choctaw County. Once the crop was "laid by" he and the slaves went into the forest and felled trees for the purpose of building a log house for his mother and the rest of the family. After the crop was harvested in the fall of 1839, Esly returned to Greenville County, S.C. and brought his mother and his seven siblings to Mississippi in late 1839 or early 1840 in a covered wagon. He established them in the recently completed log house and lived with his mother and siblings for a short time. About 1840 esly moved into what is now called the Panhandle of Choctaw County. He acquired land there, built a house, cleared land for crops, married Jane Quaries and started a family of his own. There in the Panhandle of Choctaw County (Winston County then) Esly and Jane raised a large family consisting of twelve children and about 1945 was known to have had at least 400 direct descendants. Esly espoused the Cause of the confederacy August 26, 1861 and served with a company called the "New Prospect Grays" from Winston County. They rendezvoused at Enterprise, Mississippi and were sent to Warrington Navy Yard near Pensacola, Florida. They were placed in charge of a battery of three slege pieces as they were well versed in artillery drill. Esly remained in Pensacola, Florida until the end of the war. Esly's two eldest sons, John Wesley and Carson, also served in the Civil War. They joined a Company from Winston County known as the "Fort Donelson Avengers", which was formed March 2, 1862. Upon the formation of the 35th Mississippi Regiment, they were merged into this unit as Company "D." After leaving the camp of Instructions at West Point, Mississippi the Company was ordered to Corinth, Mississippi and from there to Tupelo, Iuka, and Baldwyn, Mississippi. They were then ordered to Pocahontas, Tennessee and then back to Corinth where they were engaged in a three day battle in which many of their Company were injured or killed. From Corinth the Company fought rear guard action via Holly Springs and Granada, Mississippi to Vicksburg. They were at Vicksburg during its siege and eventual surrender July 4, 1863. Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered the city to Union General U.S. Grant along with most of the 35th Regiment. The Company was paroled July 10, 1863. Esly was a true pioneer and an admirable ancestor of descendant Hunts since he had inherited man size responsibilities while he was a mere lad and had shouldered those responsibilities with dependable dedication. The following is a quotation in part from R. L. Hannah's Historical Brief published in 1946: "He made it a daily practice to so regulate his conduct before his family, his friends, and his neighbors so that when he came to the end of that journey extending from the cradle to the grave, it was said of him that no man ever went to the grave with greater evidences of respect and admiration than did Uncle Esley." Choctaw, Oktibbeha and Winston Counties should be justly proud of this transplanted South Carolinian who was an early settler of the area and a part of its rich heritage. ***Note from Allen Hunt: All the above was typed as provided to me this day as a faxed copy of the 1991 article. Notice that in the R.L. Hannah quote, he was called Uncle Esley, spelled exactly the way I carry his name, but quite unlike the rest of this article, which spells his name as Esly. I carry his name as Esley Marian Hunt. Hope you have enjoyed this article.***