Sent by Robert M. Hunt

Alfred Hunt was a resident of Bethlehem, PA, but his family's ancestral home was Moorestown, NJ.

.....The announcement of the death of Alfred Hunt, president of the Bethlehem Iron Company, will be a shock to his numerous friends throughout the Lehigh Valley and the State. The sad event occurred last evening at the home of his brother, Mordecai Hunt, in Moorestown, N. J., and the news was telegraphed this morning to the officials of the Bethlehem Iron Company. Mr. Hunt had been in failing health for several years and on Jan. 23 last he left town for Florida. He stayed two months at the St. James Hotel, Jacksonville, and on the 10th of this month, accompanied by his brother Mordecai, who had been summoned to his bedside, he was removed in a special train to the home of his brother in New Jersey. Since his return North his health failed rapidly. He was daily visited by friends from the Bethlehems and he greeted them with pleasure. Mr. Hunt's death was caused by an abscess in the lungs. His physician says his left lung was entirely gone and the right partially.

.....Mr. Hunt was born of Quaker parentage, at Brownsville, Pa., on April 5, 1817, and was consequently in the 71st year of his age. The early days of his life he spent at Philadelphia. His associates in the city were such leading men as Charles Henry Fisher, the late president of the North Penna. Railroad, Charles Fox and Robert Cabeen, who became firm and fast friends for life. Mr. Hunt's election to the presidency of the Bethlehem Iron Company on July 15, 1860, and his immediate removal from Philadelphia to Bethlehem, did not cause him to sever his relations with his Philadelphia coterie of acquaintances, and notwithstanding that he has ever since resided here he claimed the Quaker City as his home.

.....Mr. Hunt was the first and only president of the great Bethlehem Iron Company. He was a man of exceptionally high aims and character. He belonged to the old school of business men, who are fast passing away. He has been greatly identified with the great progress of the Bethlehem Iron Company; his whole career being such that reflected credit on himself and brought profit to the institution with which he was connected. President Hunt in all things leaves behind him a record of an honest, upright man, and his name will long be cherished in the memory of his associates of the Iron works. His friendly relations with the officers of the Bethlehem Iron Company have been uninterrupted and his loss is deeply felt.

.....In the Bethlehems his loss is especially deplored, for he was kind and benevolent. Mr. Hunt for a number of years had apartments at the Sun Hotel, but during the last twelve years of his life lived at the Eagle Hotel.

.....Besides being president of the Bethlehem Iron Company, he was a director of the same institution, a director of the North Penna. and East Penna. Railroad Companies and was interested in several trust companies in Philadelphia.

.....President Hunt's death was reported by Vice President W. W. Thurston to the Board of Directors of the Bethlehem Iron Company, at a meeting held this morning, and an appropriate minute was placed on record.

.....President Hunt was a bachelor. His immediate relatives are two brothers, Mordecai Hunt of Moorestown, N. J., and Edwin H. Hunt of London County, Va., and a sister, Mrs. Col. James Walker, residing in Virginia, and another sister whose address is unknown but is thought to be married and living at Baltimore, Md. No arrangements as yet are known to have been made in relation to the funeral. It is thought, however, that the funeral arrangements will be made in accordance with Mr. Hunt's wishes and will be strictly private.

Originally appearing in the Bethlehem Globe-Times newspaper (on file at the Bethlehem Area Public Library, http://www.bapl.org/)

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Sent by Larry Hunt

Daily Gazette & Bulletin, Williamsport, PA January 17, 1884, Pg 4.

Brief Sketch of the Life and Public Services of Edward F. Hunt

Mr. Edward F. Hunt, who died at his residence, No. 24 Louisa street, yesterday, was born in Auburn, N.Y, June 13, 1819. In early life he learned the trade of a painter, which he followed for some time. Soon after the invention of telegraphy and the establishment of the first line between Washington and Baltimore, he learned the art of telegraphing in Washington city. From there he went to Philadelphia, where he remained for nine years as operator for the stock exchange. About 1856 he came to Williamsport and located here.
Being of a literary turn of mind he devoted some attention to the pursuit of letters and frequently contributed to the local press. Soon after the breaking out of the war here moved to Washington again, where he was given an appointment in the war department, and being an expert telegraph operator, was soon assigned to the position of operator in the war office, which he filled to the entire satisfaction of Secretary Stanton. The position was one of great responsibility, as he was entrusted with many of the important secrets of the war, as they passed through his hands and over the military telegraph lines. It was while serving the government in this capacity that he became acquainted with many of the distinguished military men of that time, as well as senators and congressmen, and he could relate interesting reminiscences by the hour of the leading actors in that great drama. At the close of the war he returned to Williamsport sometime in 1863 and accepted a position as chief telegraph operator under George Webb, who was then superintendent of the Catawissa railroad. This he continued to fill up to about three years ago, when declining health admonished him to resign. For some time past he has seldom been seen upon the streets, and his face has been missed by many. He was a gentleman of an exceedingly social disposition, and being possessed of a rich fund of information relating to public men and measures, and well read, his conversation was always instructive as well as interesting.
Mr. Hunt leaves a wife and six children, four sons and two daughters, all of whom are here, excepting one son, who resides in Cincinnati. The funeral will probably take place Friday afternoon.