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George Hunt (British Army officer)
Encyclopedia
Captain George Hunt is credited as the founder of Huntsville, Ontario
Huntsville, Ontario
Huntsville is a town in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, Canada. It is located north of Toronto and south of North Bay....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the region of Muskoka. He was born in 1830 on the Isle of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
off the coast of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to British Army Officer Robert Hunt and his wife Margaret. In 1840, the Hunt family moved to Canada, settling in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
In 1855 he was commissioned an Ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
, without purchase, in the 6th Foot.
In 1853, George married Sarah Selkirk, daughter of William and Allison Selkirk of Montreal. In 1856, George Hunt’s cousin Elizabeth married George Selkirk. In 1869, both families traveled together to the unorganized township which was later to be known as Huntsville, Ontario. Captain Hunt built a log cabin on what is now the north corner of Main and John Street, just east of the town swing bridge.
Captain Hunt supervised the incoming roadway and directed its course to create what is now the Main Street of Huntsville. He also supervised the extension of the northern highway beyond the town. His voice was instrumental in reversing a provincial government decision to route the northern railroad through either Parry Sound or Hoodstown, and sending it through Huntsville instead, thus securing the industrial expansion which followed and quickly grew the town’s population and importance.
Captain Hunt was a devout Presbyterian, and was known as a stern teetotaler. Captain Hunt took a prominent role in the first Presbyterian church built in 1873. He also opened the first school, retail store, postal outlet, and legal office.
Captain Hunt died in his fifty second year from complications of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
resulting from Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
on February 26, 1882. He is buried in the old Madill Church Cemetery just south of Huntsville.