John Hunn (farmer) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

John Hunn was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

and abolitionist from Odessa

Odessa, Delaware

Odessa is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 364 at the 2010 census. Originally founded as Cantwell's Bridge in the 18th century, the name was changed in the 19th century, after the Ukrainian port city of the same name...

, in New Castle County

New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 its population was 538,479, an increase of 7.6% over the previous decade. The county seat is Wilmington. The center of population of Delaware is located in New Castle County, in the town of...

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

. He was a "station master" of the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...

in Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

Early life and family

Hunn was born June 25, 1818 in Kent County

Kent County, Delaware

Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is coextensive with the Dover, Delaware, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population was 162,310, a 28.1% increase over the previous decade. The county seat is Dover, the state capital...

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

, son of Ezekiel and Tabitha Newell Hunn. He married Mary Jenkins Swallow and among their children was John

John Hunn (governor)

John Hunn was an American businessman and politician from Camden, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Republican Party who served as Governor of Delaware.-Early life and family:...

, later the Governor of Delaware. Their farm, "Happy Valley," was near Cantwell's Bridge, now Odessa

Odessa, Delaware

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

and they were members of the Appoquinimink Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

or Quakers.

Abolitionist

Hunn was the Chief Engineer of the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

in Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

. He was responsible for the operation of a portion of the network that transported thousands of escapees through Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

to Wilmington

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

and thence to Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

and freedom. A man of great modesty, he declined to take credit for his heroic efforts.

In 1845 he assisted Samuel Hawkins in the escape of his family from slavery in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. Along with Thomas Garrett

Thomas Garrett

Thomas Garrett was an abolitionist and leader in the Underground Railroad movement before the American Civil War....

, he was convicted and fined in 1848 by the U.S. District Court, presided over by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney

Roger B. Taney

Roger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office or sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also the eleventh United States Attorney General. He is most...

. Later he was fined twice for $10,000.00 each by the State of Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

, but was advised the fines wouldn’t be imposed if he would promise not to continue his efforts to aid fugitives in their escape from slavery. Instead, Hunn "vowed never to withhold a helping hand from the down-trodden in their hour of distress." His land holdings and all his possessions were sold at sheriff’s sale and his family was left utterly destitute, but he continued his efforts to abolish slavery.

Following this eviction, he lived for a time with family at Delaware

Magnolia, Delaware

Magnolia is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 225 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Magnolia is located at ....

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

. During the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

he worked with the Freedmen's Bureau in Port Royal

Port Royal, South Carolina

Port Royal is a town in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Largely because of annexation of surrounding areas , the population of Port Royal rose from 3,950 in 2000 to 10,678 in 2010, a 170% increase. As defined by the U.S...

, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

Death and legacy

Hunn died July 6, 1894 at Camden

Camden, Delaware

Camden is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,464 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Camden is located at ....

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

and is buried at the Quaker Meeting Yard, Camden

Camden, Delaware

External links

Aboard the Underground Railroad. Appoquinimink Friends Meetings House.
State of Delaware. Camden Friends Meeting Marker.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Underground Railroad Museum.
Russ Ricket. Thomas Garrett biography.
Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends. History of Wilmington Friends Meeting.
Whispers of Angels A Story of the Underground Railroad.
State of Delaware The Underground Railroad.
Blue Hen's Chicken, June 6, 1848 U.S. Marshals Service
Find A Grave. John Hunn.

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Early life and family

Abolitionist

Death and legacy

Further reading

External links