James B. Hunter

James B. Hunter, county commissioner of Montgomery county, was born in Berks county, Pa., September 23, 1841, His parents were Jacob and Matilda (Boyer) Hunter, both of whom were natives of Berks county, Pa., and who, in 1852, brought their family to Ohio, locating in Jefferson township, Montgomery county. They are now both deceased. Their lives were marked by industry and economy, virtues, which were encouraged and stimulated by the surroundings of those days.

James B. Hunter was eleven years old when he came with his parents to Montgomery county. Here he grew upon his father's farm in Jefferson township, and received his education in the common schools. Remaining on the farm until 1861 he then enlisted in company D, Thirty-ninth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and served in that organization for three years in the south and west, being attached to the army of the Tennessee most of the time. His term of enlistment expiring in 1864, he was honorably discharged. During his war experience he was twice wounded, once at Dallas, Ga., in the foot, and again before Atlanta, where he received a gun-shot wound in the right arm.

After leaving the army Mr. Hunter spent a little over a year in Nashville, Tenn., where he was connected with the railroad commissary department. Immediately after the war closed he spent two years in Louisiana, engaged in the work of constructing levees on the Mississippi river. Returning then to Montgomery county he was engaged for eighteen years in teaching school and in farming. In 1887 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners, and served for three years. In 1891 he was again elected for a similar term, and in 1984 he was again re-elected, his pres-term of office expiring in 1897.

Mr. Hunter owns a farm in Jefferson township. He was married in 1868 to Catherine Johnson, who died in 1874, leaving one son, Leslie. Mr. Hunter was married the second time, in 1876, to Miss Rebecca Beachley, by whom he has had two children, Edgar and Vernon. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Hunter has lived in Montgomery county practically the whole of his life, is well-known by most of its citizens, and being honored as he has been by repeated election to responsible positions, it is clear that the people fully appreciate his integrity and honesty of character.

Source: Centennial Portrait and Biographical Record of the City of Dayton and of Montgomery County, Ohio Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens Together with the Biographies and Portraits of the Presidents of the United States and Biographies of the Governors of Ohio, ed. by Frank Conover, A.W. Bowen & Co., 1897, pp. 330-331.