Their daughter, Mary C., was a little maiden of but six years when the trip was made to Washington, so that practically her entire life has been passed in the northwest. She was but sixteen years of age when in June, 1870, she gave her hand in marriage to Isaac Wallace Monnett, a native of Ohio, who came to Washington in 1869 and settled on a farm ten miles southeast of Dayton. Mr. and Mrs. Monnett became the parents of three children: Oral, who is the wife of Grant Lowe; Elizabeth, who has departed this life; and A. A. Monnett, who is a hardware and implement merchant of Dayton. The husband and father passed away in 1876 and for nine years Mrs. Monnett remained a widow. In 1885 she became the wife of F. J. Nichols and to them have been born four daughters: Minnie, who is the wife of C. C. Kifer, of California; Grace, who is a graduate of the Walla Walla high school and is at home; Mary L., who is the wife of J. B. Thompson; and Hazel E., the wife of C. E. McQuary.
Mrs. Nichols still owns what is known as the old Monnett homestead of five hundred and sixty acres, all of which is fine wheat land. It is a valuable property from which she derives a gratifying annual income. She also owns an attractive residence in the city of Dayton and she is numbered among the worthy pioneer women of this section of the state. For fifty-seven years she has lived in Washington and has therefore witnessed the greater part of the growth and development of the commonwealth. Events which to others are matters of history are to her matters of personal knowledge and she can relate many interesting incidents of the early days when the great stretches of land were unclaimed and uncultivated, when forests were uncut, when rivers were unbridged and when the work of progress seemed dim and distant in the future. The most farsighted at that time could not have dreamed of the wonderful changes which were to occur and transform southeastern Washington into a well settled and populous district in which are to be found all of the advantages and all and more of the opportunities of the older east. Mrs. Nichols is a member of the Congregational church and her many excellent traits of character have gained for her respect and popularity among her many friends.
L. L. HUNT.
L. L. Hunt is familiar with the methods of Indian warfare in the northwest, as he early became connected with the army in this section of the state. Since then he has been active in business along various lines and step by step has progressed until he is now in possession of a handsome competence that enables him to live retired. He makes his home in College Place, Walla Walla county, and has important farming interests on section 36, township 7 north, range 35 east. His career in many respects has been an eventful one. The width of the continent separates him from his birthplace, for he is a native of Maine. He was born on the 2d of August, 1855, his parents being George and Mary Ann (Prescott) Hunt, both of whom were representatives of old families that sent forth soldiers to the Revolutionary war. Both the father and mother spent their entire lives in the Pine Tree state.
L. L. Hunt was reared under the parental roof until he reached the age of sixteen years, when he left home and went to Boston, Massachusetts, where for four years he was engaged in railroading. The opportunities of the west, however, attracted him and he left New England, making his way to Nevada. Locating in Carson City, for more than a year he there worked in the timber region, and in 1876 he went to San Joaquin county, California, where he engaged in driving a team during the following winter. In 1877 he came to Walla Walla, where he worked for the government during the Joseph Indian war, driving a team used for transportation of supplies. A year later he became identified with Joe Woodworth in the operation of the old Cayuse stables in Walla Walla. He was connected with the conduct of this business for about three years and then turned his attention to farming on the Eureka Flats, becoming one of the large operators on the flats. He homesteaded, preempted and also took up a timber claim and he likewise purchased railroad land, owning at one time seven quarter sections. He farmed altogether seventeen hundred acres of rented land and he remained on the flats for about twelve years. He next removed to Walla Walla but after a year took up his abode at College Place, where he engaged in gardening. Subsequently he organized the L. L. Hunt Fruit & Produce Shipping Company and built up the business to extensive proportions, his interests becoming one of the chief industries of this section. He managed his affairs wisely and well and prosperity resulted. He now has retired from active business life and is enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly merits.
In 1888 Mr. Hunt returned to Boston for his bride and was there married on the 21st of October of that year to Miss Olivia Crosby. She was born in Nova Scotia and came to the United States at the age of sixteen years, her parents continuing in Nova Scotia, where they passed away. Mr. Hunt brought his bride to the west and they have since been widely and favorably known in this section of the state. They are consistent members of the Presbyterian church, in the work of which they take an active and helpful interest, and Mr. Hunt is now serving as one of the elders of the church. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and while living on the Flats he served for two years as postmaster. He also belongs to Trinity Lodge, No. 121, I. O. O. F. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Pioneers Association and are honored as among the early settlers who have contributed in marked measure to the upbuilding and progress of this section of the country. Mr. Hunt has led a most busy, active and useful life. From the time when he became connected with a military post on the frontier he has done everything in his power to further the interests and development of this section of the country and his business affairs, too, have been of a character that have contributed to public progress and improvement as well as to personal success. His memory compasses the period when the majority of homes in this section of the state were little cabins, when few roads had been laid out, when the forests were uncut and the streams unbridged. He has lived to witness many changes since those days and in the work of transformation has borne his full share.
GEORGE F. PRICE.