HOWARD M. AND RUSSELL B. HUNT
Located four miles south from Gustine is the fertile alfalfa ranch comprising
340 acres that is owned by Howard M. and Russell B. Hunt and was inherited by
them from their father, the late Martin Luther Hunt. He came from Quebec,
Canada, where he was born in 1858 and was a pioneer of 1884 in the Golden State.
He was engaged in the retail milk business in San Francisco for seven years
after his arrival here, and it was in this State that he was united in marriage
with Miss Emma Green, a native of Vermont. After a successful business career in
the bay metropolis Mr. Hunt came to the Quinto ranch, located in the hills on
the West Side in Merced County, and for the ensuing eighteen years held the
position of superintendent, supervising the details of the operation of this
large tract of land very successfully. In the meantime he invested in the 340
acres now owned by our subjects and here he made the improvements that today
make the ranch what it is. In point of years he did not live long to enjoy his
splendid possessions, for he died in 1921 aged sixty-three. The mother made her
home on the ranch, enjoying the competence accumulated by her husband and
surrounded by the loving ministrations of her sons, until her death on December
20, 1924.
Howard M. Hunt was born on the Quinto ranch on July 14, 1890, attended the
Cottonwood school and grew up to assist his father with the work on the ranch,
at the same time learning from his worthy sire the details of successful ranch
operation. He married Miss Helen Detoy, a native of Fresno and a daughter of
Louis Detoy of Berkeley, on February 24, 1925.
Russell B. Hunt was born on the Quinto ranch on January 1, 1892, and he went to
the Cottonwood school and did his share of work on the home place as he was
growing to manhood. On May 20, 1918, he enlisted in the United States Army for
service during the World War, was stationed at Camp Kearney with the
Twenty-first Infantry, Fortieth Division and remained in camp until he was
honorably discharged eight months later, at the Presidio in San Francisco on
January 20, 1919. He is a Mason, belonging to the Newman lodge.
The Hunt Brothers jointly own three 100-acre ranches, two of them in alfalfa and
leased to dairy farmers; the third ranch is being leveled and checked
preparatory to putting in alfalfa. The brothers have worked in harmony on the
ranch left by their father and have shown the same public spirit he demonstrated
by supporting every worthy cause for the advancement of their locality. They
have spent their entire lives in this section and are counted among the
successful young ranchers of the West Side. They have been a part of the growth
of the county and have been interested participants in the events that have
brought about the transformation from barren land to rich and productive ranches
peopled by contented families.