Meet Oliver W. Hunt

Oliver W. Hunt was born 9 January 1843 in Canton, Massachusetts, the son of George and Mary Hunt. His father was a blacksmith in Canton. Oliver joined the Union Navy on 5 September 1864 when he was 21. He joined as the lowest rank, a Landsman, being a person with no experience. He served on the USS Iuka and the USS Ohio. He was discharged on 15 June 1865 a few months after the war ended, as his enlistment ended then also. He returned to Boston to blacksmith with his father. He married and moved to Minnesota. The back of his ferrotype has a tax stamp, which was necessary for photographs from 1864 to 1866 to help pay for the war. The photograph was found at the seller's favorite antique shop in Minnesota. She knew nothing about Oliver, so her finding the photograph in Minnesota ( where he moved after the war ) further confirms that I have the right identity for the sailor. I was lucky to find him for sale in a group of photographs being sold in an 24-hour auction, and researched him before bidding.