Jared was born in Westampton, MA around 1834 to Elihu B. and Cynthia W. (Chapin) Hunt. His father had been married previously and was almost 20 years older than his mother, which was not at all unusual for the time. Jared was raised with siblings from his father's first marriage. By 1840 the family had moved to Springfield, MA and Elihu was one of the town butchers. Jared had finished school and was working as a laborer and sometimes clerk by the 1850 US Census. His unmar