Jacob Hunter Trust

Grave Listing of the Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter Cemetery

The earliest known burial in the Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter Cemetery was 1854 and the last burial was in 1903. The cemetery was on land owned by Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter.

Artemisia Maria Hunter Mullen (1819-1854)
Artemisia Maria Hunter was a daughter of Edward Riddick Hunter (1788-1857) and Martha Sumner Riddick Hunter (1793-1855). She was born on 29 Mar 1819. She married Joseph Mullen, III (1813-1881) on 15 Mar 1841 in Gates County, NC. They had four known children: Cornelia Frances “Neely” Mullen (1834-1894), Joseph Mullen IV (1844-1903), Edward M. Mullen (1847-1855), and Henry Hunter Holmes Mullen (1851- 1928). Buried next to Edward M. Mullen at the family cemetery is a headstone that reads Edward H. Mullen who died at 3 years 9 months. It is not known if this is Artemisia’s son or perhaps a son of a relative of Joseph Mullen III, Artemisia’s husband. Artemisia is a sister to Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter (1830-1888). She died on 22 Jul 1854 in Pasquotank County, NC. She was buried in an iron casket that contained an oval glass top with a sliding metal cover. For years after her death people could peer in her casket and see her face. In later years, after the iron vault had begun to disintegrate, it was bricked up and covered with a concrete slab.

Edward M. Mullen (1847-1855)
Edward M. Mullen was a son of Artemisia Maria Hunter Mullen (1819-1854) and Joseph Mullen, III (1813-1881). He was born in 1847 and died 15 Apr 1855 at 7 years and 5 months of age.

Martha Sumner Riddick Hunter (1793-1855)
Martha Sumner Riddick Hunter was born in 1793. She was a daughter of Micajah Riddick, Jr. (1768-1822) and Elizabeth Sumner Riddick (1772-1836). On 12 Oct 1809 she married Edward Riddick Hunter (1788-1857). Together they had nine children including Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter for whom this cemetery is named. Her children are listed below under Edward Riddick Hunter. She died 7 May 1855.

Edward Riddick Hunter (1788-1857)
Edward Riddick Hunter was a son of Isaac Hunter (1759-1816) and Sophia Riddick Hunter (1768-1781). He was born 27 Aug 1788 in Suffolk, Nansemond County, Virginia. On 12 Oct 1809 he married Martha Sumner Riddick Hunter (1793-1855). With her he had nine children: Mary Eliza Hunter (1811-1862), James Beverly Hunter (1817-1873), Artemisia Maria Hunter Mullen (1819-1854), Edward Riddick Hunter, Jr. (1821-1884), Rev. William I. Hunter (1826-1870), Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter (1830- 1888), Sophia Caroline Hunter (1833-?), Capt. James Beverly Hunter (1834-1905), and Willis Micajah Hunter (1838-?) (Ancestry.com). Edward represented the Legislature in 1826 and was for several years a member of the Board of County Commissioners (Wm T. Cross Report, p. 10). It is unclear if he married again to Katharine Hanna Dorlon. He died 21 Jul 1857.

Mary Eliza Hunter (1811-1862)
Mary Eliza Hunter the first born of Edward Riddick Hunter (1788-1857) and Martha Sumner Riddick Hunter (1793-1855). Mary Eliza was never married. According to the Mott Report (https://jacobhuntertrust.org/research-reports-and-relevantrecords/ mott-report/), Mary Eliza Hunter fell from a horse when she was small and was an invalid as a result. Her father appeared to favor her in his will. Cross says she was ‘the pet of the family,’ and was known as ‘Little Lame Aunt’ (p. 53). She remained unmarried and died 1 Apr 1862.

Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter (1830-1888)
Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter was a son of Edward Riddick Hunter (1788-1857) and Martha Sumner Riddick Hunter (1793-1855). He was born 17 Mar 1830. He married Mary Hinton Cheek (1833 – 1903) and they had six children: Elbert Alston Cheek Hunter (1861-1862), Mary Susan Hunter (1868-1883), Elizabeth Cheek Palms Hunter (1870-1942), Martha Sumner Hunter (1872- 1903),and Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter, Jr. (1875-1937) (Mott Report, pp. 71-72; Cross Report, p. 2, 14).

Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter descends from our immigrant William Hunter as follows: William Hunter > Isaac Hunter (of Chowan/Gates) and wife Elizabeth Parker > Major Jacob Hunter and wife Sarah Pugh Hill > Rev. Isaac Hunter and wife Sophia Riddick > Edward Riddick Hunter and wife Martha Sumner Riddick > Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter (b. 3-17-1830 d. 9-4-1888) and wife Mary Hinton Cheek (Hunter M. Cole).

Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter was a noted physician in the Civil War. He graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania and practiced in Gates County, NC. When the war broke out, he was commissioned on July 16, 1861, and assigned to the First Cavalry, Ninth Regiment, North Carolina, CSA. He witnessed the horrors of war in his attempts to save the lives of both Confederate and Union soldiers.

He served under J.E.B. Stuart and saw action at First Manassas, Frederick, Sharpsburg, Harpers Ferry, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and in many other battles.

Mr. Terry Reimer, Director of Research at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, referenced a manuscript by Hambrecht and Koste (Hambrecht, F.T. & Koste, J.L. (2011). Biographical register of physicians who served the Confederacy in a medical capacity. Unpublished database) that provided the following information on our Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter:

HUNTER, Henry Holmes

03/17/1830 – Born, Sunbury, Gates Co, NC
1858 – M.D. degree, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Thesis:
Acute peritonitis (from NC before medical school)
02/16/1858 – Married Mary Hinton Cheek, Warren Co, NC
06/06/1862 – Appointed Asst. Surgeon by the state of NC
07/31/1862 – Appointed Asst. Surgeon to rank from 07/01/62 by Confederate
States of America
10/00/1862 – Asst. Surgeon, 54th NC Infantry
11/30/1862 – Asst. Surgeon, 61st VA Infantry
12/00/1862 – Asst. Surgeon, 61st VA Infantry, Fredericksburg, VA
01/06/1863 – Patient, Robertson Hospital, Richmond, VA (typhoid pneumonia)
02/03/1863 – Furloughed for 30 days
02/28/1863 – Asst. Surgeon, 61st VA Infantry
04/27/1863 – Appointed Surgeon
05/25/1863 – Surgeon, 1st NC Cavalry (9th NC State Troops
07/09/1863 – Appointed Surgeon to rank from 04/27/1863
07/22/1863 – Sick in Gen. Hospital #4, Richmond, VA (chronic diarrhea)
09/22/1863 – Sick in Gen. Hospital, Charlottesville, VA (stricture of urethra)
09/22/1863 – Relieved as Surgeon, 1st NC Cavalry (9th NC State Troops)
11/22/1863 – Returned to duty from Gen. Hospital, Charlottesville, VA
12/14/1863 – Surgeon, Way Hospital No. 1, Weldon, NC
01/30/1864 – Confirmed as Surgeon by the Confederate States Senate
06/01/1864 – Surgeon, Weldon, NC
07/26/1864 – Surgeon, Weldon, NC
09/25/1864 – Stationed at Kittrells Springs, NC
10/06/1864 – Surgeon, Way Hospital No. 2, Greensboro, NC
01/10/1865 – Medical Officer, Way Hospital No. 1, Weldon, NC
02/08/1865 – Surgeon, Way Hospital No. 2, Greensboro, NC
04/00/1865 – Paroled, Greensboro, NC
1870 – Practiced medicine, Holly Grove, Gates Co, NC
1874, 1886 – Practiced medicine, Sunbury, Gates Co, NC
09/04/1888 – Died, near Sunbury, Gates Co, NC

After the war Dr. Hunter returned to service in Gates County, NC. He was offered a place on the staff of Bellevue Hospital in New York, but he chose to remain in Gates County, NC. and serve the people in his home county. William T. Cross (William T. Cross Report, www.JacobHunterTrust.org) stated that Dr. Hunter “was a man of sterling character” (https://jacobhuntertrust.org/wpcontent/ uploads/2021/12/jht_newsletter_31_1_2022.pdf).

Mary Hinton Cheek Hunter (1833-1903)
Mary Hinton Cheek Hunter was born 3 Jan 1833 to Elbert Alston Cheek (1803-1873) And Susan S. Hayes (1809-1870). On 16 Feb 1858 she married Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter (1830-1888). Together they had six children previously listed under Dr. Henry Holmes Hunter (1830-1888). She died 10 Dec 1903.

Edward H. Mullen
A tombstone next to Edward M. Mullen states, “Edward H. Mullen, died at 3 years, 9 months.” It is not known who this child’s parents are. He may be the child of a relative of Joseph Mullen III (1813-1881), husband of Artemisia Hunter Mullen.