Stephen Decanter Bunt 1846-1920

BUNT, STAILE, STANLEY, KEHOE, LYTLE, PALMER, OGILVE

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 8/1/2014 at 21:22:06

Stephen D. Bunt Passes Away
Was Pioneer Resident of This County Many Years And Member Co. Board
S.D. Bunt, a pioneer resident of this county and of Armstrong passed away at his home in that city Saturday last. Mr. Bunt came to this county in 1865 and was one of the first settlers in eastern Emmet county. He has always been one of the highly respected men of the county and a man beloved by his neighbors and fellow townsmen. For years he was a member of the board of supervisors representing the east end of the county affairs.

Mr. Bunt was born in Pungunga, N.Y. in April, 1846. At the age of seven years he came west with his parents and the family settled at Lansing. He resided there until the time he moved to this county. On January 2, 1861 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Staile [Stanley] of Prairie du Chien, Wis. To this union there were born seven children. One died at the age of 5 years and six are still living, J.E. Bunt, . E. Bunt and David Bunt still living at Armstrong; Howard Bunt of – Falls, Mrs. James Kehoe of --, Wis., and Mrs. Wm. Lytle of --, S.D., Mrs. Clyde Palmer of --, Colo.; and his loving wife and a sister, Mrs. Chas. Ogilve of Armstrong and twenty-three grandchildren who are left to mourn his death. The funeral services were held in Armstrong Monday, the Rev. Howdeshell officiating. The remains were laid to rest in the Armstrong cemetery. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, February 18, 1920)

THE PASSING OF AN AGED PIONEER

Stephen Bunt was born at Pauaguaga, New York April 9, 1846 and died in Armstrong February 14, 1920, after an illness of two weeks with pneumonia.

He came to Lansing, Iowa, with his parents at the age of seven years. In 1865 he moved to Emmet county and settled on a farm northeast of Estherville where he resided until 1877 when he moved onto a farm in Section one, Denmark township. In 1899 he leased his farm and moved to the town of Armstrong where he resided to the time of his death.

Funeral services were conducted on Monday afternoon at the home by Rev. Howdeshell and the remains laid to rest in the Armstrong cemetery.

Mr. Bunt was a resident of Emmet county fifty-five years and at the time of his death was the oldest resident in the county. All who lived in the county at the time of his arrival had moved away or passed to the Great Beyond. Recent comers cannot comprehend what Emmet county was or looked like fifty years ago. The muskrats, ducks and cranes were numerous but the human family was not represented except by a few early settlers along the Des Moines river. But those few had persistency , perseverance, stick-to-it-iveness and faith in the future of this section of Iowa and time has proved their faith was well-founded.--Armstrong Journal (Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, Iowa, February 25, 1920)

Stolen From the Armstrong Journal
S.D. Bunt served as a member of the board of Supervisors of Emmet county for twelve years and as such officer he was a faithful and devoted servant of the people. No one person in the county did more than he to give the people highways and roads that were passable. After retiring from the board of supervisors he served as a member of the town council and mayor of the town of Armstrong and in these offices he was equally faithful. – Armstrong Journal (Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, IA, February 25, 1920)