Edward Hunt was a young Army lieutenant when Helen met him at the governor's ball in August of 1851. They married just over a year later in October 1852. Their life together involved long periods of separation because of his military service. They began their life together at a boarding house in Washington, DC. It would have been an active life for her there with all the social events in the nation's capitol, especially for an officer's wife. A year after their marriage Murray Hunt, their oldest son was born. However, the following year was to be a difficult one for her. First of all, her grandfather (who was a surrogate parent following the death of both parents) died, then her son Murray died. He was not even a year old.
The following year Edward and Helen had a happy event with the birth of their second son, Warren Horsford Hunt. Rennie, as he was called by Helen, was her pride and joy.
Meanwhile, Edward was making a name for himself with his scientific endeavors. He was even a frequent contributor to the American Journal of Science. One of the trips they made together was to her old home town of Amherst in 1860. They attended a reception at Emily Dickinson's home. During the visit she and Emily became reacquainted, after being childhood friends. Years later Emily was to make the following comment about Edward, he had interested her more than any man she'd ever met (May, p 19, 1987).
A tumultuous time in American history was to take place in the coming year in 1861. It was the beginning of the Civil War. Once again, Edward left his family to fight in the war. After postings in Florida and Virginia he was ordered to New York. This was happy news for Helen as the family would be reunited again. His duties were to involve work on the development of a submarine gun at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. It was quite an honor to be selected because this was an innovative new weapon (the precursor of the future torpedo). While working on this new weapon a tragic accident occurred and several days later Helen's husband was dead. They had only been married for eleven years.
Helen's losses were not to end with the death of her husband. Less than two years later her dear son Rennie died. He was only nine years old. Her husband and two sons were all buried at West Point.
Given all the personal tragedies she had undergone in the East it is no wonder that Helen ended up making a new home for herself in the West. Her nomadic life was probably a result of all the moves she had made, both as a young orphan schoolgirl and as a military wife.
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