On the 22nd September 1859, Jacob married for a 2nd time to Ellen Brown at Tienga Station where both worked as stated previously in a brief sketch of Ellen’s life of which little is known.   Thanks to Dan Hunt, we now know her father was James Brown, a native of Co. Clare, Ireland and her mother was Margaret Coakley, a native of Co. Waterford, Ireland, who met in the Hunter Valley district and married at Maitland. The marriage of Jacob and Ellen was conducted by the Rev. Charles Rowe, minister of the Warialda Church of England.  The minister rode his horse to conduct the service.

There is no doubt in my mind Ellen and Jacob would have reared his little daughter Mary Jane who was 2 years and 7 months when they married.  Her Uncle James did not marry until she was eight years and two months old. Ellen more than likely was already caring for her at Tienga Station before they married.

It appears they left soon after as Jacob advertised for a lost horse in the Armidale Express on 21st April 1860.  In 1861 Jacob had 5 acres of land at Red Farm near Ben Lomond where he grew wheat and potatoes.  He reaped the wheat with a sickle and thrashed it with a flail, hard work indeed, which he carted all the way to Ross’ Mill at Inverell, which must have been the closest flour mill at that time, for which he was paid 9/- (ninety cents) per bushel.  Jacob’s potato farming was very successful and to quote Dan Hunt “he was considered the father of the potato industry in the area and became known as the  potato king”.

In 1862, Jacob moved to the Inverell district. It was during this period he decided to try his hand carting wool from Warialda to Morpeth near Maitland by bullock wagon, a tedious task indeed. During one of these trips in 1864 Jacob was held up for twenty weeks by the very flooded and swollen Hunter River close to his destination.  I wonder how he survived during this period with his bullocks to care for and protecting the wool bales.  When the waters subsided enough, he floated the wool bales across, 5 bales at a time, on a raft, the bullocks eventually swimming across, presumably pulling the wagon. As this story has been handed down there is no full account of this episode in his venture.  After delivering the wool bales, Jacob set out for his return trip with back loading. He was paid 8 pounds ($16.00) per ton for his trouble.

In 1867, Jacob selected 40 acres of land at Elsmore near Inverell. While splitting wood he often came across pieces of mineral rock, which he failed to recognize as tin. Later the town of Tingha, not very far away, became famous for its large deposits of tin which drew many people to the district, including many Chinese, who built there own Temple of Worship.  Two years later, Jacob sold this property to Mr. J. Garrat for 40 pounds ($80.00).

On 22-9-1869, Jacob used the 40 pounds received from the sale of his Elsmore property as part of his deposit on 1,200 acres of Byron Station which he named “Oakwood” because of the she oaks growing along the creek, he built his home close by the creek with the help of Mr. Peter Guyer, Ellen nailed the floor boards, the inner walls were made of Hessian which Ellen papered with colourful magazine pages as a type of wall paper, very ingenious. Later on, more bedrooms were added to the home by a builder named Mr. John Bevan to accommodate their growing family.  This was the beginning of prosperity for Jacob, Ellen and family for which he had worked so hard to achieve, from here on they never looked back, going from strength to strength.  Jacob purchased “Oakwood” just 10 years after he and Ellen were married.

“Oakwood” is situated 16 miles from Inverell; beautiful fertile country where Jacob was able to graze a large number of sheep which were added to later.  Over the years he purchased more land and added to this property which became quite a large area. He had a large orchard and a vegetable garden from which Ellen made jams and preserves, they kept enough poultry to keep themselves supplied.  He also had a vineyard, mostly consisting of black and white wine making grapes plus a few table grapes.  Jacob had a wine making cellar and press and produced large quantities of wine as there was quite a demand, his wine making industry was quite prosperous.  The creek which ran through “Oakwood” was later named Hunt’s Gully, in honour of Jacob.

Jacob donated the land on which a post office, a general store, a school, a School of Arts which served as the local hall were built and land for Anglican and Presbyterian churches.  This area became known as the village of Oakwood. The hall in recent years was moved to the Inverell Pioneer Village.

Keeping “Oakwood” as his main abode, in 1882, Jacob extended his holdings by selecting 10,000 acres of Nowley Station near Burren Junction between Narrabri and Wee Waa to set up his sons on the land. By this time Ellen had given birth to 11 children, all living except one daughter who died at age 2 years and was buried at Oakwood between the house and the creek.  Their children are as follows William Henry b.1861 Ben Lomond,  George b.18-10-1862 Inverell, Jacob b.1865 Inverell, James b.1867 Elsmore, John b.16-7-1869. Elsmore, Ellen Jemima b.1871 Oakwood,. Margaret Elizabeth b.1873. Oakwood, Daniel b. 27-11-1875 Oakwood,. Annie b.17-4-1877 Oakwood,. Elizabeth 24-11-1879 Oakwood, Alexander b.5-9-1882 Oakwood.

  Jacob and his five eldest sons improved and fenced the land to make it habitable.  This would have been tough going.  Ellen and children also lived at Nowley where there was no school, as Jacob and Ellen were keen to have their children educated, a neighbour acted as tutor, after six months it was decided that Ellen and children would return to Oakwood where the children could attend the Oakwood School and living conditions were much superior to the harsh climate and primitive way of life at Nowley.  This information in the last paragraph was written by their daughter Elizabeth Murray, many years later, however to quote a passage from Dan Hunt’s book “No Memorial”, “Jacob brought Ellen and their younger children back to Oakwood in 1889, leaving their elder sons to manage the new selection.”   Jacob remained at Oakwood from here on. He most likely made return visits to Nowley to see how his sons were faring.

At Nowley, Jacob was running 11,000 sheep by the time of the 1888 drought, which killed 8,000 of his flock.  What a heartbreak!  Never to be deterred, he built up his flock again. Another 2,000 sheep he purchased he took to Oakwood, returning them to Nowley after the drought was broken.  The 10,000 acres was divided into living areas for his sons. In 1889 he returned to “Oakwood” to live permanently.

Son in law, Bill McCosker had been looking after Oakwood during Jacob’s absence.

Later on, when Alex was old enough, Jacob built a cottage for him to live in at Oakwood on the understanding that if Alex worked “Oakwood”, he would pass the property on to him; this did not appeal to Alex.  When Daniel was old enough he went to Nowley and joined his brothers. Some years later when Jacob was too old to run “Oakwood”, his son in law, Bill McCosker, took over the running of the property.

Jacob and Ellen continued to live at Oakwood, where their family and grandchildren often visited them.  Dan Hunt states in his book “Ellen had a stroke in 1904 age 66 yrs.”  In Elizabeth Murray’s Memoirs (now deceased), a daughter of Jacob and Ellen states the following  “ When my mother was in her 70’s she had a paralytic stroke, although mentally well was too frail to care for herself, so dear sister Ellen took her to “Waverley”to live with her where she could take care of her Mother.”

To quote some information from Dan Hunt’s book “Jacob became crippled with rheumatism and went to live with his son Daniel at “Nowley”: from 1917-1920 returning to live at Oakwood in 1921, which he had leased to Bill McCosker his  son in law.”  Jacob’s wife Ellen passed away at “Oakwood” on the 2nd June 1922 aged 83 years” and was buried at Bannockburn Cemetery.  Gladys Doby (grand daughter of Jacob) says in her memories, “Grand father asked her to play him hymns on the piano  after Grandma died”    Jacob continued to lived with his daughter and son in law until he passed away, his children and many grand children and gt. grand children were present at his bed side when he passed away on the 27th June 1930.  Jacob was interred beside his wife Ellen at Bannockburn cemetery.  To quote Dan Hunt once more “Jacob left an estate valued at 6,631 pounds,10 shillings and 7 pence including his land, including 3 tanks holding 2,000, 1,000 and 800 gallons, presumably used for making his wine.” Jacob left Oakwood to his daughter Ellen Jemima McCosker.
When Jacob died he was survived by 6 sons and 3 daughters as well as 46 grandchildren, 39 gt.grandchildren and 1 gt. gt grandchild.  The end of an amazing life, which began in humble circumstances and ended in great prosperity.

                           Dedication to my Gt.Grandfather Jacob Hunt.

                         From humble beginnings to great expectations
                          Which came to pass in his own lifetime.
                          A grand old pioneer
                         Who established all his sons on the land
                         Becoming graziers like himself.
                         When he reflected on his achievements in life
                         How proud he must have felt.
                         Those of us who descend from Jacob,
                         Are surely proud of him.