The horse and wagon that I.B. Hunt Sr. used to haul his grease, fat and bones used in his rendering business, and the house in which Hunt first stayed, that he later remodeled for his family to live in. (1911) Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 1, 2002 Born:
Died: 1973
Married: Anna Louise Heard, 1917
Children: Louise Hunt; I. B. Hunt, Jr., known as "Bud"; Ruth Hunt
Irving B. Hunt, Sr. came to Ray Brook from the Boston area in 1911 to start a rendering business, since he had heard that the Lake Placid Club was throwing away the necessary grease, fat and bones needed to do rendering. With a horse and wagon, he picked up this material from the Saranac Inn, the Lake Placid Club, Trudeau Sanatorium, Ray Brook Sanatorium, and many other places in the area. He would leave at 3 or 4 in the morning for Saranac Inn and not arrive back home until late in the afternoon. The tallow was shipped in 400 pound steel drums to Lever Brothers in Boston, to be used to make soap. I. B. always said that if you were self employed you should have two businesses. So he also raised pigs. He collected garbage to feed the pigs at the places he collected the material for rendering. In June 1944, I. B. Jr. took over the tallow rendering business from his father and then in June of 1950, he took over raising the pigs.
Source: Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 1, 2002
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, October 26, 1948
'Pantry-Raiding' Bear Will No Longer Roam Rogers Brook Region
Owners of camps at Rogers brook will be happy to hear that at least one house-breaking bear is out of the way. The campers are indebted to I. B. Hunt, Sr., who shot and killed one large bruin while hunting in that region last Wednesday.
Mr. Hunt was hunting with Milo Moody when he encountered the bear, thought to be the culprit of many house-breaking incidents.
After killing the bear, the two hunters were forced to leave the animal there until they could obtain more men to help bring the clumsy catch out of the woods.
On Sunday, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Moody returned to the scene, along with Kenneth Seymour, Dr. Adler, both camp owners at Rogers brook, and another man. The five men lugged the heavy animal out of the woods at that time.
There has been much pantry-pilfering of a most destructive nature in the camps at Rogers pond and the killing of one large bear will undoubtedly aid the cause of the campers.
Rogers pond lies near the foot of Scarface mountain in a densely wooded section and is a popular deer hunting spot.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 1, 2002
I.B. Hunt built own business in Ray Brook
by Deborah J. Donaldson in her column, "Lake Clear News"
Irving B. "I.B." Hunt Sr. was living in the Boston, Mass. area, where he was working for his brother in the rendering business.
He had been told that the Lake Placid Club was throwing away the product that you need to do rendering. So in 1911, I.B. got on a train and came to Ray Brook to see for himself what was happening.
He stayed in an old farmhouse owned by the Ormsby family of the Lake Placid Club. This was located on what was then called the Stage Coach Road (later renamed McKenzie Pond Road) at the end nearest Ray Brook. At that time, the road did not go through into Saranac Lake as it does now.
Once he realized they were throwing away the grease, fat and bones that he needed to start his rendering business, he went back to Massachusetts to pick up his horse.
He rode in the box car on the train with his horse so he could start his rendering business. He rented the property from the Ormsby family for a year and purchased it after the year was up.
I.B. worked all year, going to such places as Saranac Inn, Lake Placid Club, Trudeau and Ray Brook Sanitarium and many other places in the area. He would leave at 3 or 4 in the morning for Saranac Inn and not arrive back home until late in the afternoon.
Remember, he was using a horse and wagon to haul his stuff. In the winter, that was not an easy thing to do. Sometimes he had to wait for the town to get the large roller out with its horse and roll over the snow so he could proceed on the roads. Interestingly, he started out using horses with his wagon. But did you know that a horse can walk three miles in an hour and a mule can walk four miles in an hour? So I.B. soon replaced his horse with mules.
Once he got his product home, he would then put it in a large iron kettle, build a fire under that and cook it. As it was cooking, the tallow came to the top of the pot.
The next step was to take the bones from the bottom and press them between two boards to get the rest of the tallow out of them.
What was left of the meat scraps and bones were then sent to a company to be used for poultry feed. The price he received for that was determined by the percentage of protein.
The tallow was shipped in 400 pound steel drums to Lever Brothers in Boston, to be used to make soap.
Now I.B. always said that if you were self-employed you should have two businesses. So he also raised pigs. Remember he could collect garbage to feed his pigs at the places he went to collect his other product.
He built another building that contained 32 stalls. In the spring, he would purchase two boars and let them get together with the sows he had kept from the previous year. He would then sell the little piggies at eight weeks.
I.B. started his rendering business in 1911. After purchasing the property, he added many out-buildings to carry on that business.
He had left his girlfriend back in Massachusetts as he wanted to have a good business to support her. After six years of going back to see her twice a year, he married Anna Louise Heard in 1917 and brought her to Ray Brook to live.
Together they raised three children, Louise, I.B. Jr. and Ruth. I.B. had fixed up the house for his family. All three of the children went to Saranac Lake to school, and all went on to college.
In June 1944, I.B. Jr. took over the tallow rendering business from his father and then in June of 1950, he took over raising the pigs…
A very special thank you goes to Bud and Peg Hunt for all their help with this article.
