By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BLUE ASH - Betty Bell has fielded calls from developers who had plans for her homestead, which has belonged to her family since before the Civil War.

One wanted to buy an acre for a small apartment building. Another wanted to put in a medical office building.The 85-year-old descendant of one of the city's first settlers feared the two-story brick Greek Revival structure on Hunt Road - one of four historically significant buildings in the city - would end up in a pile of rubble.

HUNT HOUSE

The Hunt house was built on 640 acres that James Carpenter bought from John Cleves Symmes in 1789. Carpenter was among the second group of settlers to land in Cincinnati the year before. Carpenter, who died in 1791 or 1792, apparently never lived on the land, which was inherited by his daughter, Hannah. Her son, John Craig Hunt, built the existing house in 1861. Hunt descendant Betty Bell - Carpenter's great-, great-, great-grandfather - said the bricks on the exterior of the house were made using clay from the property. Abundant walnut trees on the land were fashioned into the home's woodwork. Most of the land eventually was sold off as the property was split up between relatives through the years, Bell said. Source: History of Blue Ash, 1791-1991 by Mary Lou Rose

She remembered what her father, Wilbur Hunt, said before he died more than 30 years ago.

"He always worried about the house. He lived here all his life. He'd say, 'I guess it won't make much difference when I'm gone,' " Bell said. "I felt like I had to save it for him."

With the help of the city, she's doing that.

Blue Ash officials have agreed to buy the 142-year-old Hunt house and the 3.2-acre site for $475,000 with promises that it will be preserved as a museum of area history. The sale is expected to close early next year.

"It is the most stately old house in Blue Ash," City Manager Marvin Thompson. said. "It affords itself well to create a museum in a park-like setting."

Bell grew up in the house and returned in 1976 with her late husband, George, to live at the family farm, where her father once raised cattle, horses, wheat and corn. Bell remembers playing in the long-gone peach orchards.

Bell said the farm got a visit from one of the Civil War's more infamous Confederate gangs two years after the house was built. She said her family lost 10 horses to Morgan's Raiders in July 1863, as they fought, burned and looted their way across southern Ohio.

For that reason, the house is being considered for part of a proposed 425-mile driving tour called the John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail, said city historical society president Bev Mussari.

The project is aimed at showcasing Civil War history and following the trail of Morgan's Raiders through 18 Ohio counties, as well as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.

Mussari thinks the house will be a valuable tool in teaching local students about the area's early history. She wants to move some memorabilia of Blue Ash and Sycamore Township's early days to the house. "Actually having a dwelling would be even more adventuresome with the children. It will be magnificent for them to see," Mussari said. "We are just blessed to have a house like that."

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com