[2] During the American Civil War, Hunt visited the battlefield at Shiloh in 1862 to minister to the wounded and dying, and received the commendations of officers, soldiers and the Sanitary Commission.

He entered the capital in advance of General Godfrey Weitzel's command, as he was in charge of supplies for sufferers in that city.

The Union army advanced to Capitol Square, which was filled with smoke from the fire made by the destruction of the Confederate documents of state.

He was elected President Pro-Tempore of the Ohio Senate, being the youngest person in that position up to that point.

[5] He introduced the legislation to establish the University of Cincinnati, where he was a director 1872–1890 and chairman of the board for eleven of those years.

[10] In January 1890, Governor James E. Campbell appointed him to the seat on the Superior Court of Cincinnati vacated when William Howard Taft was made United States Solicitor General.

[11] He was a member of the Ohio commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, the Sons of the American Revolution, Governor of the Society of the Colonial Wars in the State of Ohio, member of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and honorary member of the Society of the Sailors and Soldiers of the Mexican War.

[16] Hunt died unmarried on January 12, 1907, and he was buried at the church graveyard in Springdale, Ohio.