In many respects, Orville Hungerford, known for his honesty and industriousness, epitomized the self-made man of the nineteenth century. The New York Herald, a newspaper with one of the largest readerships in the country, ended up publishing a full obituary for Orville Hungerford, concluding that "[h]is public reputation, doubtless, rests mainly on his talents as a financier." Decades after his death, a journalist recalled that "[Orville] had rare financial talents, and was a first-class business man." In July 1908, Jeannette Huntington Riley noted in a letter written for a history of the Adriel Ely family that "Orville Hungerford was a dignified and some might have said a cold, stern man; but to me, only a young girl, he was always exceedingly kind. I am always proud to say I had an uncle who went to Congress when it meant something!" She also noted that his wife, her "aunt Betsey, [was] the sweetest--no other word would express her character." Most of Hungerford's descendants moved away from Watertown in the twentieth century when industrial malaise struck the region. His memory, however, is still kept alive by some of his scattered family members. Through his granddaughter's progeny - Helen Mary Hungerford Mann - he is honored by having his name bestowed on four generations of males, including eminent attorney, Orville Hungerford Mann Sr., from Nyack, New York. In 2008, Eleanor Ebbighausen formed the Whitney-Hungerford chapter of the National Society United States Daughters of 1812 in Watertown, N.Y., in part honoring Orville Hungerford because "[h]e was in the mercantile business and gave money, food, dry goods, clothing, guns and gunpowder to support the local militia." A January 2019 article in the Watertown Daily Times newspaper and its website nny360.com, described a water leak in the roof of the Jefferson County Historical Society in Watertown, N.Y., which damaged a portrait of Orville Hungerford. The article went on to report the following: "Christine E. Godfrey, curator of collections for the society, said she will find out how much repairing the Orville Hungerford painting will cost. She hopes to talk to the Hungerford family to see if they would be willing to help." References External links Orville Hungerford at Political Graveyard 1790 births 1851 deaths People from Bristol, Connecticut Politicians from Watertown, New York American railroad executives 19th-century American railroad executives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American