Little is known of the Hunsacker clan. The family patriarch, Daniel Hunsacker, immigrated overland from Missouri in 1847 with his family, settling first in Benicia and later in Contra Costa County.

Apparently, public service ran in the family’s blood. The Hansacker family consisted of three sons:

Daniel served as County Treasurer. Two of his sons, Nicholas and James, served as Sheriff, and a third son, Harrison, served as a deputy.

Nicholas was a miner at Park’s Bar in 1848 and a resident of San Diego in 1874. James entered as an apprentice into the Martinez Masonic Lodge in 1858.