Born in South Carolina, Stephan A. Hurlbut was admitted to the bar in 1837 and came to Belvidere in 1845. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1847, served in the State House of Representatives from 1859 to 1861 and again in 1867, and served in the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. He became a brigadier general of volunteers in 1861 and a major general of volunteers in 1862, was the first national commander of G.A.R. from 1866 to 1868, minister to Columbia from 1869 to 1872, congressman from 1873 to 1877, and minister to Peru from 1881 to 1882. He was buried in Belvidere Cemetery.