William Hunter (January 3, 1754November 30, 1827) was an American judge and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

Biography

Hunter was born in Sharon in the

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

to Rebecca Marvin and David Hunter. He attended the common schools. He resided near Ford Edward in the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

from 1763 until 1775, when he moved to Windsor. He joined a Vermont militia company commanded by Captain John Grout and served in the Revolutionary War as an orderly sergeant and lieutenant, and took part in General

Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for l ...

's expedition to Canada. He served as a member of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives are ...

in 1795, 1807, and 1808. He was the register of

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the st ...

from 1798 until 1801, and judge of probate for the district of Windsor from 1801 until 1816. He also served as Justice of the Peace in Windsor. He was a

Presidential Elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

for Vermont in 1804, and voted for the reelection of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

as President and new running mate George Clinton as Vice President. Hunter was an assistant judge of the

Windsor County, Vermont Windsor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,753. The shire town (county seat) is the town of Woodstock. The county's largest municipality is the town of Hartford. History Wind ...

court from 1805 until 1816, and was a member of the Vermont Council of Censors in 1806 and 1820. He was a member of the Vermont Executive Council from 1810 until 1813 and in 1815. Hunter was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

candidate to the Fifteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1817 until March 3, 1819. He was not a candidate for reelection to the

Sixteenth The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th centur ...

Congress.

Personal life

Hunter was married to Mary Newell Hunter on January 30, 1777. They had three children together, all who died very young; William Hunter, Mary Hunter and Jonathan Hunter.

Death

Hunter died in

Windsor, Vermont Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As the "Birthplace of Vermont", the town is where the Constitution of Vermont was adopted in 1777, thus marking the founding of the Vermont Republic, a sovereign state until 1791, when ...

on November 30, 1827. He is interred at Sheddsville Cemetery in West Windsor.

References

External links

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Govtrack.us
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, William 1754 births 1827 deaths Continental Army officers from Connecticut Burials in Vermont People from Sharon, Connecticut People of colonial Connecticut Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont People from Fort Edward, New York