Jesse Hunt
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Jesse Hunt (July 3, 1793 – December 8, 1872) was
Mayor of Baltimore The mayor of Baltimore is the head of the executive branch of the government of the City of Baltimore, Maryland. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills, ordinances, or resolutions passed by th ...
from November 1832 to August 11, 1835. He resigned office following a
banking crisis A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe the bank may fail in the near future. In other words, it is when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks normally only ...
in which, as a director of the failed bank, he was personally implicated.


Early life

Jesse Hunt was born on July 3, 1793, in
Green Spring Valley Green Spring Valley Historic District is a national historic district near Stevenson in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburban area of Baltimore that acquires significance from the collection of 18th, 19th, and early 20th c ...
,
Baltimore County, Maryland Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state. Baltimore County partly surrounds but does not include the independent cit ...
. He was a descendant of a pioneer family of
Calvert County Calvert County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimo ...
. His father moved from Calvert County to Green Spring Valley in 1760. In 1808, he served as an apprentice at the house of William and Richard Hall, a
saddlery Tack is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, and harnesses. Equipping a horse is ...
in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
.


Career

Hunt enlisted in the volunteer army and helped raise the company
Washington Blues The Washington Blues were a company of Maryland Volunteers which saw action during the Battle of Bladensburg and the Battle of North Point, during the War of 1812. History When war broke out between the United States and Great Britain, George H ...
, a division attached to the
5th Maryland Regiment The 5th Maryland Regiment is a designation which has been held by several units over the years, not all of which necessarily share the same lineage and honors. The term "5th Maryland" has most frequently been connected to militia units in Baltimo ...
and was at the
Battle of North Point The Battle of North Point was fought on September 12, 1814, between General John Stricker's Maryland Militia and a British force led by Major-General Robert Ross. Although the Americans were driven from the field, they were able to do so in g ...
in 1814 during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. He later became a lieutenant and resigned his commission in 1822. In 1815, Hunt started to work in the saddlery and harness-making business. He was elected to the
Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...
in 1829, 1830 and 1831. In 1832, he was nominated for mayor and was elected under the Democratic ticket, defeating
Jacob Small Jacob Small (1772-1851) was an American politician who served as the sixth mayor of Baltimore from 1826 to 1831, when he resigned from office. He designed the Ellicott City Station of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), finished in 1831. It i ...
. He was re-elected in 1834. In 1834, the Bank of Maryland, of which Hunt was a director, experienced a
liquidity crisis In financial economics, a liquidity crisis is an acute shortage of ''liquidity''. Liquidity may refer to market liquidity (the ease with which an asset can be converted into a liquid medium, e.g. cash), funding liquidity (the ease with which borrow ...
and collapsed. Months passed and creditors grew tired of waiting in vain for a settlement, and violence soon followed. On August 6, 1835, a mob gathered and broke the windows of the house of
Reverdy Johnson Reverdy Johnson (May 21, 1796February 10, 1876) was an American politician, statesman, and jurist from Annapolis, Maryland. He gained fame as a defense attorney, defending notables such as Sandford of the Dred Scott case, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Por ...
one of the bank's directors. Jesse attempted to protect his colleague's home, but was unable to prevent the destruction of that and many other bank directors' homes, including - eventually - his own. Hunt, having lost control of the city, resigned five days later, on August 11, 1835. After resigning, Hunt was elected as City Register and served in that position for ten years. He became the first president of Eutaw Savings Bank and served in that position until 1871.


Personal life

Hunt married Margaret Yundt and she died in 1860. He had seven children. He died on December 8, 1872, at his home in Baltimore. He was buried at
Green Mount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as ma ...
in Baltimore.


See also

*
Baltimore bank riot The Baltimore bank riot of 1835 took place in Baltimore, the major port city of Maryland. It was a violent reaction to the failure of the Bank of Maryland in 1834. Thousands of citizens had lost millions of dollars in savings. The riot, which las ...


Notes


External links


www.msa.md.gov
Retrieved January 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Jesse 1793 births 1872 deaths Bank riot Finance fraud Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Mayors of Baltimore People from Maryland in the War of 1812 Burials at Green Mount Cemetery 19th-century mayors of places in Maryland 19th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly