Jonathan Hunt (August 12, 1787May 15, 1832) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for the state of Vermont and was a member of the prominent

Hunt family of Vermont This list of Hunt family members of Vermont includes notable members of an American family that was involved in political and fine arts circles in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The family was primarily based in the town of Brattleboro, Ver ...

Early life

Born on August 12, 1787, in Vernon, in the

Vermont Republic The Vermont Republic, officially known at the time as the State of Vermont, was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The state was founded in January 1777, when delegates from 28 towns met ...

, Hunt graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...

, in 1807. Afterwards, Hunt studied law and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1812. Hunt commenced practice in

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

, in 1812. He was the first president of the Old Brattleboro Bank in 1821, the first bank established in Brattleboro, a position he held for years afterward. He also carried the rank of General in the Vermont militia, as had his uncle Arad Hunt.

Political career

Hunt held many political positions in Vermont, and 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 a ...

in 1811, 1816, 1817 and 1824. He was elected as an

Adams Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California * Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England to ...

candidate to represent Vermont's 1st congressional district in 1827. He served in the

during the Twentieth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-second Congresses, serving from March 4, 1827, until his death on May 15, 1832. Hunt was a lifelong friend of statesman and orator

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

. The brick home that Hunt had built in Brattleboro, later known as the Colonel Hooker home, was the first brick home built in town.

Death

Hunt died in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on May 15, 1832, aged 44, while still in office. At his death he left an estate valued in excess of $150,000. He was buried in the family plot in the Old Cemetery on the Hill in

Family

A graduate of Dartmouth, Hunt served as a trustee of Vermont's

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

, where Hunt family members had been early benefactors. Hunt brothers cameo bracelet

Hunt was the son of

Jonathan Hunt Jonathan Hunt may refer to: * Jonathan Hunt (New Zealand politician) (1938–2024), politician from New Zealand * Jonathan Hunt (Vermont congressman) (1787–1832), U.S. Representative from Vermont * Jonathan Hunt (Vermont lieutenant governor) (1738 ...

and Lavinia (Swan) Hunt. His father was born in Massachusetts and was an early pioneer and land speculator in Vermont. He served as

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont The lieutenant governor of Vermont is elected for a two-year term and chosen separately from the Governor of Vermont, governor. The Vermont lieutenant governor's main responsibilities include acting as governor when the governor is out of state o ...

from 1794 to 1796. Hunt's uncle was composer and poet

Timothy Swan Timothy Swan (1758–1842) was a Yankee tunesmiths, Yankee tunesmith and hatmaker born in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. The son of goldsmith William Swan, Swan lived in small towns along the Connecticut River in Connecticut and Massachusetts ...

, and his aunt was married to U.S. Congressman Lewis R. Morris. Hunt married Jane Maria Leavitt of

Suffield, Connecticut Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, and located in the Connecticut River Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. She was part of the

New England Dwight family The Dwight family of New England had many members who were military leaders, educators, jurists, authors, businessmen and clergy. Around 1634, John Dwight came with his wife Hannah (1604-1656), daughter Hannah (1625-1714), and sons Timothy (1629 ...

which was heavily involved in the shipping business and in the purchase of the

Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. Warren, Ohio was the Historic Capital in Trumbull County. T ...

. Jane's father,

Thaddeus Leavitt Thaddeus Leavitt (September 9, 1750 – 1813) was an American merchant who invented an improved upon version of the cotton gin, as well as joining with seven other Connecticut men to purchase most of the three-million-plus acres of the Wester ...

, was a successful merchant whose clipper ships traded with the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. He invented an early

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

and was one of the principal purchasers of the

lands in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Hunt and his wife Jane had five children: artist Jane Maria Hunt, physician Jonathan Hunt, painter

William Morris Hunt William Morris Hunt (March 31, 1824September 8, 1879) was an American painter. Born into the political List of Hunt family members of Vermont, Hunt family of Vermont, he trained in Paris with the realist Jean-François Millet and studied under hi ...

, architect

Richard Morris Hunt Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of architecture of the United States. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 ...

and early photographer and New York attorney

Leavitt Hunt Colonel, Col. Leavitt Hunt (1831–February 16, 1907) was a Harvard-educated attorney and photography pioneer who was one of the first people to photograph the Middle East. He and a companion, Nathan Flint Baker, traveled to Egypt, the Holy ...

. Following Hunt's death, his wife took their children to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for an extended Grand Tour that stretched into a dozen years. The Hunt children were able to study the arts in European academies and become part of an American expatriate community in Europe. Four of Hunt's children returned to America. The fifth, his namesake son Jonathan, remained in Paris, where he studied medicine at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

and subsequently practiced medicine until his early death, a suicide in 1874. (Jonathan Hunt's son

also committed suicide, at the

Isles of Shoals The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of Maine and New Hampshire. They have been occupied for more than 400 years, ...

in New Hampshire.) Hunt's nephew was Chicago architect

Jarvis Hunt Jarvis Hunt (August 6, 1863 – June 15, 1941) was a Chicago architect who designed a wide array of buildings, including railroad stations, suburban estates, industrial buildings, clubhouses and other structures. Biography Hunt was born in Wea ...

References

External links