Jonathan Hunt (politician, 1738)

Jonathan Hunt

Jonathan Hunt (born September 12, 1738 in Northampton , Province of Massachusetts Bay , † June 1, 1823 in Vernon , Vermont ) was an American pioneer, landowner and politician from Massachusetts. He was the seventh lieutenant governor of Vermont, the last of the Vermont Republic, and was a member of the prominent Vermont Hunt family .

Life

Hunt was born in Northampton , Massachusetts to Captain Samuel Strong Hunt and Ann Hunt, née Ellsworth. His great grandmother was Mary Webster, daughter of John Webster, governor of the Connecticut Colony .

General Arad Hunt, who also lived in Vernon, was his brother. Arad Hunt served in the Vermont Militia and was a member of the Westminster Convention in 1777 . He was a prominent early donor to Middlebury College , to which he donated more than 5,000 square miles of land in Albany , Vermont. Along with his brother, they were among the largest speculators in Vermont, owning tens of thousands of acres across the state.

Hunt married Lavina Swan on August 12, 1749. Lavinia was from Massachusetts and was a student of President John Adams . They had four children, Ellen Francis Hunt, Anne Hunt, Lavina S. Hunt, and Jonathan Hunt . Her son was an MP for Vermont in the United States House of Representatives . The daughter Ellen was married to Lewis R. Morris , also a member of the United States House of Representatives for Vermont and nephew of Governor Morris .

Jonathan Hunt was one of Vermont's earliest settlers and settled in Gilford in 1758 . Benning Wentworth granted him extensive land in New Hampshire, also through New York state patents, and additional land was added after purchases.

Hunt is considered one of the founders of Vermont, as well as one of its earliest pioneers and largest landowners. He lived in Vernon. The name of the city was suggested by his wife Lavinia. When Hunt was offered the honor of the Vermont General Assembly to change the name of the town he was representing from Hinsdale to Huntstown, he hesitated and asked his wife for advice. This suggested Vernon instead. Vernon is the only town in Vermont that was named by a woman.

Political career

Hunt held various political positions in Vermont. He was sheriff of Windham County in 1781 and high sheriff in 1782 . Then 1783 Windham County Judge. He was the seventh lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1794 to 1796. He was the last lieutenant governor of the independent Republic of Vermont. In 1800, Hunt was the electorate for Vermont.

The Governor Hunt house was built by Hunt in 1789 and described by Herbert W. Congdon in "Old Vermont Houses," now located on the site of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant .

He died in Vernon on June 1, 1823.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong of Northampton, Massachusetts by Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight and Joel Munsell, Volume II, Albany, 1871
2. ↑ Gov. John Webster, History of Hadley, Sylvester Judd, 1905
3. ^ The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong of Northampton, Massachusetts, Volume II by Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight and Joel Munsell, Albany, 1871
4. ^ Grant of land to Jonathan and Arad Hunt, Green Leaves from Whitingham, Vermont: A History of the Town, Clark Jillson, Worcester, Mass., 1894
5. ^ Arad Hunt to Middlebury College grant, The American Quarterly Register, American Education Society, Andover, Mass., 1829
6. ^ About Vernon . Vernon Vermont. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 14, 2014. 
7. ^ Mary Rogers Cabot: Annals of Brattleboro, 1681–1895, Issue 1 . Press of EL Hildreth & Company, 1921, p. 289.
8. ↑ Jonathan Hunt . Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
9. ↑ Annals of Brattleboro, Mary Rogers Cabot
10. ^ Memorials of a Century, Embracing a Record of Individuals and Events Chiefly in the Early History of Bennington, Vermont by Isaac Jennings, Gould and Lincoln, Boston, 1869
11. ↑ Jonathan Hunt, virtualvermont.com
12. ^ History and Proceedings of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, Mass, 1901
13. ↑ Vernon, Windham County, Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Abby Maria Hemenway, 1891,
14. ^ Mary Rogers Cabot: Annals of Brattleboro, 1681–1895, Issue 1 . Press of EL Hildreth & Company, 1921, p. 289.
15. ↑ Redfield, and Davenport, Charles H. Proctor: Men of Vermont: An Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters and Sons of Vermont . Transcript publishing Company, 1894, p. 148.
16. ^ Vermont: Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont, Edited and Published by the State Authority, EP Walton, Montpelier, 1876
17. ↑ Annals of Brattleboro, 1681–1895, Mary Rogers Cabot, Brattleboro, 1921
18. ^ Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight: The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass . J. Munsell, 1871, p. 1175.

literature

• Vermont Place-Names: Footprints of History by Esther Munroe Swift

Web links

• Jonathan Hunt in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Hunt / Henshaw House, Deacon Jonathan Hunt family, Northampton, Mass., Megan Gardner, Smith College, 1997, sophia.smith.edu