David Hunt (October 22, 1779 – May 18, 1861) was an American planter based in the Natchez District of Mississippi who controlled 25 plantations, thousands of acres, and more than 1,000 slaves in the antebellum era. From

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, he joined his uncle in Mississippi business. He became a major philanthropist in the South, contributing to educational institutions in Mississippi, as well as the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

and

Mississippi Colonization Society Mississippi-in-Africa was a colony on the Pepper Coast (West Africa) founded in the 1830s by the Mississippi Colonization Society of the United States and settled by American free people of color, many of them former slaves. In the late 1840s, so ...

, the latter of which he was a founding member. Known as "King David," Hunt made a fortune in cotton production and sales. He was one of twelve millionaires residing near Natchez, Mississippi, at a time when there only were 35 millionaires in the entire United States.

Biography

Early life

David Hunt was born on October 22, 1779 on a farm near

Ringoes, New Jersey Ringoes is an unincorporated community located within East Amwell Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. The community is served by the United States Postal Service as ZIP Code 08551 and as of the 2010 United States Census ...

.Dunbar Hunt,

" '' The Fayette Chronicle'', 29 May 1908, Volume XLI, Number 35. It was west and in the country compared to the capital of

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Tennessee Portrait Project: David Hunt
/ref>
/ref> They were descendants of Ralph Hunt the line being Ralph, Edward, Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan. Hunt moved as a young man to the

Natchez District The Natchez District was one of two areas established in the Kingdom of Great Britain's West Florida colony during the 1770sthe other being the Tombigbee District. The first Anglo settlers in the district came primarily from other parts of Britis ...

in approximately 1800.May Wilson McBee, ''The Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805: Abstracts of Early Records'', Baltimore, Maryland: Reprinted for Clearfield Co., Inc. by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1994, 2003, p. 51

/ref>

Career

Hunt inherited Woodlawn Plantation (Rodney, Mississippi), Woodlawn Plantation near

Rodney, Mississippi Rodney is a former city in Jefferson County in southwest Mississippi, approximately northeast of Natchez. Rodney was founded in 1828, and in the 19th century, it was only three votes away from becoming the capital of the Mississippi Territo ...

from his uncle, Abijah Hunt (1762-1811), who had become wealthy as a merchant to the Army and later in cotton.Louisiana State University Libraries: DAVID HUNT LETTERS
/ref> He ended up owning twenty-five plantations in the

.Harnett T. Kane, ''Natchez on the Mississippi'', New York: William Morrow & Company, 1947, p. 174-189 In addition to the twenty-one plantations listed below, Hunt also owned the following four plantations: Fatherland, Fairview, Oak Burn and Givin Place. * His Jefferson County plantations were: Calviton, Woodlawn, Huntley, Waverly, Fatlands, Southside, Brick Quarters, Ashland, Black Creek, Oakwood, Buena Vista, and Servis Island.

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

bought the approximately 2,000-acre Buena Vista Plantation (also known as Cypress Grove Plantation), which bordered Ashland Plantation and was formed on the land of David Hunt and others. It was located about ten miles south of Rodney along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. President Taylor and his son Richard "Dick" Taylor - later a Confederate General - visited Hunt's residence on Woodlawn Plantation. * His Adams County plantations were:

Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to: People * Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver *Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008), Canadian wildlife artist * George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) ...

, located three miles north of Natchez (on what is now highway 555);Official website: History
/ref> Homewood, which adjoined Lansdowne; and Oakley Grove, located nine miles northeast of Natchez. * His Issaquena County plantations were: Wilderness Plantation, located on the Mississippi River near Mayerville; and Georgiana Plantation, located on Deer Creek south of Rolling Fork. David's son George Hunt owned 400 acres on the Mississippi River in Issaquena County close to Tallulah. Map of Mississippi River from Grand Gulf, Mississippi to Natchez, Mississippi (1866)

Map of Mississippi River from Grand Gulf, Mississippi to Natchez, Mississippi (1866)

* His Louisiana plantations were: Arcola, located just south of the town of

Waterproof, Louisiana Waterproof is a village in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States with a population of 688 as of the 2010 census. The village in 2010 was 91.7 percent African American. Some 24 percent of Waterproof residents in 2010 were aged ...

Tensas Parish Tensas Parish (french: Paroisse des Tensas) is a parish located in the northeastern section of the State of Louisiana; its eastern border is the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,252. It is the least populated paris ...

; the adjoining plantations of Argyle and Belle Ella, located to the west of Waterproof, also in Tensas Parish; and Hole in the Wall, located on the Mississippi River on Maxwell Road in northern

Concordia Parish, Louisiana Concordia Parish (french: Paroisse de Concordia) borders the Mississippi River in eastern central Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,822. The parish seat is Vidalia. The parish was formed in 1807. Concordia Parish is part ...

Shortly before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, Hunt and his adult children owned a total of some 1,700 slaves and controlled tens of thousands of acres of land. Cyrus Bellus and Peter Brown were two of David Hunt's slaves whose interviews are included in the WPA Slave Narrative Collection for the state of Arkansas.Work Projects Administration, ''Slave Narratives: Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 1'', Keith W. Brooks Publishing, 2013, pp 94-97 and 211-21

/ref> Peter Brown told of a time when he was a slave on David Hunt's Woodlawn Plantation and Dr. Coleman of Wyolah Plantation came to care for his parents, who had contracted cholera. As a result of his extensive holdings and cotton production, Hunt became one of the wealthiest cotton planters in the Antebellum South. Additionally, he owned business concerns in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

and Lexington, Kentucky. At his financial peak in about 1850, Hunt was worth about $2,000,000.D. Clayton James, ''Antebellum Natchez'', New Orleans: Louisiana State University Press, 1968, p. 15

/ref>

Philanthropy

Hunt was among the largest financial supporters of Oakland College (Mississippi), Oakland College, near

, which was founded in affiliation with the Presbyterian Church.''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi'', Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 1999, Part 1, p. 31

/ref> Over the years he gave a total of about $175,000 to the college. He was a trustee of the College for years. His sons, Abijah, George, Andrew and Dunbar, all graduated from Oakland College. Oakland had to close during the war, as its students went off to war. Some of the facility was damaged during the war, and it never successfully resumed operations after the war. In 1870 the college was sold to the state of Mississippi. The state legislature used this facility to establish the first

land grant institution A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

for African Americans in American history, named Alcorn A&M College and now called Alcorn University, a

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...

. The Presbyterian Church used the money from the sale to found Chamberlain-Hunt Academy in nearby Port Gibson in 1879. C.H.A. transitioned to the military routine in 1915 and was a military college preparatory school until 1971, when girls were admitted and the military discipline was greatly relaxed. Many of David Hunt's descendants or relatives attended Chamberlain-Hunt over the years and until quite recently. The old school did not open in August 2014 and the future is uncertain. The legacy of Oakland College was named to honor Presbyterian minister Reverend

Jeremiah Chamberlain Jeremiah Chamberlain (1794–1851) was an American Presbyterian minister, educator and college administrator. Educated at Dickinson College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he served as the president of Centre College in Kentucky from 1822 to ...

(1794-1851), the founding president of Oakland College, and David Hunt, who had been Oakland's most generous benefactor.Goodspeed Brothers, ''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Embracing an Authentic and Comprehensive Account of the Chief Events in the History of the State and a Record of the Lives of Many of the Most Worthy and Illustrious Families and Individuals'', Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891, p. 31

/ref>Mary Carol Miller, ''Must See Mississippi: 50 Favorite Places'', Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2007, p. 13

/ref>Samuel J. Rogal, ''The American Pre-College Military School: A History and Comprehensive Catalog of Institutions'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009, p. 16

/ref> Hunt also was a major supporter of the Rodney Presbyterian Church. He donated the land upon which the church was built and contributed to the building of the church as well. All of his children were baptized there. When the church decided to rent the pews to the church members to raise money, Hunt paid to rent them all to ensure that the poor could attend. He paid a large portion of the pastor's salary, gave the pastor the use of one of his slaves, and often gave the pastor beef and mutton from his plantations. Hunt also gave beef to the poor families of Rodney each Christmas. As a member of the

and its parent organization the

, he donated to establish a colony for free African Americans in Liberia.David G. Sansing, Sim C. Callon and Carolyn Vance Smith ''The Annual Report of the American Colonization Society, Volumes 33-46'', Washington: C. Alexander Printer, 1840-1910,The 39th Report of 1856 p4, The 40th Report of 1857 p50, The 41st Report of 1958 P4

/ref> Hunt once donated $49,999.99 to this cause. One of Hunt's eccentricities was to write checks for one penny less than an even dollar amount. He also gave a small amount to the Fayette Female Academy in Fayette, Mississippi, Fayette, Mississippi.

Personal life

Hunt resided on Woodlawn Plantation (Rodney, Mississippi), Woodlawn Plantation in

Jefferson County, Mississippi Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 7,726, making it the third-least populous county in Mississippi. Its county ...

, which was seven miles south of

and approximately 25 miles northeast of

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

. He was one of the twelve millionaires living near Natchez in the antebellum era, when there were only thirty-five millionaires living in the entire United States. He was nicknamed "King David." Hunt spent many summers in and around Lexington, Kentucky. He travelled by carriage along with a baggage wagon and saddle horses. The trip from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

took one month. He was related to John Wesley Hunt, who lived in the Hunt-Morgan House in Lexington. Hunt married three times * His first wife was Margaret (Stampley) Hunt. * His second wife was Mary (Calvit) Hunt. * His third wife was Ann (Ferguson) Hunt. Ann's father David Ferguson grew up on his parents' Mount Locust Inn and Plantation; and her sister Charlotte, who was married to William Aylette Buckner, lived at Airlie. Ann and her husband David Hunt had 14 children, but only seven lived past the age of 21. Five of these adult children married before the Civil War. Hunt gave each at least one plantation and 100 slaves as a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

.Marie T. Logan, ''Mississippi-Louisiana Border Country: A History of Rodney, Miss., St. Joseph, La., and Environs'', Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishing Division, 1970, p.103, p. 143, pp 69-72 These gifts reduced Hunt's net worth, which was listed in the 1860 U.S. Census as $1,086,825.United States Federal Census Detail, 1860, Police District 4,Jefferson County, Mississippi, www.ancestry.com database # His daughter Mary Ann married James Archer and received Oakwood Plantation. # His son Abijah married Mary Agnes Walton and was given Calviton Plantation. # His son George Ferguson Hunt married Anna Watson and received Huntley Plantation. # His daughter Catherine married William S. Balfour and received Homewood. # His daughter Charlotte married George Marshall and received

Plantation. Two of David's seven adult children (Dunbar and Elizabeth) married after the

and David's death. They each got at least one plantation, but the slaves had been emancipated. # His son Dunbar married Leila Lawrence Brent and received Wilderness Plantation. and Southside Plantation # His daughter Elizabeth married William F. Ogden and received Hole in the Wall Plantation and Black Creek Plantation.

Death

Hunt died on May 18, 1861 on Woodlawn Plantation (Rodney, Mississippi), Woodlawn Plantation at the age of 81. He was buried in the Calviton Plantation cemetery. Calviton Plantation adjoined Woodlawn Plantation where David had his main residence.

Legacy

*The Chamberlain-Hunt Academy, a Presbyterian military private academy in

Port Gibson, Mississippi Port Gibson is a city in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2010 census. Port Gibson is the county seat of Claiborne County, which is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. It is the site of the ...

, was named in his honor. *The David Hunt Award is made annually at Alcorn State University in

Lorman, Mississippi Lorman is an unincorporated community located in Jefferson County, Mississippi, United States. Lorman is approximately north of Fayette, near Highway 61 on Mississippi Highway 552. Lorman is the nearest community to Alcorn State University, ...

.Chamberlain-Hunt Academy holds its annual Founders Day Convocation at Oakland Memorial Chapel
Alcorn State University

References

External links

This link has information about the Hunt's Georgiana Plantation in Issaquena County, Mississippi

The map at the library of congress website shows David Hunt's Issaquena County, Mississippi Plantations. Wilderness Plantation is shown on the Mississippi River just above Mayerville. Where the name "David Hunt" is written along "Little or Lower Deer Creek" at the center of the map is Georgiana Plantation.

The map at the library of congress website shows David Hunt's Issaquena County, Mississippi Plantations. Wilderness Plantation is shown on the Mississippi River with David Hunt's son Dunbar as the owner. David Hunt's son George F. Hunt is shown owning 400 acres on the Mississippi River adjacent to his brother in law, William Balfour's Fairland Plantation.

The map at the library of congress website shows David Hunt's Tensas Parish, Louisiana Plantations. Arcola, Argyle and Belle Ella Plantations are in the area to the left of the Mississippi River town of Waterproof (near the bottom left of the map). The G.M. Marshall written by Arcola was one of David Hunt's sons-in-law. The names Misses Hunt and T.W. Hunt written by the other two plantations were descendants of David Hunt. Hole-in-the-Wall Plantation (not marked on the map) was below Arcola at the bottom of the map between Lake St. John and the Mississippi River in Concordia Parish.

The map at the library of congress website shows some of David Hunt's Jefferson County, Mississippi plantations. Ashland, Buena Vista, Fatland, Brick Quarter and Woodlawn Plantations are shown near the bottom of the map below the town of Rodney. Woodlawn is mistakenly labeled as Woodland on the map. This map also shows two of David Hunt's Louisiana plantations. Hole-in-the-Wall and Arcola Plantations are shown at the bottom of the map.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, David 1779 births 1861 deaths People from Trenton, New Jersey People from Natchez, Mississippi People from Jefferson County, Mississippi American planters Philanthropists from Mississippi American Presbyterians American slave owners