Washington Hunt(August 5, 1811 – February 2, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician.
Washington Hunt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 17thGovernor of New York | |
| In office January 1, 1851 – December 31, 1852 | |
| Lieutenant | Sanford E. Church |
| Preceded by | Hamilton Fish |
| Succeeded by | Horatio Seymour |
| 14thNew York State Comptroller | |
| In office February 20, 1849 – December 18, 1850 | |
| Governor | Hamilton Fish |
| Preceded by | Millard Fillmore |
| Succeeded by | Philo C. Fuller |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's34thdistrict | |
| In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1849 | |
| Preceded by | District created |
| Succeeded by | Lorenzo Burrows |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 5, 1811 Windham, New York,U.S |
| Died | February 2, 1867(aged 55) New York City, New York,US |
| Political party | Whig |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Judge |
Life and career
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Hunt was born inWindham, New York.He moved toLockport, New Yorkin 1828 to study law, was admitted to the bar in 1834, and opened a law office on Market Street in 1835. He was First Judge of theNiagara CountyCourt from 1836 to 1841.
He was elected as aWhigto the28th,29thand30th United States Congresses,and served from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1849.
He was electedNew York State Comptrollerby the State Legislature after the resignation ofMillard Fillmorewho had been electedU.S. Vice President.In November 1849, he was re-elected, but resigned the comptrollership after his election asGovernor of New Yorkthe following year. He was Governor from 1851 to 1852, and was defeated for re-election byHoratio Seymour.
After the break-up of the Whig Party, Hunt, despite his previous association with theSeward/Weedfaction of the party, was among the more conservative Whigs who refused to join the Republicans. Hunt was the chairman of the1856 Whig National Conventionand supported his fellow New York Whig, former presidentMillard Fillmorefor the presidency in that year. In 1860, Hunt joined theConstitutional Union Partyand supported its nominee for the presidency,John Bell.After it became clear that Bell could not win on his own in New York, Hunt was involved in the formation of a fusion ticket with the supporters of DemocratStephen Douglas.
In his last years, Hunt moved increasingly closer to the Democrats, endorsing his two-time opponent,Horatio Seymourfor the New York gubernatorial race in 1862 and supportingGeorge McClellanfor the presidency at the1864 Democratic National Convention.On June 13, 1864, Hunt was at Niagara Falls to confer with Confederate CommissionerJacob Thompson.[1]He became a supporter of PresidentAndrew Johnsonafter the war, and supported Johnson's abortive "National Union" movement, serving as a delegate at theNational Union Conventionof 1866, which sought to join Democrats and conservative Republicans into a new party to support Johnson.
His brother was Major Edward B. Hunt, a West Point graduate, who was killed in October 1863 while working with an experimental weapons system.
He was buried at the Glenwood Cemetery in Lockport. His former Lockport home at 363 Market Street is in theLowertown Historic District.[2]
Sources
edit- United States Congress."Washington Hunt (id: H000978)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^p. 145, Castleman, John Breckenridge. Active Service. Louisville, KY: Courier-Journal Job Printing, 1917.
- ^Cornelia E. Brooke (April 1973)."National Register of Historic Places Registration: Lowertown Historic District".New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.Retrieved2009-06-14.See also:"Accompanying six photos".
- [1]Political Graveyard
- famousamericans.net/washingtonhunt/ Bio from Appleton's Encyclopedia, at Famous Americans
- Google BooksThe New York Civil Listcompiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 31, 34 and 362; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
External links
edit- Photo of his law office, at Lockport website
- Description of the museum at his old law office, at Niagara history
- [2]The New York Civil Listcompiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (page 403; Weed, Parsons & Co., Albany NY, 1867)