David Hunt (planter)

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, 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 and Mississippi Colonization Society, of which he was a founding member.

David Hunt
BornOctober 22, 1779
near Trenton, New Jersey
DiedMay 18, 1861 (1861-05-19) (aged 81)
Jefferson County, Mississippi
Resting placeCalviton Plantation cemetery near Rodney, Mississippi
OccupationPlanter, philanthropist
Spouse(s)Margaret (Stampley) Hunt
Mary (Calvit) Hunt
Ann (Ferguson) Hunt
RelativesAbijah Hunt (uncle)

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 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.[1] It was west and in the country compared to the capital of Trenton, New Jersey. He had a brother, Andrew Hunt, and several half siblings from his father Jonathan's second marriage.[2][3] They were descendants of Ralph Hunt[2] the line being Ralph, Edward, Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan.[1]

Hunt moved as a young man to the Natchez District in approximately 1800.[4]

Career

Hunt inherited Woodlawn Plantation near Rodney, Mississippi from his uncle, Abijah Hunt (1762-1811), who had become wealthy as a merchant to the Army and later in cotton.[5] He ended up owning twenty-five plantations in the Natchez District.[5][6] In addition to the twenty-one plantations listed below, Hunt also owned the following four plantations: Fatherland, Fairview, Oak Burn and Givin Place.[6]

  • His Jefferson County plantations were: Calviton, Woodlawn, Huntley, Waverly, Fatlands, Southside, Brick Quarters, Ashland, Black Creek, Oakwood, Buena Vista, and Servis Island.[7] Zachary Taylor 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.[7] It was located about ten miles south of Rodney along the Mississippi River.[7] President Taylor and his son Richard "Dick" Taylor - later a Confederate General - visited Hunt's residence on Woodlawn Plantation.[1]
  • His Adams County plantations were: Lansdowne, located three miles north of Natchez (on what is now highway 555);[8] Homewood, which adjoined Lansdowne;[6] and Oakley Grove, located nine miles northeast of Natchez.[9]
  • His Issaquena County plantations were: Wilderness Plantation, located on the Mississippi River[10] near Mayerville;[11] and Georgiana Plantation, located on Deer Creek south of Rolling Fork.[12] David's son George Hunt owned 400 acres on the Mississippi River in Issaquena County close to Tallulah.[10]
Map of Mississippi River (1866) Showing Hole-in-the-wall Plantation

Shortly before the American Civil War, Hunt and his adult children owned a total of some 1,700 slaves and controlled tens of thousands of acres of land.[1] 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.[16] 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.[16]

As a result of his extensive holdings and cotton production, Hunt became one of the wealthiest cotton planters in the Antebellum South.[5] Additionally, he owned business concerns in Cincinnati, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky.[5] At his financial peak in about 1850, Hunt was worth about $2,000,000.[17][18]

Philanthropy

Hunt was among the largest financial supporters of Oakland College in Lorman, Mississippi, which was founded in affiliation with the Presbyterian Church.[1][19] Over the years he gave a total of about $175,000 to the college.[1] He was a trustee of the College for years.[1] His sons, Abijah, George, Andrew and Dunbar, all graduated from Oakland College.[1] 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.[20]

In 1870 the college was sold to the state of Mississippi. The state legislature used this facility to establish the first land grant institution for African Americans in American history, named Alcorn A&M College and now called Alcorn University, a historically black college.[20]

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.[20] The legacy of Oakland College was named to honor Presbyterian minister Reverend Jeremiah Chamberlain (1794-1851), the founding president of Oakland College, and David Hunt, who had been Oakland's most generous benefactor.[20][21][22]

Hunt also was a major supporter of the Rodney Presbyterian Church.[1] He donated the land upon which the church was built and contributed to the building of the church as well.[1] All of his children were baptized there.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] Hunt also gave beef to the poor families of Rodney each Christmas.[1]

As a member of the Mississippi Colonization Society and its parent organization the American Colonization Society, he donated to establish a colony for free African Americans in Liberia.[17][23] Hunt once donated $49,999.99 to this cause.[1] One of Hunt's eccentricities was to write checks for one penny less than an even dollar amount.[1] He also gave a small amount to the Fayette Female Academy in Fayette, Mississippi.[1]

Personal life

Hunt resided on Woodlawn Plantation[17] in Jefferson County, Mississippi, which was seven miles south of Rodney, Mississippi and approximately 25 miles northeast of Natchez.[1] 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.[2] He was nicknamed "King David."[2]

Hunt spent many summers in and around Lexington, Kentucky.[1] He travelled by carriage along with a baggage wagon and saddle horses.[1] The trip from Mississippi took one month.[1] He was related to John Wesley Hunt, who lived in the Hunt-Morgan House in Lexington.[1]

Hunt married three times

  • His first wife was Margaret (Stampley) Hunt.[5]
  • His second wife was Mary (Calvit) Hunt.[5]
  • His third wife was Ann (Ferguson) Hunt.[5] Ann's father David Ferguson grew up on his parent's 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.[5] Five of these adult children married before the Civil War. Hunt gave each at least one plantation and 100 slaves as a dowry.[7] These gifts reduced Hunt's net worth, which was listed in the 1860 U.S. Census as $1,086,825.[24]
  1. His daughter Mary Ann married James Archer and received Oakwood Plantation.[1]
  2. His son Abijah married Mary Agnes Walton and was given Calviton Plantation.[1]
  3. His son George Ferguson Hunt married Anna Watson and received Huntley Plantation.[1]
  4. His daughter Catherine married William S. Balfour[1] and received Homewood.[6]
  5. His daughter Charlotte married George Marshall and received Lansdowne Plantation.[8]

Two of David's seven adult children (Dunbar and Elizabeth) married after the American Civil War and David's death. They each got at least one plantation, but the slaves had been emancipated.

  1. His son Dunbar married Leila Lawrence Brent[1] and received Wilderness Plantation.[10] and Southside Plantation[7]
  2. His daughter Elizabeth married William F. Ogden[1] and received Hole in the Wall Plantation[14] and Black Creek Plantation.[7]

Death

Hunt died on May 18, 1861 on Woodlawn Plantation[1][2][5] at the age of 81.[1] He was buried in the Calviton Plantation cemetery.[1] Calviton Plantation adjoined Woodlawn Plantation where David had his main residence.[1]

Legacy

References
  1. Dunbar Hunt, "Sketch of David Hunt," Fayette, Mississippi: The Fayette Chronicle, 29 May 1908, Volume XLI, Number 35
  2. Tennessee Portrait Project: David Hunt
  3. Descendants of Ralph Hunt
  4. 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. 513
  5. Louisiana State University Libraries: DAVID HUNT LETTERS
  6. Harnett T. Kane, Natchez on the Mississippi, New York: William Morrow & Company, 1947, p. 174-189
  7. 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
  8. Official website: History
  9. Goodspeed (1891). Volume 1 of Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi: Volume One. Chicago: Goodspeed publishing Company. p. 1070. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  10. McFarland, A. "Map of plantations in Carrol [sic] Parish, Louisiana and Issaquena County, Mississippi /". Library of Congress. Skipwith, Mississippi, 1860. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  11. Searles, Jas M. (1873). "Map of the county of Issaquena, Mississippi". Library of Congress. New Orleans, LA : Hugh Lewis. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  12. Mississippi in 1875: Report of the Select Committee to Inquire Into the Mississippi Election of 1875, Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1876. 1876. pp. 708, 719. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  13. Johnson, John. "Johnson's Plantation Map". Library of Congress. New Orleans, 1873. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  14. Turpin, J. A. (July 31, 1914). "Tensas Gazette" (July 31, 1914). St. Joseph, Louisiana: Louisiana State Newspapers, Inc. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  15. "Concordia Parish, LA: Place Names and Information". rootsweb.ancestry.com. U. S. Genweb Project. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  16. Work Projects Administration, Slave Narratives: Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 1, Keith W. Brooks Publishing, 2013, pp 94-97 and 211-213
  17. David G. Sansing, Sim C. Callon and Carolyn Vance Smith Natchez An Illustrated History. Natchez, Mississippi: Plantation Publishing Company. 1992. pp. 64, 95, 96, 97. ISBN 0-9631823-1-5.
  18. D. Clayton James, Antebellum Natchez, New Orleans: Louisiana State University Press, 1968, p. 158
  19. Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 1999, Part 1, p. 310
  20. 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. 310
  21. Mary Carol Miller, Must See Mississippi: 50 Favorite Places, Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2007, p. 135
  22. Samuel J. Rogal, The American Pre-College Military School: A History and Comprehensive Catalog of Institutions, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009, p. 163
  23. 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 P45
  24. United States Federal Census Detail, 1860, Police District 4,Jefferson County, Mississippi, www.ancestry.com database
  25. Chamberlain-Hunt Academy holds its annual Founders Day Convocation at Oakland Memorial Chapel, Alcorn State University
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