Jonathan Hunt was born in Northampton, Massachusetts

Northampton, Massachusetts

The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...

, the son of Capt. Samuel Strong Hunt of Northampton and Ann Ellsworth of Windsor, Ct., and the great-great-grandson of Jonathan Hunt and his wife Mary Webster, daughter of Governor John Webster of the Connecticut Colony

John Webster (Governor of the Colony of Connecticut)

John Webster was an early colonial settler of New England, serving one term as governor of the Colony of Connecticut in 1656.-Life:...

. Hunt was one of the earliest settlers of Vermont, where he began clearing land at Guilford, Vermont

Guilford, Vermont

Guilford is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford. The population was 2,046 at the 2000 census.- Geography :...

 in 1758. There are indications that the Hunt family had ties to Vermont even earlier, when Jonathan Hunt's grandfather Jonathan witnessed a 1687 Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 deed conferring land in what was later Vermont by several Native Americans.

The grandson Jonathan Hunt and his associates were later granted extensive tracts of land by New Hampshire Gov. Benning Wentworth

Benning Wentworth

Benning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...

, as well as by patent from New York State and by purchase. Jonathan Hunt's father, Capt. Samuel, had himself been the proprietor named in the charter of many New Hampshire towns. His son Jonathan was the last Lieutenant Governor of the independent republic of Vermont (1794–1796) and presidential elector for Vermont, 1800.

Hunt is considered one of the founders of Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 as well as one of its earliest pioneers and largest landowners. He lived in Vernon, Vermont

Vernon, Vermont

Vernon is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,141 at the 2000 census. Vernon is the home of Vermont Yankee, Vermont's only nuclear power plant.-Geography:...

, the name suggested by his wife Lavinia (Swan) Hunt, a Massachusetts native and former pupil of President John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

. (Lavinia Swan Hunt's brother Benjamin served as Vermont's State Treasurer for many years; her brother Timothy Swan

Timothy Swan

Timothy Swan was a composer and hatmaker born in Worcester, Massachusetts. The son of goldsmith William Swan, Swan lived in small towns along the Connecticut River in Connecticut and Massachusetts for most of his life. Swan’s compositional output consisted mostly of psalm and hymn settings,...

 was an eccentric composer and poet who lived at Suffield, Connecticut

Suffield, Connecticut

Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It had once been within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. In 1900, 3,521 people lived in Suffield; and in 1910, 3,841. As of the...

.) His family would go on to be one of the most prominent in the entire state.

When Hunt was instructed by the Vermont General Assembly

Vermont General Assembly

The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the U.S. state of Vermont. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly," but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself...

 to change the name of the town he represented from Hinsdale to Huntstown in his honor, he demurred. He asked his wife, who suggested Vernon

Vernon, Vermont

Vernon is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,141 at the 2000 census. Vernon is the home of Vermont Yankee, Vermont's only nuclear power plant.-Geography:...

 instead, making it the only Vermont town said to be named by a woman. The Governor Hunt house, built by Hunt in 1789, and once featured in Herbert W. Congdon's "Old Vermont Houses," is now on the grounds of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant

Vermont Yankee is a General Electric boiling water reactor type nuclear power plant currently owned by Entergy. It is located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, and generates 620 megawatts of electricity at full power. The plant began commercial operations in 1972...

. Hunt's son, also named Jonathan, served as a U.S. Congressman from Vermont.(See Jonathan Hunt (Vermont Representative)

Jonathan Hunt (Vermont Representative)

General Jonathan Hunt was a member of the United States House of Representatives and the prominent Hunt family of Vermont. He was born in Vernon, Windham County, Vermont, and graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1807. Afterwards, Hunt studied law and was admitted to the bar...

.

Jonathan Hunt's brother General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Arad Hunt, who also lived in Vernon, was general of the Vermont militia, a member of the Westminster Convention of 1777, and a prominent early backer of Middlebury College

Middlebury College

Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...

, to which he donated over 5000 acres (20.2 km²) of land in Albany, Vermont. Along with his brother, he was one of the largest speculators in Vermont lands, owning tens of thousands of acres across the state. Jonathan Hunt's daughter Ellen was married to Lewis R. Morris

Lewis R. Morris

Lewis Richard Morris was a United States Representative from Vermont and a nephew of Gouverneur Morris and Lewis Morris. Born in Scarsdale, New York, he attended the common schools. He moved to Springfield, Vermont, and from 1781 to 1783 was secretary of foreign affairs...

, U.S. Congressman from Vermont and nephew of statesman Gouverneur Morris

Gouverneur Morris

Gouverneur Morris , was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a native of New York City who represented Pennsylvania in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation. Morris was also an author of large sections of the...

.

External links

• The Hunt/Henshaw House, Deacon Jonathan Hunt family, Northampton, Mass., Megan Gardner, Smith College, 1997, sophia.smith.edu

Trivia

• Governor Hunt Road in Vernon, Vermont, is named for Jonathan Hunt