John Hunter (Westchester County, New York)

John Hunter (August 4, 1778 – September 12, 1852) was an American businessman and politician from New York.

John Hunter
Member of the New York State Senate
Second District (Class 1)
In office
1836–1843
Preceded byAllan Macdonald
Succeeded byJoshua B. Smith
Member of the New York State Senate
Second District (Class 1)
In office
1823–1823
Preceded byNew district
Succeeded byWilliam Nelson
Personal details
Born(1778-08-04)August 4, 1778
DiedSeptember 12, 1852(1852-09-12) (aged 74)
Spouse
Elizabeth Desbrosses
​
​
(m. 1799; died 1839)​
ChildrenElias Desbrosses Hunter
Alma materColumbia College

Life

He was born on August 4, 1778, the son of auctioneer Robert Hunter (c. 1735–1800) and Ruth (née Breck) Hunter (c. 1757–1840). He had two sisters, Elizabeth (née Hunter) Ludlow (wife of Gabriel Verplank Ludlow, nephew of George Duncan Ludlow) and Ruth (née Hunter) McEvers (wife of James McEvers, business partner of William Bayard Jr.). His father had emigrated from County Armagh in Northern Ireland to New York.

After his father's death, his mother married Lt. Gov. John Broome (under Governors Morgan Lewis and Daniel D. Tompkins) in 1806. Broome died in 1810.[1]

Hunter graduated from Columbia College.[2]

Career

Hunter continued his father's auctioneer and commission business before turning towards politics and selling the auction house at Pearl and Wall Streets in 1810. He was one of the original directors of the Delaware and Hudson Canal in 1823 and served as Supervisor of Westchester County before becoming a member of the New York State Senate (2nd D.) in 1823. He again served from 1836 to 1843, sitting in the 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, 63rd, 64th, 65th and 66th New York State Legislatures.[3]

Hunter's Island
Further information: Hunter Island (Bronx)

Sometime before 1812, he bought "Appleby's Island", which became afterwards known as Hunter's Island, located off the shore of the Town of Pelham, in Westchester County, and now part of Orchard Beach in the Bronx. Hunter built a large mansion there.[4] Hunter was originally buried on his island estate, but was re-interred in Beechwoods Cemetery in New Rochelle after the estate was sold to Mayor Ambrose Kingsland in 1866.[5]

Personal life
Hunter's mansion

In 1799, he married Elizabeth Desbrosses (d. 1831), a daughter of Elizabeth (née Butler) Desbrosses and James Desbrosses, considered by to have been the wealthiest man in New York. Following her father's death, Elizabeth and her sister Charlotte (wife of Henry Overing) divided the 60,000 acres their father had acquired from the 2,000,000 acre Hardenburgh Patent. Before her death in February 1831, John and Elizabeth were the parents of:[6]

Hunter died on September 12, 1852.[7]

Art collection
Further information: Hunter Collection

During his lifetime, Hunter amassed a substantial art collection that was considered "the nation's finest private collection of old master art." After Hunter's death and the death of his son Elias, the family gathered his "extensive collection of ancient and modern pictures removed from his gallery and residence at Hunter's Island" and offered the art for sale at an auction administered by Henry H. Leeds & Miner, Auctioneers in January 1866.[2]

Descendants

Through his son Elias, he was a grandfather of Elias Desbrosses Hunter Jr. (who died young),[6] Elizabeth Desbrosses Hunter (who married William Heathcote DeLancey Jr., son of Bishop William Heathcote DeLancey),[6] Anna Maria Hunter (married Peter Jay Munro Van Cortlandt),[6] Adele Hunter (died unmarried),[6] and John Hunter III (1833–1914),[8] who inherited Hunter's Island and sold it to former mayor Ambrose Kingsland in 1866 for $127,501.[9] John Hunter III married Annie Manigault Middleton of Middleton Place, Charleston, South Carolina.[10]

References
  1. Semans, Barbara Broome (26 February 2009). John Broome and Rebecca Lloyd Vol. I: Their Descendants and Related Families 18Th to 21St Centuries. Xlibris Corporation. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-4628-1113-7. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  2. "Catalogue of The late Mr. John Hunter's Extensive Collection of Ancient and Modern Pictures Removed from his… by businessman and art collector (1778-1852) John - Paperback - First - 1866 - from Howard S. Mott, Inc (SKU: 1227)". Biblio.com. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  3. The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 125, 131ff and 142: Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
  4. Bolton, Robert (1881). The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester: From Its First Settlement to the Present Time. C. F. Roper. p. 413. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  5. Historic Pelham - Burial Place of John Hunter
  6. Barbour, Oliver Lorenzo; Court, New York (State) Supreme (1855). Reports of Cases in Law and Equity in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Gould, Banks & Gould. p. 57. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  7. Who's who in New York City and State. L.R. Hamersly Company. 1907. p. 716. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  8. Twomey, Bill (2007). The Bronx, in Bits and Pieces. Rooftop Publishing. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-60008-062-3. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  9. "Pelham Bay Park Highlights - Hunter Island : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  10. "John Hunter". The New York Times. 5 January 1914. p. 8. ProQuest 97587723. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
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