Washington Hunt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 17th Governor 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's34th district | |
| In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1849 | |
| Preceded by | District created |
| Succeeded by | Lorenzo Burrows |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1811-08-05)August 5, 1811 Windham, New York, U.S |
| Died | February 2, 1867(1867-02-02) (aged 55) |
| Party | Whig |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Judge |
Washington Hunt (August 5, 1811 – February 2, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17thGovernor of New York from 1851 to 1852.
Hunt was born inWindham, New York. He moved toLockport, New York in 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 County Court from 1836 to 1841.
He was elected as aWhig to the28th,29th and30th United States Congresses, and served from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1849.
He was electedNew York State Comptroller by the State Legislature after the resignation ofMillard Fillmore who had been electedU.S. Vice President. In November 1849, he was re-elected, but resigned the comptrollership after his election asGovernor of New York the following year. He was Governor from 1851 to 1852, and was defeated for re-election byHoratio Seymour. Governor Hunt played a pivotal role in liberatingSolomon Northup, a citizen of New York who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery.
After the break-up of the Whig Party, Hunt, despite his previous association with theSeward/Weed faction of the party, was among the more conservative Whigs who refused to join the Republicans. Hunt was the chairman of the1856 Whig National Convention and supported his fellow New York Whig, former presidentMillard Fillmore for the presidency in that year. In 1860, Hunt joined theConstitutional Union Party and 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 Seymour for the New York gubernatorial race in 1862 and supportingGeorge McClellan for 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 Johnson after the war, and supported Johnson's abortive "National Union" movement, serving as a delegate at theNational Union Convention of 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]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Whig nominee forGovernor of New York 1850,1852 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| New district | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 34th congressional district 1843–1849 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | New York State Comptroller 1849–1850 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of New York 1851–1852 | Succeeded by |
| Commerce and Manufactures (1795–1819) |  | |
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| Commerce (1819–1893) | ||
| Interstate and Foreign Commerce (1893–1981) | ||
| Energy and Commerce (1981–present) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
