John Wesley Hunt (1773–1849) was a prominent businessman and early civic leader in Lexington, Kentucky. He was one of the first millionaires west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Moving to Lexington in 1795, Hunt became a merchant, horsebreeder, hemp manufacturer, and banker. In 1799, President John Adams named Hunt as postmaster of Lexington. In 1814, Hunt built a two-story brick mansion known as "Hopemont" (today known as The Hunt-Morgan House) for him and his wife Catherine. His son Charlton Hunt became the first mayor of Lexington. In the winter of 1839-1840, Hunt introduced the Messenger strain to Kentucky.
John Wesley Hunt's grandson, John Hunt Morgan, was a famous Confederate general during the American Civil War. A great-grandson, Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan, was the first Kentuckian to win a Nobel Prize.
Hunt is buried in the family plot in the Lexington Cemetery.
Famous quotes containing the words wesley and/or hunt:
“Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.”
—Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
“Every individual, like a statue, develops in his life the laws of harmony, integrity, and freedom; or those of deformity, immorality, and bondage. Whether we wish to or not, we are all drawing our own pictures in the lives we are living ...”
—Harriot K. Hunt (1805–1875)