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:
“Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high;
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life be past;
Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last.”
—Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
“It is ... pathetic to observe the complete lack of imagination on the part of certain employers and men and women of the upper-income levels, equally devoid of experience, equally glib with their criticism ... directed against workers, labor leaders, and other villains and personal devils who are the objects of their dart-throwing. Who doesn’t know the wealthy woman who fulminates against the “idle” workers who just won’t get out and hunt jobs?”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)