Hunt, Washington

Born: 1811-08-05 Windham, New York

Died: 1867-02-02 New York, New York

Washington Hunt was a lawyer, judge, U.S. representative, and governor of New York. In 1818, moved with his parents from his Windham to Portage, New York, where he completed preparatory studies and studied law. Hunt earned admittance to the New York bar in 1834 and started a practice in Lockport, New York . He ran an unsuccessful campaign in 1836 to U.S. Congress. He earned appointment as judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Niagara County, serving in that position from 1836 to 1841. Hunt won election, as a Whig, to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1843 to 1849. He served as comptroller of New York in 1849 and 1850. Hunt won election as governor of New York, serving from 1850 to 1852. At the end of this term, he retired to his farm near Lockport. He served as a temporary chairman of the Whig National Convention in 1856. He had an offer to be vice president on the Democratic ticket in presidential election of 1860, but declined. Hunt served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1864.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1260; Gravestone, Glenwood Cemetery, Lockport, NY.