David Hunt

David Hunt (October 22, 1779 – May 18, 1861) was an American planter based in the Natchez District of Mississippi. From New Jersey in approximately 1800, he took a job in his uncle Abijah Hunt's Mississippi business. After his uncle's untimely 1811 death, as a beneficiary and as the executor of the estate, he began to convert the estate into his plantation empire. By the time of the 1860 slave census, Hunt owned over 500 enslaved Africans. Had he not given approximately 500 enslaved Africans to his children, he would have had over 1,000. He gave each of his five adult children at least one plantation and about 100 slaves. In fact, Hunt and his five adult children and their spouses owned some 1,700 slaves by 1860.

Known as "King David," Hunt made a fortune in cotton production and sales. He was one of twelve millionaires residing near Natchez, Mississippi, at a time when there only were 35 millionaires in the entire United States. He became a major philanthropist in the South, contributing to educational institutions in Mississippi, as well as the American Colonization Society and Mississippi Colonization Society, the latter of which he was a founding member.

Biography

Early life in New Jersey David Hunt was born on October 22, 1779, on a farm near Ringoes, New Jersey. It was west and in the country compared to the capital of Trenton, New Jersey. He had a brother, Andrew Hunt, and several half siblings from his father Jonathan's second marriage. They were descendants of Ralph Hunt Abijah lived in Old Greenville, Jefferson County, Mississippi. David moved as a young man to the Natchez District in approximately 1800. He laid claim to 200 acres on Coles Creek in Jefferson County where he lived and cultivated the land beginning in the spring of 1800. This land was near Greenville. In addition to working his land, David also worked as a clerk in one of his uncle's stores - probably in the nearby (now extinct) town of Old Greenville. This helped him to be able to buy out his Uncle's business partners, and sell the businesses to create a large inventory of plantations. Thus, shrewdly using this large inheritance from his Uncle is how David became one of the twelve millionaires in the Natchez area in the antebellum era.

David Hunt's enslaved African ownership numbers from census data in various years: 1805 - Jefferson County, MS, 9 1808 - Jefferson County, MS, 11 1810 - Jefferson County, MS, 24 (also David's father-in-law Thomas Calvit, 50 enslaved and 3,050 acres on Coles Creek and the MS. River) 1827 - Jefferson County, MS, 159 enslaved worth $47,800, 7,968 acres worth $78,975, 212 horses and cattle worth $4,460, 6 wheels of pleasure carriages, $3,000 loaned at interest, assessed for tax purposes on $134,235. Approximately, by 1860 the Hunt clan (David Hunt, his children and their spouses) had built up to at least 450 enslaved in Issaquena County (including William Balfour's Fairland), 359 enslaved in Louisiana, 25 enslaved in Adams County, and 750 enslaved in Jefferson County (Including Edgar Wood's Givin Place). Thus, Hunt clan ownership of between 1,600 to 1,700 enslaved Africans is not an exaggeration. From loans to his children in David Hunt's probate records and from land inherited and purchased by David that went to his children, it is clear that David was bankrolling the aggressive expansion of the family cotton plantation empire with each year's plantation profits. Jefferson County. In 1862 David's approximately 375 Jefferson County enslaved Africans were shared between Woodlawn (123 enslaved), Brick Quarters (sometimes called Southside and Brick Quarters - 128 enslaved), Fatlands (approximately 121 enslaved), and Black Creek (3 enslaved). Only three enslaved Africans were on Black Creek - possibly because it was mostly a cypress swamp. The enslaved are listed by name in the probate records on the Family Search website. Other Jefferson County plantations that David Hunt was associated with included: Calviton, Huntley, Ashland, Oakwood, Buena Vista, and Servis Island. Fatlands Plantation. It was on the north side of Dowds Creek opposite Southside Plantation. It was also on the Mississippi River - just south of the town of Rodney. In 1862 probate records, the plantation had 121 enslaved. Black Creek Plantation. It possibly contained 3,200 acres located on Coles Creek near the Mississippi River. The plantation started with 1,000 acres and was enlarged to 2,000 acres. David gave the land to his daughter Charlotte when she married George Marshall. Because Marshall's father was also one of the Natchez millionaires like David Hunt, George and Charlotte could afford to operate Lansdowne as a residence and hunting estate before the Civil War, with 16 enslaved in 1860. It became a plantation after the War because their larger Arcola plantation had been lost. Homewood, which adjoined Lansdowne. Oakley Grove was Ann's grandfather, Robert Dunbar's, home at the site of the current Adams County airport. He had previously lived in a house at the Lansdowne mansion site which had burned. He was the patriarch of the rich country Dunbar planter clan in the area. Possibly this plantation never belonged to the Hunt's, or they only inherited a partial share. Raised Planter's Cottage on Frogmore Plantation, near Ferriday, Louisiana. This is what the managers' houses looked like on the Hunt clan's plantations where they were absentee owners, such as their Issaquena County, Mississippi plantations and their Louisiana plantations.

Enslaved Quarters at Frogmore Plantation tourist site near Ferriday, Louisiana. This is similar to the quarters on the Hunt Plantations. Cotton Field on Maxwell Road in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. This view is near the Hole-in-the-Wall Plantation site looking away from the Mississippi River toward the tree line in the distance. This is typical of the landscape where some of the Hunt enslaved lived and worked.

His Issaquena County plantations were: Wilderness Plantation, located on the Mississippi River near Mayerville; David's son Andrew was given Wilderness; however, the plantation reverted back to David, because Andrew died as a young adult. David's son Dunbar got it when his father died. The plantation had 2,500 acres with about 1,200 under cultivation. It had 82 enslaved Africans in 1860. Georgiana Plantation, located on Deer Creek south of Rolling Fork. David gave his son George Hunt the Georgiana Plantation along with Huntley Plantation. In the 1860 census, the plantation had 147 enslaved in 26 houses. The manager's house has been restored. It was to the east of Lockwood. Lockwood. George also owned 400 acres on the Mississippi River in Issaquena County close to Tallulah known as Lochwood. Arcola, located just south of the town of Waterproof, Louisiana, in Tensas Parish near the Mississippi River and Hole-in-the-Wall Plantation. Statistics for Argyle Plantation in 1860 follow. The plantation was in a trust for David Hunt's then deceased son Abijah's children who lived on Calviton Plantation. Hole in the Wall was given to David's daughter Elizabeth after the Civil War when she married William F. Ogden, son of Abner Nash Ogden, along with Black Creek Plantation. The following is information about Hole in the Wall plantation in 1860 99 Enslaved Africans in 16 dwellings Ogden's mother's ancestors had Independence Plantation (Isreal Smith, descendant of Rev. Jedediah Smith) on Second Creek in Adams County

Scene looking away from the Mississippi River on Maxwell Road in Concordia Parish, LA near the Hole in the Wall Plantation site.

Shortly before the American Civil War, Hunt and his adult children owned a total of some 1,700 enslaved Africans and controlled tens of thousands of acres of land.

As a result of his extensive holdings and cotton production, Hunt became one of the wealthiest cotton planters in the Antebellum South.

Philanthropy Hunt was among the largest financial supporters of Oakland College, near Rodney, Mississippi and David's home on Woodlawn Plantation, which was founded in affiliation with the Presbyterian Church. Over the years he gave a total of about $175,000 to the college.

Hunt also was a major supporter of the Rodney Presbyterian Church. Hunt once donated $49,999.99 to this cause. These gifts made all of Hunt's children wealthy, but reduced Hunt's net worth, which was listed in the 1860 U.S. Census as $1,086,825.

His daughter Mary Ann married James Archer and received Oakwood Plantation. George and Charlotte also received Arcola Plantation.

Two of David's seven adult children (Dunbar and Elizabeth) married after the American Civil War and David's death. They each got at least one plantation, but the slaves had been emancipated. His son Dunbar married Leila Lawrence Brent