Ward Hunt, 1873-1882

WARD HUNT was born in Utica, New York, on June 14, 1810. He was graduated from Union College in 1828 and studied law at a private academy in Litchfield, Connecticut. He continued his law studies as a clerk in the office of a Utica judge. Hunt was admitted to the bar in 1831 and established a law partnership in Utica, where he practiced for thirty-one years. In 1839, Hunt served one term in the New York Assembly, and in 1844 he was elected Mayor of Utica. In 1853, Hunt ran for a seat on the New York Supreme Court but lost the election. He was elected a judge of the New York Court of Appeals in 1865, the State’s highest court, and in 1868 he became Chief Judge. The following year, the New York court system was reorganized, and Hunt became a Commissioner of Appeals, a position he held for three years. President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Hunt to the Supreme Court of the United States on December 3, 1872. The Senate confirmed the appointment on December 11, 1872. Hunt served on the Supreme Court for nine years and retired from the Court on January 27, 1882. He died on March 24, 1886, at the age of seventy-five.