Ward Hunt

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title: "Ward Hunt" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1810-births", "1886-deaths", "episcopalians-from-new-york-(state)", "chief-judges-of-the-new-york-court-of-appeals", "mayors-of-utica,-new-york", "democratic-party-members-of-the-new-york-state-assembly", "19th-century-american-episcopalians", "new-york-(state)-free-soilers", "new-york-(state)-republicans", "union-college-(new-york)-alumni", "united-states-federal-judges-appointed-by-ulysses-s.-grant", "justices-of-the-supreme-court-of-the-united-states", "litchfield-law-school-alumni", "burials-at-forest-hill-cemetery-(utica,-new-york)", "19th-century-mayors-of-places-in-new-york-(state)", "19th-century-members-of-the-new-york-state-legislature"] description: "US Supreme Court justice from 1873 to 1882" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Hunt" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary US Supreme Court justice from 1873 to 1882 ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Ward Hunt
image	Ward Hunt - Brady-Handy.jpg
caption	Ward Hunt
office	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
nominator	Ulysses S. Grant
term_start	January 9, 1873
term_end	January 27, 1882
predecessor	Samuel Nelson
successor	Samuel Blatchford
office1	Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
term_start1	January 12, 1868
term_end1	December 31, 1869
predecessor1	William Wright
successor1	Robert Earl
office2	11th Mayor of Utica
term_start2	1844
term_end2	1855
predecessor2	Frederick Hollister
successor2	Edmund Wetmore
birth_date
birth_place	Utica, New York, US
death_date
death_place	Washington, D.C., US
party
education
spouse	{{plainlist
* {{marriage	Mary Ann Savage
* {{marriage	Maria Taylor
children	3
::

| name = Ward Hunt | image = Ward Hunt - Brady-Handy.jpg | caption = Ward Hunt | office = Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | nominator = Ulysses S. Grant | term_start = January 9, 1873 | term_end = January 27, 1882 | predecessor = Samuel Nelson | successor = Samuel Blatchford | office1 = Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals | term_start1 = January 12, 1868 | term_end1 = December 31, 1869 | predecessor1 = William Wright | successor1 = Robert Earl | office2 = 11th Mayor of Utica | term_start2 = 1844 | term_end2 = 1855 | predecessor2 = Frederick Hollister | successor2 = Edmund Wetmore | birth_date = | birth_place = Utica, New York, US | death_date = | death_place = Washington, D.C., US | party = | education = | spouse = {{plainlist|

| children = 3 Ward Hunt (June 14, 1810 – March 24, 1886) was an American jurist and politician. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1868 to 1869, and an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1872 to 1882.

Early life, family and education

Hunt was the son of Montgomery James Hunt, long-time cashier of the Bank of Utica, and Elizabeth (née Stringham) Hunt. Ward attended the Oxford and Geneva Academies and was a classmate of Horatio Seymour. He attended Hamilton College in 1827, then transferred to Union College in 1828, where he was an early member of the Kappa Alpha Society.

After graduating with honors in 1828, he subsequently studied law with Judge James Gould at Litchfield Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut and with Hiram Denio in Utica, and was admitted to the bar in 1831.

Career

Politician and attorney

Hunt was a Democratic member from Oneida County of the New York State Assembly in 1839, and he was Mayor of Utica in 1844. In 1848, he joined the Free Soil Party, and in 1855 he was among the founders of the New York Republican Party.

Hunt remained in private practice until 1865 when he ran for a slot on the New York Court of Appeals.

New York Court of Appeals

Hunt was elected in 1865 for an eight-year term on the New York Court of Appeals on the Republican ticket, acquiring the seat held by his former law teacher and partner Hiram Denio. Hunt became chief judge in 1868 after the sudden death of Chief Judge William B. Wright. In 1870, he was legislated out of office but was appointed one of the Commissioners of Appeals.

US Supreme Court

Hunt was a friend and patron of political boss Roscoe Conkling, who was an associate of President Ulysses S. Grant. When Samuel Nelson retired from the Supreme Court, Conkling asked Grant to nominate Hunt for the vacancy. Hunt was nominated on December 3, 1872, confirmed by the US Senate on December 11, and was sworn into office on January 9, 1873.

Hunt had relatively little impact on the court, siding with the majority in all but 22 cases in his ten years on the job and writing only four dissenting opinions. His most notable contribution came while riding circuit in New York, where he presided over United States v. Anthony. Citing the 14th Amendment, Susan B. Anthony argued that she was constitutionally guaranteed the right to vote and had not broken the law when she voted in the 1872 election. Justice Hunt refused to allow Anthony to testify on her own behalf, allowed statements given by her at the time of her arrest to be allowed as "testimony," explicitly ordered the jury to return a guilty verdict, refused to poll the jury afterwards, and read an opinion he had written before the trial even started. Hunt found that Anthony had indeed broken the law and fined Anthony $100 (which she refused to pay).

In 1878, Hunt suffered a severe paralyzing stroke which prevented him from attending court sessions or rendering opinions. However, he refused to retire, because at the time in order to retire with a full pension, a person had to put in at least ten years of government service and be at least 70 years old. To encourage him to retire, Congress passed a special provision under which he could receive a pension if he would retire within 30 days. Hunt did so on January 27, 1882, and enjoyed his pension until his death in Washington, D.C., four years later.

Personal life

On November 8, 1837, Hunt married Mary Ann Savage, the daughter of U.S. Representative and chief justice of the New York Supreme Court John Savage, and great-niece of Congressman Samuel Lyman. They had three children, one of whom died in early manhood. Together they were the parents of:

• Elizabeth Stringham "Eliza" Hunt (1838–1905), who married Arthur Breese Johnson. Johnson was the great-grandson of Second US President John Adams and great-nephew of sixth President John Quincy Adams.
• John Savage Hunt (1839–1864), who was named after Mary's father; served as a first lieutenant in the United States Civil War and died after drowning in the James River in Virginia.
• Ward Hunt, Jr. (1843–1901), who married Grace Annette Taylor

After his wife's death, he remained a widower for eight years until June 18, 1853, when he married Maria Taylor, the daughter of James Taylor, the former Cashier of the Commercial Bank of Albany.

Hunt died on March 24, 1886, in Washington, D.C.

References

References

1. "Justices 1789 to Present". Supreme Court of the United States.
2. "Ward E. Hunt". [[Litchfield Law School.
3. "Timeline of the Court – Ward Hunt". The Supreme Court Historical Society.
4. (1858). "The New York Civil List: Containing the Names and Origin of the Civil Divisions, and the Names and Dates of Election or Appointment of the Principal State and County Officers from the Revolution to the Present Time". Weed, Parsons and Co., Publishers.
5. (12 December 1872). "WASHINGTON NOTES.; Judge Hunt Confirmed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The Attempt to Steal the Alabama Legislature. Attitude of Democrats Toward the Indian Peace Policy. Opposition to the Soldiers and Sailors' Land-Bounty Bill. More Cavalry Ordered to the Valley of the Rio Grande.". [[The New York Times]].
6. (2004). "The Chase Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy". ABC-CLIO.
7. "Famous American Trials: The Trial of Susan B. Anthony". University of Missouri Law School.
8. "Ward Hunt {{!}} American jurist".
9. (2012). "The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–2012". CQ Press.
10. "Mary Ann Savage Hunt". Litchfield Historical Society.
11. (1900). "Lineage Book". [[Daughters of the American Revolution]].
12. (March 25, 1886). "Obituary. Ex-Judge Ward Hunt". [[The New York Times]].

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