Abraham Hunt was a wealthy American merchant and farmer in Trenton, New Jersey, first Postmaster of Trenton, and served in the American Revolutionary War as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Hunterton County militia.
21 Facts About Abraham Hunt
2.
Abraham Hunt was a prominent member of the First Presbyterian Church in Trenton.
3.
Abraham Hunt played the host and placated the German Hessian commander Johann Rall before the Battle of Trenton.
4.
Abraham Hunt married Mary Dagworthy, the sister of General John Dagworthy, where she taught school in a building on South Broad Street later known as the Eagle Hotel.
5.
In 1764, at the age of twenty-one, Abraham Hunt joined in partnership with Moore Furman and together they established the merchant firm of Furman and Abraham Hunt, in Trenton.
6.
Abraham Hunt became a wealthy land owner and the principal merchant in Trenton who conducted a successful business in general merchandise from a shop connected with his home on the corner of King and Second Streets.
7.
In 1770 Abraham Hunt served as a commissioner for purposes of improving navigation on the Delaware River.
8.
In 1770 Abraham Hunt was appointed barrack master, and in 1774 became a member of the New Jersey Committee of Correspondence.
9.
None of the records indicate that Abraham Hunt was anything but an exemplary officer when he was serving on active duty.
10.
Abraham Hunt's duties included the disbursement of funds for the purchase of supplies and firearms and pay the militia.
11.
Abraham Hunt, considered a friendly and accommodating man, was known to freely and openly fraternize with both the Patriots and the British.
12.
Abraham Hunt had a good stock of the finest Virginia tobacco, all of which Hunt made readily available, and put him in good favor with the Hessian officers.
13.
Historian David Hackett Fischer maintains that it is uncertain whether Abraham Hunt initially swore allegiance to either the Patriots or the British, and speculates that his noncommittal and all around friendly attitude was all in a precarious effort to protect his property from seizure by the Hessians, while not alienating himself from the American Patriots.
14.
Abraham Hunt's property was never seized by either of the belligerent forces.
15.
Rall, along with some of his top officers, retired to the home of Abraham Hunt and settled in for a Christmas celebration with food and plenty of drink generously supplied by Hunt, which by some accounts ultimately compromised their ability to up and engage in battle at a moment's notice.
16.
One of Abraham Hunt's servants answered the call and told the farmer that Rall was too busy with friends to be bothered at that hour, possibly at Abraham Hunt's instructions.
17.
Abraham Hunt continued to be of service to the revolutionary cause.
18.
Abraham Hunt was one of the men appointed that year as the city's legislator.
19.
Abraham Hunt was a founder and director of the Trenton Banking Company in 1805.
20.
Under the newly formed American government Abraham Hunt continued in the office as the Postmaster of Trenton for many years.
21.
Abraham Hunt was buried in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church in Trenton.