Ward Hunt

Details

Birth

June 14, 1810 · Utica, New York

Death

March 24, 1886

Law school

litchfield (tapping reeve) law school

Prior experience

State highest court justice

Biography

Ward Hunt (June 14, 1810 – March 24, 1886) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1873 to 1882. Born in Utica, New York, Hunt graduated from Union College in 1828 and was admitted to the New York bar in 1831. He established a successful legal practice in Utica and became involved in local politics, initially as a Jacksonian Democrat before joining the Republican Party in the 1850s over opposition to slavery. Hunt served as mayor of Utica from 1844 to 1845 and later as a New York State assemblyman. He was appointed to the New York Court of Appeals in 1865, where he served as chief judge from 1868 to 1869. President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Hunt to the Supreme Court in December 1872 to replace Justice Samuel Nelson, and he was confirmed by the Senate without opposition. During his tenure, Hunt generally aligned with the Court's conservative majority on issues of federal power and civil rights. His most notable opinion came in United States v. Susan B. Anthony (1873), where he presided over the trial of the suffragist for illegal voting and denied her request to speak before sentencing. Hunt authored relatively few major Supreme Court opinions during his nine-year tenure, as he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1878 that left him largely incapacitated for his final four years on the Court. Congress passed special legislation in 1882 allowing him to retire with full pension despite not meeting the standard age and service requirements. Hunt's judicial legacy remains modest, overshadowed by his physical incapacity and the limited number of significant cases he decided during his abbreviated active service.

Notable opinions

• United States v. Reese
• Davison v. New Orleans