John Wesley Hunt, Pioneer Merchant, Manufacturer, and Financier

Kentucky Bicentennial Bookshelf

by James A. Ramage

When John Wesley Hunt came to Kentucky in 1794, his plan was to open a general store in Lexington. A canny judge of business opportunity, he soon expanded his activities and became one of the responsible figures of Kentucky banking and finance. In another kind of venture, he imported fine stallions from the East, significantly improving the bloodlines of thoroughbreds and trotters in the Bluegrass. John Wesley Hunt tells the story of Hunt's business exploits against the background of life in frontier Lexington. James A. Ramage reveals how his innovative solutions to the financial problems of the frontier gave rise to the prosperity and culture of Lexington in the nineteenth century

120 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1974

Reviews

[Jerry Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The interesting story of a man who came to Lexington Kentucky in 1795 as a merchant and had a huge impact on the economic development of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. His business interests included merchandise, horse breeding, the hemp industry and banking and finance. He amassed a fortune yet was an devoted family man and humanitarian.

A stain on an otherwise remarkable life is the fact that he was a slaveholder and participated in the slave trade for a short period of time.

Like many books in the Kentucky Bicentennial Bookshelf series, this book is a brief yet thorough overview of the subject's life. It is well written and I enjoyed learning about John Wesley Hunt.