John Hunter (South Carolina politician)

{{Short description|American politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = John Hunter

|jr/sr = United States Senator

|state = South Carolina

|term_start = December 8, 1796

|term_end = November 26, 1798

|predecessor = Pierce Butler

|successor = Charles Pinckney

|district2 = {{ushr|South Carolina|2|2nd}}

|state2 = South Carolina

|term_start2 = March 4, 1793

|term_end2 = March 3, 1795

|predecessor2 = Robert Barnwell

|successor2 = Wade Hampton I

|office3 = Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Laurens County

|term3 = January 3, 1791 – March 3, 1793

|predecessor3 = Constituency established

|successor3 = James Saxon

|office4 = Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Little River District

|term4 = January 3, 1785 – January 20, 1790

|birth_date = {{circa|{{birth year|1752}}}}

|birth_place = Province of South Carolina, British America

|death_date = {{death date and age|1802|12|30|1752}}

|death_place = Laurens District, South Carolina, U.S.

|party = Democratic-Republican

}}

John Hunter ({{circa|1752}}{{spnd}}December 30, 1802){{cite news|title=Death notice, John Hunter |newspaper=The Evening Post|date=February 1, 1803 |location=New York, NY|page=3}} was an American farmer from Newberry, South Carolina. He represented South Carolina in the U.S. House from 1793 until 1795 and in the United States Senate from 1796 to 1798.

Hunter was born in the Province of South Carolina around 1752, but his exact date of birth is not known. He was educated in South Carolina and became a plantation owner and operator near Newberry, South Carolina. He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1786 to 1792, and was a Federalist presidential elector in 1792.

In 1792 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He served in the 3rd Congress, March 4, 1793 to March 3, 1795. He was elected to the United States Senate as a Democratic-Republican, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of Pierce Butler; he served from December 8, 1796, to November 26, 1798, when he resigned. He previously ran for the other Senate seat in 1794, losing to state House speaker Jacob Read.{{Cite web |title=South Carolina 1794 U.S. Senate, Ballot 2 |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/tufts:sc.ussenate.second.1794 |access-date=January 30, 2018 |work=Tufts Digital Collations and Archives |series=A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825 |publisher=Tufts University}}, citing Rogers, George C. Evolution of a Federalist: William Loughton Smith of Charleston (1758-1812). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1962. 268.

After leaving the Senate, Hunter resumed operation of his plantations. He died on December 30, 1802, and was interred at Little River/Dominick Presbyterian Cemetery in Newberry County, South Carolina.