John Hunn (governor)

John Hunn (* June 29, 1849 in Middletown, Delaware; † 1 September 1926 in Camden, Delaware ) was an American politician and 1901-1905 Governor of the State of Delaware.

Early years

John Hunn was born into a family that the movement of refugees escaped slaves from the southern states actively supported the eve of the American Civil War, which was a criminal offense at the time. On one occasion his father was charged with a heavy fine, after his farm had to be auctioned. Young John attended a Quaker school in Camden and Bordentown New Jersey Institute. Then he accompanied his father to South Carolina, where this in Magnolia and Port Royal in the so-called Freedmen Bureau oversaw the former slaves and helped them to adjust to their new life.

Political rise

In 1876, John Hunn returned to Delaware, where he settled in Camden. In neighboring Wyoming, he operated a fruit, grain and wood. Politically, he was a member of the Republican Party. By 1900 he had held no public office. In the period before the turn of the century made ​​it his party to gain a foothold in Delaware. The first decades after the Civil War, she played no role there, but in the 1890s began a rapid recovery, which was partly due to a sponsor from Philadelphia and tear in the Democratic Party. In 1894 a Republican was elected governor with Joshua H. Marvil first time. In 1900, John Hunn was nominated for their top candidate and elected on November 6 of that year, with 53% of the vote to Democrat Peter J. Ford as the new governor of his state. This election was a signal for the next 36 years in Delaware. In 1936, a Democrat was elected governor with Richard C. McMullen again.

Governor of Delaware

John Hunn took up his new post on 15 January 1901. He was the first governor who held office under the new constitution of 1897. He was also the first governor of Delaware, who had a lieutenant governor. This was Philip L. Cannon, the son of former Governor William Cannon. Under the new constitution, he also had a right of veto over the legislature. Under the Governor Hunn after the Civil War entered into force additions were finally 13-15 ratified the United States Constitution in Delaware. A dispute within his party led but to the fact that there were vacancies in the seizure of the U.S. Senators from Delaware. The seat of the Class 1 Senator was unoccupied 1899-1903 and the seat of the Class 2 Senators remained vacant from 1901 to 1903. It was not until 1903 both sites were then filled. Governor Hunn advocated for the inclusion of women in the Delaware College and received the first Governor of Delaware proposed to asphalt roads. Hunn also strove for nature conservation and public libraries.

Further CV

After the end of his term on January 17, 1905, he retired from politics. He devoted himself to his business interests and was a Vice President of Dover's First National Bank and Director of Dover's National Building and Loan Association. John Hunn died in 1926. Together with his wife Sarah Cowgill Emerson he had a daughter.