Santa
Clara County
Biographies
ROCKWELL
D. HUNT, A. M., Ph. D.
A man of marked intellectual vigor
and force, liberally educated, and the possessor of great literary ability,
Rockwell D. Hunt, A. M., Ph. D., principal of the San Jose High School, is
prominently identified with the foremost educators of the Pacific coast, and is
considered an authority on all historical questions, and on economics. A native
of California, he was born February 3, 1868, in Sacramento, a son of Dennis
Rockwell Hunt. He comes of English ancestry, and is the descendant of an old
New England family, his grandfather, Albinus Hunt, having been born in Vermont,
from whence he removed to Hamilton, Madison county, N. Y., where he spent his
last years as a farmer.
Born in Vermont in 1820, Dennis
Rockwell Hunt grew to manhood on the parental farm in New York state. Coming by way of Panama to California in 1850, he was
among the first to mine on the American river. Subsequently buying land on the Consumne (sic) river, in Sacramento county, he was there
engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1867, when he established himself as a
general merchant in Sacramento. Purchasing five hundred acres of land in
Freeport, on the Sacramento river, in 1868, he was
there employed in farming and stock-raising until 1877, when, that his children
might have better educational advantages, he spent three years in Napa. Going
back to his ranch in 1880 he continued farming for three years and then
returned to Napa, where he lived until 1897. Now, a hale and hearty man of four
score and four years, he lives retired from active pursuits, in Sacramento. He
is a Republican in politics, and for a number of years served as school
trustee. He married Mrs. Nancy Ann (Zumwalt) Cotton,
who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Jacob Zumwalt,
and widow of Alexander Cotton. She started for California in 1854, with her
father and husband and their two small sons, crossing the plains with ox teams.
Mr. Cotton died on the way, in the Sierra Nevadas, (sic)
and she continued the journey with her father, and lived in Sacramento until
her marriage with Mr. Hunt. She died April 2, 1904. Of her union with her
second husband, five children were born, namely: Major Clarence, representing
Sherman & Clay, in Seattle, Wash.; Frank Linn, a farmer, on the old
homestead; Mark Twain, owning a part of the home farm, is also engaged in
agricultural pursuits; Rockwell D., the subject of this sketch; and George
Grant, of Sacramento county, a speculator and promoter.
Brought up in Sacramento and Napa
counties, Rockwell D. Hunt attended the district schools until his entrance to
Napa College, from which he was graduated in 1890, with the degree of Ph. B.
Taking a post graduate course in the same institution, he received the degree
of A. M. in 1892, having previously in January of that year, been graduated from
the California School of Elocution and Oratory, in San Francisco, of which W.
T. Ross was president. From 1891 until 1893, Professor Hunt held the chair of
History and Oratory in Napa College. Going then to Baltimore, Md., he studied
history, economics and philosophy for two years, in the Johns Hopkins
University, Dr. Herbert B. Adams being his major professor, and there, in June
1895, he was honored with the degree of Ph. D. Returning then to California,
Professor Hunt accepted a position as one of the faculty of the University of
the Pacific, for seven years being professor of History and Political Science.
In 1902, resigning his professorship, he was elected principal of the San Jose
High School, with which he has since been connected. Under his management the
standard of the school has been raised and its scope of work enlarged, its
attendance being increased ten per cent the first year, and an equal amount the
second year. In addition to having the entire charge of the school, the
Professor teaches American History and Civics in the senior class.
Professor Hunt is a most forcible
writer, and has contributed to the Annals
of the American Academy of Social and Political Science, to the Methodist Review, the Overland Monthly, and to various state
and local papers. His thesis at the Johns Hopkins University was published in
the University Studies, his subject being “The Genesis of
California’s First Constitution.” He is an interesting and talented speaker,
and has given lectures at the Leland Stanford Jr. University, and at the
Pacific Grove Chautauqua Assembly, lecturing on “The Pacific Slope History,”
and on “European History.” He is a member of the State Teachers’ Association,
and of the American Historical Association.
In Oakdale, Stanislaus county, Cal., Professor Hunt married Nancy Stuart, who was
born in Solano county, Cal., and was educated at Napa College. Three children
have been born of their union, namely: Paul Adams, Lloyd Freeman and Rockwell
D., Jr. The Professor and Mrs. Hunt have a very pleasant home on Myrtle street, near Emory street, College Park. The Professor is an
active member of the College Park Methodist Episcopal Church, and is one of its
Board of Trustees. He has been prominent in local and state work of the Epworth League,
and is an ex-president of the San Francisco District.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
431-432. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.