The Hunter Family
Abingdon Plantation
After the Stuarts moved from Abingdon in 1793, the Alexander family once again owned the plantation. Robert Alexander III’s son, Walter, leased Abingdon to several families over the years. In 1807, he advertised the Abingdon estate for sale, ending six generations of ownership by the Alexander family.
The Wise family leased the property from 1808 to 1835. It is reported that the family witnessed the burning of the Capital by British troops while living at Abingdon during the war of 1812.
Alexander Hunter bought Abingdon in 1835. As a U.S. Marshal for Washington D.C., Hunter was a friend of Presidents Polk, Tyler and Jackson, who each visited Abingdon. He died in 1849, entrusting the land to his brother Bushrod Washington Hunter, until Bushrod’s son, also named Alexander Hunter, came of age.
In 1861, Bushrod and Alexander Hunter left Abingdon to join the Confederate army during the Civil War. During their absence, a New Jersey regiment of the Union army occupied Abingdon Plantation, calling it “Camp Princeton.” The Federal government confiscated Abingdon under tax laws enacted to finance the war and sold the property at auction.
After Alexander Hunter returned from the Civil War, he sued the Federal government for his land. Future President James A. Garfield argued his case before the Supreme Court, which ruled in Hunter’s favor and restored Abingdon to him.
Alexander Hunter advertised Abingdon for sale in 1881. A real estate pamphlet described Abingdon as a prime piece of real estate whose value would increase due to its proximity to the growing capital city.
Courtesy hmdb.org
