William H. Hunt
WILLIAM H. HUNT, president of the Cleveland Life Insurance Company, one of the notably successful insurance companies of the Middle West, is a striking example of a self-made successful American. He has been for many years prominent in business, civic and social affairs, and one of Cleveland’s most representative citizens.
William H. Hunt was born at Warren, Ohio, January 20, 1868, a son of William B. Hunt, of English ancestry, and of Rebecca Myers Hunt, of Dutch ancestry. Mr. Hunt attended the public schools of Warren and Akron, Ohio, entering The First National Bank of Akron when twelve years of age, remaining there eleven years. In 1889, at the age of twenty-one, he was made secretary of the old Akron Gas Company. In 1890, he became general manager and secretary of The American Alumina Company, a corporation with a capital of $500,000, and shortly thereafter, assumed in connection therewith the position of Secretary and treasurer of the Akron Vitrified Press Brick Company. While a resident of Akron he was interested in many enterprises, and successful in all of his undertakings. Notwithstanding Mr. Hunt’s natural inclination for the banking business, he assumed the general management of the brick company in 1893, as his chief occupation. His company shortly became a part of The Hydraulic Press Brick Company, which subsequently developed into a $10,000,000 corporation, the largest concern of its kind in the world, and of which he became a vice president and manager, which position he held until June 1, 1909, when he resigned to accept the presidency of The Cleveland Life Insurance Company. The Cleveland Life Insurance Company was organized in 1907. Its board of directors is composed of some of the most successful business men of Northern Ohio. Great strides have been made and the company has under its present administration taken its place as one of the notably successful life insurance companies of the country.
Mr. Hunt is one of Cleveland’s most philanthropic citizens, giving freely of both time and money towards work of this character. He is a trustee of Hiram House, and takes great interest in settlement and social work. With his intimate associate, Mr. F. F. Prentiss, he was one of the principal organizers of Saint Luke’s Hospital, one of the most up-to-date and complete hospitals of the United States, of which he is treasurer and one of the trustees. Mr. Hunt is also a trustee of the Workingman’s Collateral Loan Society, an institution which has been a great help to the poor people of the city. He is a life member of the Associated Charities. His practical philanthropy has been spread in all directions, and always where it will do the most good. He was for four years president of The Cleveland Builders Exchange, an institution which is stamped with his genius for organizing ability. He has been always foremost in developing and advancing civic art, and his refining influence has assisted largely in beautifying his home city. He was one of the organizers of the Civic Federation and served as its vice president. He was one of the original group of men active in a national movement seeking to rehabilitate American merchant ships upon the high seas, he having been formerly one of the trustees of the American Merchant Marine League. His name is known to clay workers throughout the country, having served as president of the National Brick Manufacturers’ Association, and as president of The Ohio Face Brick Manufacturers’ Association.
Mr. Hunt has been an active member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the leading clubs of the city, which include the Union, Rowfant, Athletic, Mayfield, Country and Tippecanoe.
Mr. Hunt is known by all his acquaintances as a prodigious worker, yet carrying his many interests with characteristic equanimity. His natural optimism is always in evidence, his cheerful and hopeful disposition is appreciated by associates in the various organizations with which he is identified. Few men active in business have traveled as extensively as Mr. Hunt. All parts of the world have been visited in his travels and his collection of curios is extensive. He has one of the largest private collections of photographs in the country, comprising over 10,000 pictures of art and architectural subjects from Oriental and European countries. He has also made a novel collection of clay products, some of his specimens dating back thousands of years.
At Akron, Ohio, October 12, 1912, Mr. Hunt married May Fairchild Sanford, daughter of the late Hon. Henry C. Sanford. Mrs. Hunt is a highly educated and accomplished woman, studied art in schools of New York City and Cleveland, and many of her sketches have received high praise from discriminating critics.
From Cleveland - Special Limited Edition, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York, 1918 v.1