John Hawkins Rountree (March 24, 1805 – June 27, 1890) was an American farmer, businessman, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer.

[1][2] Born in Warren County, Kentucky,[1] Rountree moved north in 1824 to Hillsboro, Illinois,[1] where he served as deputy sheriff.

In 1827, he continued north into the Michigan Territory to seek economic opportunity in the lead mining region in the area that is now southern Wisconsin.

In 1829 he was appointed the first postmaster for the village and helped organize Platteville's Methodist Episcopal congregation, and in 1836 he established the first sawmill and built the first hotel.

He was a captain of the militia during the Black Hawk War of 1832,[1] and was involved with Col. Henry Dodge's negotiations attempting to keep the Winnebago from allying with the Sauk.

[3] He served on the Council (equivalent to a Senate) from the newly created Grant County in the Second through Fourth Wisconsin Territorial Legislatures (1838–1846)[7] and as a delegate to the 1847-1848 Wisconsin State Constitutional Convention from Grant County (where he is recorded as insisting that a strong uniformity clause was "a matter of very great importance".

In 1863, he was elected as a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 1st Grant County district (Towns of Hazle Green, Smeltzer and Plattville) to succeed William Brandon, after a contested election result initially awarded the seat to Democrat John Harms; at that time, he characterized his profession as "farmer.