John Newton Hungerford (December 31, 1825 – April 2, 1883) was an American banker, philanthropist, and politician who served one term as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1877 to 1879.

[4] Although John did not remember his father growing up, Lot did imprint upon the family an appreciation for thrift and industriousness, leaving them with his "good and honored name.

[7] John married again on October 18, 1881, in Corning to Mrs. Susan Medora Forrester at the home of his friend and ill-fated attorney Absalom Hadden.

[11] Extremely bright, Hungerford excelled in English, Latin and Greek grammar, which gave him a solid foundation for a liberal arts education.

[16] Both Payson and Sextus were members of the fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi, founded by Hamilton Class of 1832 alumnus Samuel Eells.

Congressman, Orville Hungerford of Watertown, New York, sent his son, Richard Esselstyne to join the Hamilton College Class of 1844.

While John lived with his older brother in Westfield, New York, the Hungerfords became close with the family of local Presbyterian minister, Reuben Tinker, previously a missionary in Honolulu, the capital of the future state of Hawaii.

"[22] In a journal entry on Friday, August 20, 1852, Tinker recorded: "Mother made John Hungerford the present of an apple for which he seemed very thankful.

[28] In 1872, Hungerford was elected president of the South Steuben County, New York auxiliary chapter of the American Bible Society.

Hungerford was appointed to the Board of Commissioners (Presbytery of Steuben), which hired and helped set salaries for the professors at the Seminary.

[34] John replicated this arrangement by working with his brother-in-law George W. Couch in Oriskany Falls, Oneida County, New York from 1846 to 1848.

[40] After graduation, he read law for two years with a Buffalo attorney and then formed a partnership, Waters & Patterson, that made tools such as shovels and hoes.

[41] Manufacturing was a tough and grimy business in comparison to banking, where you spent most of the day at a desk counting currency and calculating figures.

In April 1859, Hungerford wanted to show the community that he was successful on his own so he bought a beautiful home lacking ostentation on 54 West First Street in Corning, New York.

By now Patterson realized he was going to jail and appealed his conviction, which was overturned and then the remaining charges were dropped in light of the fact that he would be able to pay back 60 cents on the dollar to his creditors.

His approach to making money was described by Professor Edward North at Hamilton College as follows: "In business ventures Mr. Hungerford was so cautious and conservative that his friends sometimes thought him not fully awake to the largest opportunities.

He was also appointed to a committee in Corning to raise funds to help support families whose sons enlisted in the Union forces during the Civil War.

[63] John Newton Hungerford was an avid member of the late President Lincoln's political party, serving four years as the Chairman of the Steuben County Republican Committee.

In his speech, he called for a stable currency in which bank notes should only be redeemed for a set amount of gold or silver as determined at the international level.

That said, he informed the chamber as follows: "What this country needs to-day is men in public as well as private station, who will not yield to every popular clamor but stand firmly and fearlessly for an honest currency be it silver, gold or paper, so that individual rights and national obligations may be preserved and maintained.

According to the 1865 New York Census, he had a boarder, William Haggerty stay in his house, which offset the cost of the household servant, Ellen McCarty.

[67] Furthermore, the census showed that he owned a 450-acre farm, valued at $7,000.00, yielding, meat, apples, wheat, butter, milk, and other foodstuffs that ended up in the Hungerford kitchen or at market.

Hungerford cherished his years at Hamilton College so much that he donated between $10,000 and $40,000 in 1872, according to contemporary sources, which was used to renovate and improve the South Hall building on campus.

[71] In 1878, he sat on the committee that decided which students at Hamilton would be awarded the McKinney Prizes in Extemporaneous Debate based on the question: "Is Education preferable to Property as a Qualification for the Right of Suffrage in the United States?"

[75] The more entrepreneurial members of the Hungerford family at that time strongly believed in giving back to the community by donating money to worthy causes.

Although he did not attend Hamilton College, General Solon Dexter Hungerford, a second cousin to John, established a scholarship fund there that was valued at $1,000.00 in 1881.

[77] (Hamilton College's president at the time, Samuel Ware Fisher, D.D., LL.D., 1858–66, attended the September 7, 1864 inauguration ceremonies of Hungerford Collegiate Institute.

[83] As her husband's health declined in his final days, Susan Aber Hungeford, John's second wife, became ill while pondering widowhood again.

[64] John was interred in the Glenwood Cemetery, in Watkins Glen, New York next to his first wife, Mary W. Gansevoort, and some of her family members.

[85] The settlement of the estate of John Newton Hungerford was a messy affair which caused one of his executors—Absalom Hadden, Esq.—to eventually commit suicide on October 7, 1889.