Born in Vernon in the Vermont Republic, Hunt graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1807.

[17] She was part of the New England Dwight family which was heavily involved in the shipping business and in the purchase of the Western Reserve.

Jane's father, Thaddeus Leavitt, was a successful merchant whose clipper ships traded with the West Indies.

He invented an early cotton gin and was one of the principal purchasers of the Western Reserve lands in Ohio.

[19][20] Following Hunt's death, his wife took their children to Geneva, Paris and Rome for an extended Grand Tour that stretched into a dozen years.

The Hunt children were able to study the arts in European academies and become part of an American expatriate community in Europe.