From 1832: Lexington voters, you now may choose your mayor and council members directly
Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history - some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
Jan. 12, 1832: The city of Lexington is incorporated and moves from a trustee form of government to a mayor/council form of government where officials are elected instead of appointed by their predecessor.
The nearly 6,000 residents voted Charlton Hunt into office as mayor, along with four council members representing the four different wards of the city.
Hunt was the son of John Wesley Hunt, America’s first millionaire west of the Alleghenies. He is widely acknowledged as having established the first school in Lexington.
The school opened in 1834 on the corner of Short and Walnut streets and was later named the Morton School after William “Lord” Morton, a wealthy merchant in Lexington. It is now Morton Middle School on Tates Creek Road.
Hunt was sworn in as mayor along with “Messrs. Richard Higgins, Stephen Chipley, Robt. S. Todd, Wm. A. Levy, Richard Ashton, David Wagoman, Thos. P. Hart, Thos. M. Hickey, Luther Stephens, Leslie Combs, John Brand, and Benjamin Gratz” as councilmen, according to the Louisville Courier Journal on Jan. 14, 1832.
Hunt died in 1836, at the age of 35, of scarlet fever. He is buried in the Lexington Cemetery.
A news report of his passing in the Louisville Daily Journal noted - “Mr. Hunt was a valuable member of society, and his death has thrown a deep gloom over Lexington.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
