A.V. Hunter
Although a private and humble man, A.V. Hunter has left a legacy for Colorado through both his business successes and his enduring charitable trust.
Absalom Valentine Hunter was born in Missouri in 1846. In the early 1870s, Hunter came to Colorado and started in the livestock business in Colorado Springs. At age 24, he began his banking career as a cashier at the Peoples Bank. In 1877, he married Estelle McFerran, the daughter of Judge and Mrs. James H.M. McFerran who built the Peoples Bank in Colorado Springs.
In 1879, when the wealth from huge silver strikes in Leadville began to fire the imagination of the nation, Hunter and George W. Trimble, who had married a sister of Mrs. Hunter, moved to Leadville and established the Miners Exchange Bank and later the Carbonate National Bank. This bank grew and had the reputation of one of the strongest and wealthiest establishments in Colorado. These banks were known in Colorado for the high ratio of cash to deposits which Hunter always maintained, and were among the few banks about which there was never a suspicion of instability.
The Hunter fortune grew substantially out of the fabulously rich depths of several Leadville mines that produced silver, lead, copper and gold.
In 1911, at age 65, Hunter and his wife moved to Denver and left their Leadville home, which was regarded as the finest and most tasteful one in town – filled with rare objects of art and paintings. Hunter’s move was to assume the presidency of First National Bank. A.V. Hunter was a scrupulous man of business, honorable, direct and meticulous. For years after they moved to Denver, the Hunters lived at the Brown Palace Hotel where they occupied a suite of eight rooms, housing many of the precious art objects they had brought from their Leadville home.
Hunter died in August 1924, at age 78, leaving half his fortune to the established A.V. Hunter Charitable Trust, later incorporated as the A.V. Hunter Trust Inc. Hunter left specific instructions in regard to the disposition of his estate and the causes for which he wanted his trust to be used. The targeted causes – children, aged persons, and indigent adults – are just as important today as they were more than 80 years ago when Hunter penned the original documents.
Since their inception, the trusts have made grant distributions of more than $45 million to charitable projects located in the state of Colorado, giving direct assistance to children, aged persons, or indigent adults, as designated by A.V. Hunter and carried out by the Board of Trustees.
Absalom Valentine Hunter was born in Missouri in 1846. In the early 1870s, Hunter came to Colorado and started in the livestock business in Colorado Springs. At age 24, he began his banking career as a cashier at the Peoples Bank. In 1877, he married Estelle McFerran, the daughter of Judge and Mrs. James H.M. McFerran who built the Peoples Bank in Colorado Springs.
In 1879, when the wealth from huge silver strikes in Leadville began to fire the imagination of the nation, Hunter and George W. Trimble, who had married a sister of Mrs. Hunter, moved to Leadville and established the Miners Exchange Bank and later the Carbonate National Bank. This bank grew and had the reputation of one of the strongest and wealthiest establishments in Colorado. These banks were known in Colorado for the high ratio of cash to deposits which Hunter always maintained, and were among the few banks about which there was never a suspicion of instability.
The Hunter fortune grew substantially out of the fabulously rich depths of several Leadville mines that produced silver, lead, copper and gold.
In 1911, at age 65, Hunter and his wife moved to Denver and left their Leadville home, which was regarded as the finest and most tasteful one in town – filled with rare objects of art and paintings. Hunter’s move was to assume the presidency of First National Bank. A.V. Hunter was a scrupulous man of business, honorable, direct and meticulous. For years after they moved to Denver, the Hunters lived at the Brown Palace Hotel where they occupied a suite of eight rooms, housing many of the precious art objects they had brought from their Leadville home.
Hunter died in August 1924, at age 78, leaving half his fortune to the established A.V. Hunter Charitable Trust, later incorporated as the A.V. Hunter Trust Inc. Hunter left specific instructions in regard to the disposition of his estate and the causes for which he wanted his trust to be used. The targeted causes – children, aged persons, and indigent adults – are just as important today as they were more than 80 years ago when Hunter penned the original documents.
Since their inception, the trusts have made grant distributions of more than $45 million to charitable projects located in the state of Colorado, giving direct assistance to children, aged persons, or indigent adults, as designated by A.V. Hunter and carried out by the Board of Trustees.
