Ransom Hunter

Ransom Hunter (March 14, 1825 – September 24, 1918) was an American businessman, landowner, community developer and philanthropist. He is believed to be the first freed slave to own property in Gaston County, North Carolina. Between 1874 and 1913, Hunter conducted thirty financial transaction land deeds with prominent society members of the post-Civil War South. Hunter amassed over 1,920 acres of land during a period when only 1% of Gaston County's black population owned their own farms. Hunter owned the land that is known today as downtown Mount Holly, North Carolina. rdf:langString