In 1799, he married Elizabeth Desbrosses (d. 1831), a daughter of Elizabeth ( Butler) Desbrosses and
James Desbrosses, considered to have been the wealthiest man in New York. Following her father's death, Elizabeth and her sister Charlotte (wife of Henry Overing) divided the 60,000 acres their father had acquired from the 2,000,000 acre
Hardenburgh Patent. Before her death in February 1831, John and Elizabeth were the parents of: • Elias Desbrosses Hunter (1800–1865), who married Anna Maria Munro, a daughter of Margaret ( White) Munro (a granddaughter of
Frederick Van Cortlandt) and diplomat
Peter Jay Munro of
Manor Park (who was a nephew of
John Jay), in 1832.
Art collection During his lifetime, Hunter amassed a substantial art collection that was considered "the nation's finest private collection of old master art." After Hunter's death and the death of his son Elias, the family gathered his "extensive collection of ancient and modern pictures removed from his gallery and residence at Hunter's Island" and offered the art for sale at an auction administered by Henry H. Leeds & Miner, Auctioneers in January 1866. who inherited Hunter's Island and sold it to former mayor
Ambrose Kingsland in 1866 for $127,501. John Hunter III married Annie Manigault Middleton of
Middleton Place,
Charleston, South Carolina. ==References==