David Hunt (October 22, 1779 – May 18, 1861) was an American planter based in the Natchez District of Mississippi who controlled 25 plantations, thousands of acres, and more than 1,000 slaves in the antebellum era. From New Jersey, he joined his uncle in Mississippi business. He became a major philanthropist in the South, contributing to educational institutions in Mississippi, as well as the American Colonization Society and Mississippi Colonization Society, the latter of which he was a founding member.