Thomas Franklin Hunt was born on July 15, 1841, to Captain Thomas and Elizabeth (Cook) Hunt of Salem, Massachusetts. Captain Hunt lived in China for many years to work with his firm Thomas Hunt and Company; his partners were his brother-in-law, James P. Cook, and James Endicott. He eventually sold the firm to Cook. Captain Hunt owned many ships while he lived in China; one was used as a store ship, one served as a residence for the Hunt family and as a ship chandlery, while the other ships transported cargo.

Thomas Franklin Hunt moved with his mother to Whampoa, China, at the age of seven to join his father; they lived there for five years. Thomas returned to China in 1859, and spent three years in Hong Kong; he would return to China for the last time in 1864, on board the China, the first steamer to make the voyage from California to Asia. He then worked for the law office of Stephen H. Phillips and James A. Gills and was admitted to the Essex bar in 1866. In 1867, Thomas first became involved with the Essex Institute and was one of the originators and promoters of a series of art exhibits which began in 1873. He was a collector of books and manuals on art, painting, architecture, and sculpture—all of which he gave to the library of the Essex Institute. Additionally, he arranged an exhibition to illustrate the periods of colonial New England and donated 600 books about China to the Institute as well.

He was a member of the Salem East India Marine Society, a trustee of the Plummer Farm School, manager of the Home for Aged and Destitute Women, trustee of the Salem Athenaeum, and trustee of the Salem Public Library. Thomas was also elected as a trustee of the Peabody Academy of Science in November 1897, but he died before he had a chance to participate.

Thomas never married and died January 21, 1898.