Representative John D. Hunter View All Years

HON. JOHN D. HUNTER.

MR. SPEAKER—Your committee, appointed to prepare a memorial to the memory of the late Hon. John D. Hunter, of Webster City, for two consecutive terms a member of the Iowa General Assembly, beg leave to respectfully submit the following:

John D. Hunter was born in Knoxville, Ohio, August 12, 1834. He was educated in the common schools and by attending an academy at Ashland, in his native State, for a single year. He entered his father’s printing office as an apprentice at the age of 16 years. At the age of 20 he undertook his first newspaper venture, establishing the Hoosier Banner, at Angola, Indiana. The venture was not a success and he returned to Ohio.

At the age of 19 Mr. Hunter was united in marriage with Miss Sarah A. Gates, at West Unity, Ohio. In 1856 he came to Iowa, crossing the Mississippi river in a ferry at Davenport. His first employment as a printer in Iowa was with the Marion Register. In the fall of 1856 he went to Eldora and secured a position with the Hardin County Sentinel, and in the spring of 1858 purchased a half interest in the paper. In the spring of 1861 he was appointed postmaster of Eldora by President Abraham Lincoln, and in the fall of 1862 was elected Treasurer of Hardin county, but resigned the office the following year, in order to accept a position in the military service, being in the commissary department. At the close of the War, he removed to Iowa Falls and in 1866 moved his family to Webster City, Hamilton county, where he resided until his death. For forty years he edited the Webster City Freeman. He represented his county in the Twelfth and Thirteenth General Assemblies of Iowa, being elected the first time in the fall of 1869. He was appointed postmaster by President Grant in 1876 and served three terms of four years each. He was appointed again by President Harrison in 1891 and served four years.

In 1899 the Webster City Freeman and the Webster City Tribune were consolidated under the name of the Webster City Freeman-Tribune company and Mr. Hunter was made president of the organization—a position he held until the day of his death.

John D. Hunter answered the final summons at 3:45, Tuesday morning, March 19, 1907.

Such in epitome is the story of John D. Hunter’s life. But those who knew him will not be content with so brief an outline as the professional biographer might be disposed to leave upon the records of the State. John D. Hunter came to Iowa when Iowa needed men of heroic mould. He had faith in her possibilities from the day that his eyes first looked across her fertile prairies. Here he was content to take his chances with the fickle goddess of fame and fortune. It was his ambition to build up a newspaper which should be welcomed in the homes of the territory which he sought to cover. Forty years of active newspaper work built up a loyal constituency and made him a leader, counsellor and trusted friend of a multitude of people. He enjoyed the respect and held the confidence of the leading men of the State. He was a partisan of the pronounced type but loyalty to country was a dominating principle of his life.

The last years of John D. Hunter’s life were years of pain. With more than Spartan fortitude he withstood the assaults of disease until the course of nature had been run and then entered into “that dreamless sleep.”

“His life was gentle, and the elements

So mixed in him that nature might stand up

And say to all the world, ‘This was a man.’ ”

Resolved, That the foregoing memorial be adopted by the House, and that it be entered upon the Journal, and an engrossed copy thereof be sent to the family of the deceased; and further that copies thereof be sent to the Webster City Freeman Tribune, the Webster City Journal, and the Webster City Graphic Herald.

Des Moines, Iowa, March 22, 1907.

WM. ANDERSON,

N. J. LEE,

PAUL E. STILLMAN,

Committee.

Adopted March 22, 1907.