Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-03-21
WILLIAM HUNTER.
NAV hLUAy
Something Of His Early Life
In Ohio and Illinois.
~ = "I'|19 !" \
Not Written by His Father.

.M
Not Written by His Father.
aaNIslA illv-----------,A W iliAs "a
Our Jefferson street contemporary pub
fishes from one r.. @. Blake, Probate
Judge Of Mercer county, Ohio, sworn
statement relative to the character and
conduct Of our granny Hunter while the
old lady was a resident in that vicinity.
In the course Of his statement the writer
ssysi..f ...aaaa l,.ssa s.sl .-.sA.i +
b He (Hunter) came 10 Mercer county,
Ohio, iabout ths year le47. He pro-
iessed to be a Democrat, and acted with
that party. He gained the confidence Of
the people Of this county to such an ex-
tent that in 1851 they elected him Treas.
urer Of the county, and in 1858 he was
reelected Soon after his reelection
he was suspected Of being de-
faulter, and at the June session
Of the County Commissioners an
investigation, was had, and he was
found to be in arrears to the amount Of
six thousand one hundred and eight dol.
lars and seventy eight cents ($6, los 78).
This amount he left for his bail to pay.
He has never even offered to refund to
his bail any portion Of the amount paid
BY them for his defalcation. His bonds
men we're not only his political but per-
sonal friends. tisfl 3 ID -
Leaving Ohio after the little affair
alluded to above, il seems that Billy emf
grated to Illinois, and here again we hear
from him through the Cairo Democrat,
as follows.' !" Fi''''f'''l'''f''
William Hunter, like an old man Of
the sea, is on the, neck Of that people,
foisted there by that satire on humanity
developed in the person of the beastly
Brownlow, be- This man Hunter holds
official place in Memphis, and uses it to
wreak mean, personal and political
revenge, utterly regardless Of right, hon
esty, or the commonest decent impulses
of human nature. He is in office, not
by the voice of the people, for nine
tenths of the white population despise
him for tho doghc is-7bu, at the instance
Of the tyrant Governor of the State,
and through the favor of men and
negroes, almost as unprincipled as him
self.
AS criminal Judge, this man Hunter
seeks to hush the voice of the press in
Memphis, to stifle all criticism of his own
Infamous acts; to keep from the public
eye everything that might CRATE harshly
upon his own fiendish feelings, or irritate
the masters whom he serves in sbject
and despicable slavery. Editors have
been torn from their sanetums by him
and Imprisoned because they dared to
speak publicly of his low.lived villainy
and official corruption. Brownlows
police and militia are at his service, and
these he has used and will to enforce
his tyranpical and cowardly edicts.
A man who, % before high heaven cuts
such fantastic tricks" deserves q notice.
Who is he, and where did he come from ?
are legitimate questions.
All his life William Hunter was little
better than a vagabond. He never knew
what it is to be gentleman, and for that
reason never sought respectable asso-
Citations. He never studied law six con-
secutiye days in his life, and yet be
processes to be a lawyer; he never served
a months apprenticeship, yet he pro-
fesses to be a pattern maker" he
never read the Bible in his life, yet de-
nounces it as the rawlings of crazy
old fools, who ;fattened on the igno-
rance of their era. For years he was
a tramping music teacher, profess
ing to teach what he, himself, had never
been taught. He has shown himself a
success In nothing; failure in every
thing. We repeat that of which we have
been we'll assured, when we say that this
man, Hunter, forms q portion Of what is
known as the scum of humanity. He
cares no more for debt Of honor, or
pledges involving his character for hon
esty and veracity, than hog does for the
rules of etiquette. Time after time. he
was, through his own shiftlessness, at the
point of suffering in this city and Mound
City. Time. after time he has been fur
nished with means to appease his hun
ger; time after time he has borrowed
money from friends and neighbors,
promising faithfully to return it at
a given time; yet, for the food he re-.
turned ingratitude, and for the money
nothing. IS
1t is not slanSaripg the present Judge
Hunter, of Memphis, to say that, in
Cairo, he had the confidence of nobody.
That 10 few short months after locating
here be exhausted the little personal
credit almost ali strangers have, and
that he left e.city for, the city's good.
He owes hpndred5 of dollars in this
community, aud we have no doubt but
his paper might be purchased for
FIVE rents on sdollar, ~
Such man has assailed the liberty of
the pressl and be is foolish enough to
believe that he will silence it in Mem
p 5:si IL
Deluded creature he ISL As well
might he rail against the light of the
sun apd seek to dsrken that orb with his
pestiferous breath, as to seek to stliie the
voice of press that is crying aloud IN
the cause Of right, and sparing nothing
for the writhing of the wicked.
Planters wanting BOOTS, SHOES,
or the very latest style of HATS,
should call Mt the large and magnifi-
cent house of J. II. HANDLAN q CO.,
279 Main street, where they are SELL
ing UNDER COST. I
RELIGIOUS j. B. Taylor, DID,,
Corresponding Secretary of the Baptist
Eora;an Mission will nresent its claims