Hunt, Catharine, Mrs. Mortimer, died 1890

HUNT

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/1/2012 at 19:36:54

By the Paris Green Route

Last Friday night [April 25] Mrs. Mortimer Hunt, residing in West Branch township, swallowed a couple of pounds of potato-bug poison, commonly called "paris green" which wafted her soul into the great beyond where such things as poison are not known.

A couple of years ago Mrs. Hunt, it will be remembered, was very bitter in accusing her son-in-law, Wm. Lester, of murdering his wife. She instigated his arrest and subsequent trial and denounced him in court as well as on the street as a murderer. She didn't mince words about it either, and she then declared she would never know a minute's peace until she saw Lester hanging by the neck until dead. The trial of Lester proved him innocent beyond any doubt, of the grave crine, but Mrs. Hunt wasn't bound by courts or evidence. She was dead sure Lester was guilty and all the evidence, courts and witnesses in the world couldn't have budged her.

After she found that Lester couldn't be punished by law, she began talking of committing suicide. Rumor has it that she tried upon three different occasions to take her life, but The Democrat does not know how true this is. The first time she took too big a dose of bug poison and vomited it up. The second time she took just enough to make her very sick, and so last Friday she made the third and final attempt and took a medium dose, and it did the business in first-class shape. Some hours after the woman had died, Dr. Coad of Hull was summoned, but the only thing he could do was to notify the coroner. An inquest was held Sunday and resulted as described above.

Source: Alton Democrat, May 3, 1890.

* * * * * * * * * *

An article about testimony in the Lester murder case (Alton Democrat, April 21, 1888) provides the information that Mortimer Hunt's wife was Catharine Hunt; A. W. Lester's wife Mary was their daughter; the Hunts also had a 14-year-old daughter Lavinia; other relatives (presumably sons and daughters) were William Hunt and his wife Jenette, Anna Hunt and her brother Charles. Mortimer Hunt and family had resided in Sioux County over 7 years. An earlier news note (Alton Democrat, Feb. 25, 1888) refers to him as "one of Welcome Township's prosperous farmers."