For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 665
WILLIAM S. HUNTER....The beneficial results of well applied industry are strikingly illustrated in the career of William S. Hunter, a prosperous citizen of Cedar township, Muscatine county, who is the owner of a fine farm of three hundred acres which he acquired through the application of an innate ability that never yielded to discouragement. A man of wide outlook and humane principles, he has contributed greatly to the comfort and happiness of those with whom he has associated and ranks today as one of the most influential members of the community. He was born at West Liberty, Muscatine county, Iowa, in 1861, and is a son of James and Eleanor Hunter, the former of Scotch and the latter of English descent. John Gordon Lane, his grandfather on the maternal side, was one of the early pioneers of Iowa. He settled on a farm a mile south of West Liberty and became one of the prominent men in that locality. The father of our subject was a carpenter by trade. There were six children in the family, the subject of this review being the next to the youngest in order of birth.The father of these children having been called away in 1865 when the son, William S. Hunter, was a child of four years, the latter became an inmate of the home of Aristarchus Cone, an old friend of the family, who lived on a farm in Cedar township, on which he settled in August 1837. He was a stock and grain farmer and a man of excellent qualities. Educated in the public schools, our subject early evinced a studious disposition and gave evidence of literary tastes that indicated a professional career as his natural vocation. However, on account of lung trouble, he was obliged to give up his studies and upon the advice of a physician devoted his attention to outdoor work, finally deciding to make farming his life pursuit. This he has done with marked success and he is now the owner of a beautiful place which he has brought to a high degree of cultivation, having devoted a great deal of time and attention to its improvemnet. He has no specialty but engages in general farming.
On the 9th of october, 1882, Mr. Hunter was united in marriage in Muscatine county to Miss Jessie S. Shellabarger, a daughter of J. M. Shellabarger. She traces her ancestry back as far as 1306 A. D. and it is believed that Mount Shallenberg, Switzerland, owes its name to this family. Four children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hunter : Zula Ruth, now Mrs. T. S. Holyoke, of Grinnell, Iowa ; Aristarchus C., now assisting his father upon the home farm, who attended the district school, then went to Grinnell College for two years and afterward took a course in the animal husbandry department of the State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa ; and Mary E. and Milton A., both of whom are attending school at Grinnell.
Mr. Hunter is strictly independent in his political views, working for measures and voting for men rather than party. He has never sought political preferment, but he has held the office of school director, filling the position in such a way as to meet the hearty approval of the people of the district. While favoring the Congregational church, he realizes that all churches are working for the accomplishment of the same purpose and therefore he worships with all Evangelical denominations. He is a stanch advocate of good roads, improved surroundings, better schools, Chautauqua associations and the maintenance of the church, being also one of the promoters of the first mutual telephone in his neighborhood. He has not used tobacco or liquor since arriving at manhood and has appropriated the approximate cost of the same in the purchase of books and papers, now receiving at his home an average of ten papers and magazines regularly. He has a large and assorted library which contains the best class of literature. One of his diversions is the collection of old relics and souvenirs. He now has a powder horn which was carried by the early frontiersman, a collection of canes, a foot warmer used by women when stoves were not allowed in the churches, and many other curiosities. Mr. Hunter is of pronounced social characteristics and is never happier than when he is in the midst of his family or dispensing generous hospitality to friends. A progressive and public-spirited citizen, he assists in all worthy movements which have for their purpose the promotion of the permanent interests of the neighborhood.
Back to Biographical Index Page