U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hunter, Edmund P. (1809-1854) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Aler's History of Martinsburg and Berkeley County, West Virginia by F. Vernon Aler, 1888 Printed for the Author by The Mail Publishing Company, Hagerstown, MD. CHAPTER VIII. Historical Pen Sketches of the Early Residents of Berkeley County by the late Hon. Chas. James Faulkner. Pages 190-193 COL. EDMUND P. HUNTER Was born in Martinsburg on the 24th of March, 1809, and after enjoying the advantages of a collegiate education at Jefferson College, was admitted to the Berkeley bar, in 1831. Shortly after wads he became the proprietor and editor of the Martinsburg Gazette, and continued as such until March 1845, when he was succeeded in the control and management of the paper by James E. Stewart, Esq. On the 2nd of August, 1832, he was married to Martha Crawford, daughter of Captain John Abell, an intelligent and highly esteemed farmer of Jefferson county. The author of this sketch participated in the ceremony, as first groomsman, and for some days enjoyed the kind hospitality of that charming and interesting family. This may be an appropriate occasion to notice very briefly the history of that venerable journal. It was established in 1801 by Nathaniel Willis, the father of the distinguished poet, N. P. Willis and then called the Berkeley Intelligencer. In 1803, he disposed of his interest in the paper to John Alburtis, who at first styled it the Berkeley and Jefferson Intelligencer, but a newspaper soon making its appearance in the recently formed County of Jefferson, its name was changed to the Martinsburg Gazette, which name it retained until the opening of our civil war, when its publication altogether ceased. It was under the control of John Alburtis from 1803 until 1823, of Washington Evans from 1823 until 1833, of Col. Edward P. Hunter, from 1833 to March, 1845; of James E. Stewart and subsequently of Stewart & Gregg, from March 1845 to March 1847. It then passed into the hands of Charles H. Lewis, and lastly under the control of A. T. Haupin, boasting, a continuous and prosperous existence of sixty years. In May 1832, he attended as a member the memorable "Young Men's Convention," in Washington city, upon which occasion Mr. Clay appeared before that body and electrified it with one of his most eloquent and stirring speeches. General Boyd having held the office of county attorney for forty years, resigned it at the March court, 1838, when an animated contest took place for the succession, between Edmund P. Hunter and David Holmes Conrad. The power of appointment was then vested in the county court, and the justices having been all summoned for the purpose, a full court was present. The contest excited unusual interest and for a time its result was deemed doubtful. But Hunter obtained a majority of the votes and was declared elected. It is unnecessary to say that he filled the office for many years, not only with ability, but with justice to the State and with judicious clemency to the accused. He enjoyed a high degree of popularity in the county, and was elected a member of the House of Delegates of Virginia, in 1834, 1835, 1839 and 1841. His course as a member of that body gave great satisfaction to his constituents, as it was uniformly marked by diligent attention to their local interests, and by a faithful expression in their sentiments on all the questions of State and national policy. He was Colonel of the 67th Regiment of Virginia militia and took a deep interest in all the details of its organization. When dressed in full military costume it would be difficult to find a more striking realization of imposing manhood than he presented. He was an ardent and enthusiastic member of the Masonic order, and worthily rose to the highest honors of the craft in Virginia. He was in the latter portion of his life a sincere and exemplary member of the Episcopal Church, and exhibited in his conduct, a thorough conviction of the truths of revealed religion. In September, 1854, the Asiatic cholera — that terrible pestilence "which walketh in darkness, and wasteth in noonday" — struck the affrighted population of Martinsburg. There are those amongst us yet, who can well remember the alarm and terror which its unwelcome appearance excited here. Hundreds fled from the place with precipitation. Many families whose wealth and means ought to have caused them to stand by their friends in their sad affliction, abandoned their homes for the mountains and cities. The carnage was that of a battle field. One hundred and eleven of our citizens fell victims to its fury. Among the first of those who perished was the lamented Colonel Edmund P. Hunter, who died on the 7th of September, 1854, in the 45th year of his age. Edmund P. Hunter was not endowed with any very high or extraordinary quality of intellect, but he possessed such a rare combination of excellent qualities, both moral and intellectual, as more than compensated for the want of any particular brilliancy of parts. He was a man of sense and of good judgment; lucid in his mental perceptions, and capable of expressing his convictions with clearness and force. Superior to all artifice himself, he was proof against the arts of sophistry and deception in others. He was a fair speaker and a sound and manly reasoner, and these, with his open-heartedness and honesty of character, made him always formidable at the bar. He had something of his father's fondness for broad humor and a joke, which occasionally flashed out in the trial of a case, but was more particularly observable in the social circle. All his impulses were kind and generous. His hospitality was proverbial. He was a stranger to envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. He was firm and steadfast in his friendship, and ever outspoken and candid in the expression of his opinions. I dare not penetrate the domestic sanctuary and speculate, to what extent, his loss must have agonized that sacred circle; but I can truly say, that his friends; and brethren of the bar have never ceased to lament the day that deprived them of his joyous presence and attractive companionship. The sweet remembrance of the just Shall flourish when he sleeps in dust. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Berkeley County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/berkeley/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------