Hezekiah Hunter

Hezekiah Hamilton Hunter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's Charleston County district
In office
1870–1872
Personal details
Born1837
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died1894 (aged 56–57)
Occupationteacher, minister, politician

Hezekiah Hamilton Hunter (1837 – 1894) was an American teacher, minister and politician. He was an African-American politician during the Reconstruction Era and served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1870 to 1872.[1]

Biography

Hunter was born in 1837 in Brooklyn, New York; he was of mixed African and European ancestry and was born free.[2] He was sent to the southern United States as a Presbyterian minister in 1865 by the American Missionary Association to teach and minister.[2] Hunter represented Charleston County, South Carolina, in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1870 to 1872.[2]

He wrote to United States president Ulysses S. Grant in support of a proclamation of martial law in South Carolina counties with Ku Klux Klan activity. He compared murdered president Abraham Lincoln to Moses and Grant to Joshua, calling on him in the future as in the past to protect "all wherever the Starry Banner Floats" and to stop the Klan from making the "night hideous with the cries of poor women and children" pleading for their own lives and those of their natural protectors; — their fathers sons and husbands."[3] Hunter protested the Enterprise Railroad over concerns on its impact on the employment prospects of draymen.[4][5]

The 1870 census recorded him owning $3,650 in real estate and $230 in personal property.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Holt, Thomas (1979). Black Over White: Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina During Reconstruction. University of Illinois Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-252-00775-0.
  2. ^ a b c d Foner, Eric (1996-08-01). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. LSU Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8071-2082-8.
  3. ^ Grant, Ulysses Simpson (October 29, 1998). The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: June 1, 1871-January 31, 1872. SIU Press. ISBN 9780809321988 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Marrs, Aaron W. (May 17, 2016). "Enterprise Railroad". South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina.
  5. ^ Powers, Bernard E. (1999-08-01). Black Charlestonians: A Social History, 1822-1885. University of Arkansas Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-55728-583-6.