WARREN HUNTER, M. D

A successful physician and surgeon of Hampton , Illinois , traces his ancestry back to one of the most honored and distin­ guished families of Scotland , whose early home was near the city of Ayr . in 1656, however, John Hunter, his great-great­ grandfather, removed to the North of Ireland, settling in County Londonderry, where he built a large stone mansion, which is still in the possession of some of his descendants. It is located in the town of Ballygruba and descended to the Doctor's great­ grandfather, Henry Hunter, who, like the other members of the family, was extensively engaged in the manufacture of linen. He married Miss Nancy Kennedy, whose family had lived near the Hunters in Scotland , and had come to Ireland at the same time and settled in the same town.

Henry Hunter was the youngest of three sons, the others being John and Matthew. The oldest had a son, also named John, who with his uncle Matthew came to America and located on a farm in South Carolina . He became a member of the continental congress, was judge of the supreme court of South Carolina , and was a wealthy planter of that state. One of his brothers crossed the Atlantic at the same time and took up his res in Boston, Massachusetts. His sis­ ter Nuncy married John Kennedy, of Bally- gruba, Ireland, and is the; Miss Nancy Hunter who won the prize and diploma of­ fered by the Royal Musical Society of Edin- burg for the bent singer in the kingdom.

Henry Hunter, the Doctor's great-grand­ father, was born in 1725, and before the French and Indian war came to America, where he engaged in business with his nephew, Henry, in Boston. On his vessel, the former carried soldiers to Quebec at the time it was captured by General Wolfe. Under the old elm on Boston common, he was married to Miss Sarah Wyer, of Londonderry, Ireland, who died four years later and was buried in the cemetery there. In 1760 he was again married to a lady by the name of Wyer, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, and later located in Bristol, Maine.

His vessel was at one time captured by a British fleet, but as the commander was an old schoolmate of Captain Hunter's in the north of Ireland, he gave back the vessel and also gave him a paper which prevented its recapture. The Captain had a family of six sons and two daughters, among whom were John, James and David, who became residents of Strong, Franklin county, Maine,

The last named, David Hunter, was the Doctor's grandfather, and was the founder of the old homestead an Strong, Maine, known as Maple Wood Farm, where he died May 7, 1871, at the advanced age of ninety-eight years, his birth having occurred in 1773. In 1796 he married Eleanor Fossett,of Bristol, Maine, and she survived him for a time, dying at the age of ninety-four.

From the earliest period the Hunter family has been eminent, upright and been strict adherents of the old Scotch Covenan ter faith. They were Puritans, believing and living up to the principles of liberty of conscience, and were ready to meet every call of duty. The successes of Cromwell was what led them to leave their old home in Scotland and go to Ireland, and the in­ fluence of a pious ancestry shone through the life of David Hunter, who, like Jacob of old, emigrated to a new country with scarcely more than a staff in his hand. He was a frugal, hard working man, and during his boyhood when on trips to Boston with his father, he would save the seeds of the fruit bought to eat and would plant them on his return home. He lived to enjoy the fruit raised in this way. From the virgin forests he hewed out a home, built, the first frame house in Strong, and owned the first carriage ever taken to that place.

He became one of the original members of the Congregational church there and always took an active part in all church work. He was survived by over seventy descendants, not one of whom used intoxicants or tobacco in any form.Dr. Hunter, of this review, was born in Strong township, Franklin county, Maine, October 18, 1833, and is a son of David F. and Lydia A. (Belcher) Hunter, also natives of the Pine Tree state. The father was born on Maple Wood farm, in 1802, was educated in the common schools, and throughout life followed agricultural pursuits, owning a farm about a mile west of the old homestead. His place is also in the possession of the family. Originally he was an old-line Whig in politics, later became a Republican, and was a Congregationalist in religious belief. In early life he was captain in the state militia and held various local offices. He survived his wife for several years, but both are now deceased

This worthy couple became the parents of ten children, whom they provided with good educational privileges, thus well fitting them for the practical and responsible duties of life. Samuel Belcher, the oldest, is a graduate of the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, and is successfully engaged in practice in Machias, Maine. In 1896 he was the honored president of the State Medical Association.

He is married and has two daughters: Sarah, who is a graduate of the Woman's Medical College, and is now associated with her father in practice; and Anna, at home. Our subject is the second of the family. Eliza A. is the wife of Albert Stoddard, of Hampton, Illiniois. Rose A. is the wife of Alden J. Blither, of Seattle, Washington, and has four children. Evelina B. married John Harvey Conant and lives in Strong, Maine, adjoining the old homestead. William Henry, who resides on his father's old farm, is married and has two children. Nellie is the wife of Otis M. Moore, of Seattle, Wash­ ington. David is married and is engaged in the printing business in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hiram Andrew, a farmer of Phillips, Maine, died leaving four children. Supply Belcher is married and carries on farming in the Pine Tree state, at Farmington.

Dr. Hunter, whose name introduces this sketch, attended the common schools and was later a student in the Fanningtori Academy, where he prepared for college. At the age of nineteen he left home and began leaching, which profession he followed for four years during the fall and winter, while in the spring he attended school. At the end of that time he obtained a position as clerk in a general store of Reuben Cutter in Farmington, Maine, and began the study of medicine with his brother, who was already engaged in practice at Steuben, Maine. In 1862 he was made assistant surgeon of the Sixteenth Maine Infantry, but was obliged to resign at the end of four months on account of physical disability. During his service he had discharged the duties of regimental surgeon and would have been promoted to that position had his health permitted.

In Steuben, he was married April 9, 1861,to Miss Harriet Melvina Toothacre, of Phillips, Maine, who died Saturday, May 31, 1884, leaving two children—Charles Warren, a graduate of Rush Medical College, who is married and is engaged in practice in Victoria, Knox county, Illinois; and Nettie R., at home with her father.

For one year after his return from the war, Dr. Hunter engaged in practice in Steuben, and in 1865 removed to Cherry-field, Maine, where he remained for five years. After a short time spent in Phillips, Maine, he returned to the old home in Strong, where he lived for ten years and in 1879 carne to Hampton, Illinois, where he soon succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice. For many years while a resident of Maine, he was a member of the board of pension examiners, and has also served as examiner for insurance societies, He is a member of the American, the State and the County Medical Association, and has held various offices in the same. Since the age of eighteen years the Doctor has been a faithful member of the Congregational church, is an earnest, conscientious Christian gentleman, and has been for many years trustee of his church. While living in Cherry field, Maine, he joined the Masonic order, the Blue Mountain Lodge; and is still a member of the fraternity.

He has filled all the offices in the United Workmen Lodge of Port Byron, and is a charier mem­ ber of Laurel Lodge, No. 30, M. W. A., in which he has also Siled all the chairs. In 1856 he supported General Fremont for the presidency and has since been an ardent Republican, has been a delegate to numerous conventions, but has never cared for official honors, preferring to devote his entire time and attention to his extensive practice. Constant study and close application to the details of his profession have made him one of the most prominent and successful physicians of Rock Island county, and as a gentleman he also occupies an enviable position in the regard of his fellow-citizens.

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