William Hunter was an American politician and diplomat.
Background
Hunter was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1774. His father was Dr. William Hunter, a Scotch physician, who having avowed himself a follower of the illstarred Prince Charles, the Pretender, found it discreet to leave Scotland after the disaster of Culloden. He came to Newport about 1752 and was evidently at once well received in that prosperous community. He delivered a series of lectures on anatomy there in 1756. In 1761 he married Deborah, daughter of Godfrey Malbone, a wealthy merchant in the town, and William was the youngest of their six children.
Education
He received his preliminary education under Robert Rogers, who conducted a wellknown classical school in Newport. From this school he entered Rhode Island College (later Brown University), from which he was graduated with honor in 1791, when not quite seventeen years old.
It had been planned that he should follow his father's profession, and he was sent to England to study under a cousin, the celebrated Dr. John Hunter. Medicine, however, made no especial appeal to the young man, and he soon turned his attention to the law. His immediate supervisor was Arthur Murphy, a famous classical scholar of the day. Through him, young Hunter was able to hear and meet some of England's greatest orators – Burke, Pitt, and Fox.
Career
He returned to America after his studing in England in 1793 and after further study was admitted to the bar in 1795. His abilities were promptly recognized. In 1799 he was sent to the General Assembly of Rhode Island and continued as a member of the state legislature through reëlections until 1812, acting in the last year of his office as speaker of the House. In 1812 he was chosen to fill out the term of United States Senator Champlin, who had resigned, and in 1814 he was elected to the Senate for another six years.
Though a member of the Federalist party, he was never violently partisan, nor was he acrimonious in debate. Rhode Island as a state had made itself unpopular because of its stand on paper money, just previous to the adoption of the federal Constitution. Hunter's tact, ability, and eloquence did much to redeem its lost prestige. The fact that he favored the Missouri Compromise was not entirely pleasing to his constituents, however, and he failed of reëlection to the Senate, but on returning to Rhode Island again became a member of the state legislature for the years 1823-25.
He served his college as trustee from 1800 to 1838. In 1834 President Jackson recalled him to public life by appointing him chargé d'affaires to Brazil. Later, at the request of the young emperor, Dom Pedro, he was elevated to the position of minister plenipotentiary, and served in this capacity until 1845, when, under President Tyler, a change of policies brought about his retirement. Once more at home, he occupied himself in literary and historical research, intending to publish a work on the history and progress of religious freedom, especially as exemplified by the founders of his native state, but he died before he could complete the task.
Achievements
Politics
Information about his political beliefs and activities while in the Senate is not easily available. One opinion that he is known for is that he believed that the state of Massachusetts was exaggerating its role in the Revolutionary War.
Membership
Hunter was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815.
Connections
On July 15, 1804, Hunter was married in New York by Bishop Moore, to Mary Robinson, daughter of William T. Robinson, a Quaker merchant of that city. They had eight children. Since Hunter was an Episcopalian, the marriage resulted in his wife's expulsion from the Society of Friends.