|
HUNTER, GEORGE B.
Age 50
b. About 1843 - Maine
d. 4/1/1893 - Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana
9th MAINE VOLUNTEER INFANTRY (?)
CO. C. 6th INFANTRY (with Custer?)
Mount
Moriah Cemetery
Butte, Silver Bow Co., MT
Find-a-Grave: George B. Hunter
GAR Plot: Block F Row 3 Grave 31
|
WAS WITH
CUSTER
George Hunter Drove a Wagon
in the Yellowstone Expedition
BUTTE, April 2.—George Hunter, the suicide
whose dead body was found in the old placer digging yesterday,
was an old frontiersman and was well known to many of the old
timers in the city. He
was in the Yellowstone expedition under General Custer in 1873
and drove a team for Company C of the Sixth infantry.
He is well remember by Alderman W. J. Kennelly, who was
chief carpenter of the expedition, Jerry Duane, forage master,
and Matt Hogan, who was one of the drivers.
In June of that year Hunter drove Fred Grant, General
Grant’s son, from the crossing of the Yellowstone, near
where Glendive now stands, to Fort Buford on the Missouri, a
distance of 85 miles, in one day, with a team of six mules.
Grant complimented Hunter on his fast driving and is
said to have also made him a present for it.
He worked for the Northern Pacific at Bismarck in 1874
and later went with Custer’s expedition into the Black Hills
as wagon driver. It
is also said that he was with Custer at the time of the
massacre in June, 1876, and that the fact that he was on the
sick list alone prevented him being among the killed.
Near where he worked
in the Silver Bow mill he printed his name and address on the
wall as follows: “George
B. Hunter, Oshkosh, Wis.”
Matt Hogan, however, says that Hunter once told him
that his folks lived in Minnesota.
Hunter also told a friend here that when he left home
he had a little boy about six years old, which adds strength
to the belief that he had trouble with his wife.
The inquest will be resumed at 10 o’clock tomorrow,
and it is expected that some new facts will be brought out.
The
Anaconda Standard
Anaconda, Montana
4/3/1893
|
|
NO NEW FACTS
Examination of Hunter’s Trunk
Failed to Explain His Motives
BUTTE, April 3.—The inquest on the body of
George Hunter, the suicide, was ending this forenoon.
The deceased’s trunk, which the keeper of the
boarding house refused to deliver up to the coroner, had been
secured through a writ of replevin, but nothing was found in
it which would throw any light on where the man came from or
where any of his relatives reside.
John Hunter, who is
a distant relation of the deceased, testified that he had
known him since 1859. He
first met him at Musungon, near Bangor, Maine.
He had a brother living in or near Reading, Pa.
Hunter enlisted in the Ninth Main volunteers in 1863,
but the witness did not know how long he served as a soldier.
The witness had met Hunter again in 1883 but was not
intimately associated with him.
He had never heard of his being married.
His age was about 52 or 53.
E. A. Vesey, manager
of the Combination gambling house, identified the body and
Hunter’s handwriting. The
witness last saw him alive a week ago.
Mrs. M. Smith was
recalled and stated that her reason for refusing to give up
Hunter’s trunk when first called upon by the coroner was
because her agent had advised her not to do so.
She testified that Hunter had told her that he had left
home when he was 14 years old and have been a soldier.
She had never heard of his having any relatives.
This concluded the
testimony and the jury returned a verdict in accordance with
the facts, stating that the deceased came to his death by two
pistol shot wounds inflicted by himself, proving a clear case
of suicide.
The funeral will
take place at 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon from McCarthy
& McBratney’s undertaking rooms.
Interment will be made in the soldier’s lot at Mount
Moriah cemetery. The
funeral expenses will be defrayed by a subscription taken up
among the friends of the deceased.
The
Anaconda Standard
Anaconda, Montana
4/4/1893
|
|
|
TIRED OF
EXISTENCE
George Hunter Winds up a Debauch
By Suiciding in an Isolated Place
TWO BULLETS
DO THE WORK
His Body Cold and Stiff When Found
Had Been Dead Several Hours
From
Fridays Daily.
Another old resident of Butte proclaimed life a failure
at an early hour yesterday morning by sending two bullets into
vital parts of his person, and, it is supposed, dying
instantly from the effects thereof.
His name was George Hunter.
The deed occurred in the old placer diggings a few
hundred feet south of the Ophir Mine, located just east of
Lower Montana street, and although no none heard the shots or
knew at what time they were fired it is supposed the deed was
done about six hours prior to the finding of the body, which
was about 11 o’clock. H.
J. Goodwin discovered the corpse.
He was passing along the highway close by at the time
and discovered spots of blood on the ground.
These spots he followed into a washout or ravine and
there lying face upward with arms outstretched and feet
submerged in a pool of water was the body of Hunter, with a
bullet wound in the front part of the neck and another near
the lower part of the breast bone.
The latter had evidently been made when Hunter was near
where Goodwin first found the spots of blood.
The first bullet had been intended for the
heart, but after entering the flesh it had taken a downward
course. Then
Hunter had evidently walked to the spot where his body was
found, placed the muzzle of the weapon close to his neck and
sent the second bullet on a mission that ended his life almost
instantly, as the missile severed the carotid artery and
lodged in the base of the brain at the rear of the skull.
Near the left shoulder of the victim was the weapon, a
38-caliber Harrington & Richardson double action revolver,
with three of the five chambers empty.
A pool of blood was found near Hunter’s head and his
clothes above the waist were saturated with it.
After finding the body Goodwin notified William Dargitz,
who happened to be close by, and between them they sized up
the situation and notified the coroner.
When that gentleman arrived on the ground an
examination of Hunter’s pockets revealed a silver watch, a
$5 gold piece, a few coins, a blood-stained copy of the MINER
of March 30, a tooth brush and a note the contents of which
were as follows:
“To my friend Mrs. Smith, Tunnel House, East Park
street, in our glorious young state of Montana: I hope you are
not offended at my misbehavior.
I want you to go to the Butte & Boston office and
get my pay. There
are 17 ˝ days coming from February and for March I don’t
know how many days. The
time-keeper will give you the correct time.
Yours,
GEORGE HUNTER
After the contents of the pockets had been
secured the body was removed to McCarthy & McBratney’s
undertaking rooms where a jury composed of W. C. McBratney,
Isaac Morris, R. King, J. H Hall Isaac Pinens, and C. L.
Harris investigated the cause of death.
After
listening to the testimony of several witnesses, however, an
adjournment was taken until 7 o’clock in order that
additional witnesses might be summoned from the Tunnel house.
Only one was secured.
His name is William Stanner. He stated that he had been
working with Hunter at the Silver Bow mill roaster during the
last three years. Hunter
had told him that he was a married man, but had had trouble
with his wife and they had separated.
Hunter had also told him that he had been a soldier at
Fort Keogh.
With Stanner’s testimony the
jury again adjourned, this time until 10 o’clock Monday
morning. This was
done in order that the trunk and other effects of Hunter might
be secured and examined, the object thereof being to ascertain
where he came from and the probable cause for the deed.
It is said that Hunter had $2,000 in one of the banks,
and had drawn $700 of the amount just prior to going on the
spree two or three weeks ago.
Who
Hunter Was
George
Hunter was about 50 years old and had been a resident of the
city almost continually since 1880.
When he first came to Butte he worked for King &
Lowry in the old Arcade gambling house, now known as the
Avalon. During 1881 Hunter entered a dance house in the
basement of the Red Boot shoe store in Main street and shot a
woman, for which offense he served a year at Deer Lodge.
After his time was out he returned and went to
prospecting, which avocation he followed two or three years.
Lately, he had been employed at the Silver Bow mill and
the money mentioned in the note to Mrs. M. Smith as being due
him from the Butte & Boston company was for work performed
at the mill.
Hunter boarded at the Tunnel house, of which Mrs. Smith
is the proprietress, and on the witness stand yesterday the
lady stated that he owed her $95, of which $84 was for board,
the other $10 being money she had loaned him two weeks ago
last Wednesday evening, which was the last time she had seen
him alive. He then
told her he was going to see Katie Putnam at the opera house.
Since then Hunter has been on a spree.
Chet Small saw
Hunter either Friday or the day before as did also Ed Carroll.
He was then drinking.
Hunter was a native
of Maine, but just what part he hailed from no one seems to
know. With a view
to ascertaining who and where his relatives are Coroner Porter
went down to the Tunnel house late in the afternoon to examine
the contents of a trunk belonging to Hunter, but Mrs. Smith
refused to permit him to do so or take if from the house.
She was not aware, however, that the coroner possessed
the legal power to take everything belonging to the deceased
or possibly she would not have interfered.
The body of Hunter
will be held a few days, or until such time as his relative
can be located and their wishes consulted.
Why Hunter sought
the placer digging to take his life cannot be even surmised.
The
Butte Weekly Miner
Butte, Montana
4/6/1893
|
|
