Robert M. T. Hunter: Difference between revisions

Born at the "Mount Pleasant" plantation near Loretto, [[Essex County, Virginia]], to James Hunter (1774-18261774–1826) and his wife Maria (Garnett) Hunter (1777-18111777–1811), R.M.T. Hunter was descended from the [[First Families of Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/w/a/g/Rick--Waggener/GENE3-0020.html|title=Rick--Waggener - User Trees - Genealogy.com|website=www.genealogy.com|access-date=JunJune 19, 2020}}</ref> His mother's father, Henry Garnett was one of the county's largest landowners,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Charles W.H. |first1=Warner |title=Muscoe Garnett and Ben Lomond |url=http://www.essexmuseum.org/archive/bulletin-vol-13.pdf {{Webarchive|website=Essex County Historical Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806225217/http://www.essexmuseum.org/archive/bulletin-vol-13.pdf |archive-date=2020-08-06August }}6, {{Bare URL2020 PDF|date=MarchMay 20221978}}</ref> her brother [[James M. Garnett]] was the U.S. Congressmancongressman representing the area (and her other brother [[Robert S. Garnett]] would be within a decade). However, Maria Hunter died shortly after giving birth to William Garnett Hunter (1811-18291811–1829), when Robert M. T. Hunter was two years old, and shortly after one of his slightly elder brothers, also William Hunter, died at age 5. Educated first by private tutors, R. M. T. Hunter entered the [[University of Virginia]] when he was 17, shortly after his father's death, and became one of its first graduates.<ref>University of Virginia. ''A Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of Virginia. Second Session, Commencing February 1, 1826''. Charlottesville, VA: Chronicle Steam Book Printing House, 1880, p. 10.</ref> While a student, Hunter became a member of the [[Jefferson Literary and Debating Society]], then studied law at the [[Winchester Law School]].

Several generations of Hunter's family owned a considerable number of slaves, most used to farm their plantations. In 1830, R.M.T. Hunter owned 72 slaves (44 males and 26 females), and his household consisted of two white males (presumably him and an overseer).<ref>1830 U.S. Federal Census for Essex County, Virginia pp. 37-38 of 78</ref> A decade later, following his marriage, R. M. T. Hunter's household included himself, two young white males (presumably one his eldest son) and five white females, as well as 83 slaves.<ref>The 1840 census for Essex County Virginia mislabels him as RWS Hunter, and used a checkbox method abandoned in later censuses. His household in 1840 included 25 persons employed in agriculture, 5 persons employed in manufacture and trade, and one professional person (presumably himself). Hunter's slaves in that 1840 census included 13 boys and 9 girls under 10 years, 9 males and 12 females aged 10 to 23, 4 males and 4 females aged 24 through 35, 14 males and 8 females aged 36 through 54, and 5 males and 5 females aged55 or above, The corresponding state census is not available online.</ref> In 1850, R. M. T. Hunter of Essex County, Virginia, owned at least 100 slaves.<ref>1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedule for Essex County Virginia. The initial census page listing R.M.T. Hunter as owner includes 18 males aged 35 to 70 years and 5 females aged between 45 and 50 years old, although following page lists children in the opposite chronological order and the crossed-out slaveowner's name at the top of the next several pages is Richard Boyton (who owned more than 300 slaves in Essex County). The rest of Hunter's slaves are on the previous page with a number "50" but include 18 females between 35 and 15 years old (all at five-year intervals), 10 8-year-old female children, 5 5-year-old female children, and a two-year-old, one-year-old and four two-month female children, in addition to 5 two-month-old boys, a four-year-old, 5 five-year-old boys, 9 ten-year-old boys and 5 15-year-old boys and ten 25-year-old men. men</ref> In the 1860 U.S. Federalfederal census for Essex County, Virginia, U.S. Senator Hunter owned real estate worth $80,890 and personal property (including slaves) worth $92,800. The federal lists of slaves owned by R. M. T. Hunter nearly fill the majority of two pages (more than 120 persons).<ref>One page lists 65 slaves ranging from a 52 -year -old male and 62 -year -old female, to children and even infants; the following page continued by enumerating another 61 slaves he owned, ranging from a 62 -year -old male and 65 -year -old female to two infants. Although the census for Fredericksburg in neighboring Spotsylvania County shows another six slaves owned by "Taliaferro Hunter", such was another man, who soon enlisted in the Confederate army.</ref>

In 1830, Hunter was admitted to the Virginia bar. In 1834, he was elected to represent Essex County in the [[Virginia House of Delegates]], succeeding Richard Baylor. R. M. T. Hunter won re-election in 1834 and 1836, but resigned upon winning election to the U.S. Congress as discussed next.<ref>Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1618-19781618–1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 371, 375, 379 and note</ref>

In 1846, the Virginia General Assembly elected Hunter [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]]. He assumed office in 1847 and won re-election in 1852 and 1858. Hunter continued to support slavery and its extension: favoring extending the [[Missouri Compromise]] line to the Pacific Ocean, opposing abolishing the slave trade in the District of Columbia as well as any interference with its operation in any state or territory, and supported the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]]. Senator Hunter delivered an address in Richmond supporting states’ rights in 1852, and in the 1857-581857–58 Congressionalcongressional session advocated admitting Kansas under the pro-slavery [[Lecompton constitution]].<ref name="auto"/>

In July 1861, Confederate President [[Jefferson Davis]] appointed Hunter the [[Confederate States Secretary of State|Confederate States secretary of state]]. He resigned on February 18, 1862, after his election as a [[Congress of the Confederate States|Confederate Senatorsenator]]. Hunter served in the Confederate Senate in Richmond, Virginia, until the war's end, and was at times President ''pro tem''. His portrait appeared on the Confederate $10 bill.<ref>{{cite web

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As a Confederate Senatorsenator, Hunter became an often caustic critic of Confederate President Davis. Despite this friction, Davis appointed Hunter as one of three commissioners sent to attempt peace negotiations in February 1865. Hunter met with President [[Abraham Lincoln]] and Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] at the [[Hampton Roads Conference]]. However, after Lincoln refused to acknowledge the Confederacy's independence, Senator Hunter chaired a war meeting in Richmond where Confederates vowed they would never lay down their arms before achieving independence. Following [[Robert E. Lee|Lee]]'s surrender, President Lincoln summoned Hunter to confer regarding Virginia's restoration to the Union.

Many of Hunter's Garnett relatives became Confederate military officers, and his cousin Judge Muscoe Garnett (1808-18801808–1880) commanded the Home Guard in Essex County. Hunter's first cousins (through his mother) were career U.S. Army officers who became Confederate generals [[Robert S. Garnett]] and [[Richard B. Garnett]], both of whom died in the conflict. His son James D. Hunter enlisted as a private in Company F, [[9th Virginia Cavalry]], which was organized in December 1861 with Lt. Garnett among its officers, and which was initially assigned to protect the Rappahannock River as well as the Rappahannock river port cities of [[Falmouth, Virginia|Falmouth]] and [[Fredericksburg, Virginia|Fredericksburg]]. James D. Hunter served only months before being furloughed on account of sickness in July 1862, but did participate in raids under Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and Capt. William Latane (who became a Confederate martyr as the only casualty of Stuart's vaunted ride around Union troops) and in General Lee's Seven Day offensive which ended the Union [[Peninsular Campaign]].<ref>Robert Krick, 9th Virginia Cavalry (Lynchburg, Virginia Regimental History Series 1982) p. 80</ref> While his eldest son R.M.T. Hunter Jr. died early in the war of disease, his second son, Robert D. Hunter, served as a staff officer in the Army of Northern Virginia and as an engineer.<ref>Martha T. Hunter, A Memoir of Robert M.T. Hunter (Washington: Neale Publishing Company, 1903), 115. https://books.google.com/books?id=vLdEAAAAIAAJ&q=son%3B&pg=PA27 Robert E.L. Krick, Staff Officers in Gray : A Biographical Register of Staff Officers in the Army of Northern Virginia (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003),167.https://books.google.com/books?id=qKvqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA167&lpg=PA167&dq=James+D.+Hunter+C.S.+cadet&source=bl&ots=Eug65NPZvN&sig=ACfU3U3VjmWePFq8ao_LnrGxbWWj1h1Q8w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWtILXsazqAhUvhHIEHZJzBwIQ6AEwDXoECAYQAQ#v=snippet&q=james%20d.%20hunter&f=false</ref>

He married Mary Evelina Dandridge (1817–1893) on October 4, 1836, in [[Jefferson County, West Virginia|Jefferson County]] (then in Virginia, but which became West Virginia during the American Civil War). They had sons Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter Jr. (1839-18611839–1861), James Dandridge Hunter (1844-18921844–1892), Philip Stephen Hunter (1848–1919) and Muscoe Russell Garnett Hunter (1850-18651850–1865). Their daughters (educated and unmarried) were Martha Taliaferro Hunter (1841-19091841–1909), Sarah Stephena Hunter (1846-18651846–1865), Annie Buchanan Hunter (1852-18531852–1853) and Mary Evelina Hunter 1854-18811854–1881). In 1860 and later censuses, R. M. T. Hunter's unmarried sisters Martha Fenton Hunter (1800-18661800–1866) and Jane Swann Hunter (1804-18801804–1880) and half-sister Sara (Sully) Hunter (1822-18741822–1874) also lived on the family plantation.<ref>ancestry.com</ref><ref>1860 U.S. Federal Census for Essex County Virginia dwelling 845 family number 819</ref>

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As a former Speaker of the House, his portrait had been on display in the US Capitol. The portrait was removed from public display in the Speaker's Lobby outside the House Chamber after an order issued by the Speaker of the House, [[Nancy Pelosi]], on June 18, 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/06/pelosi-orders-confederate-portraits-removed-capitol.html|title=Portraits of Confederate House Speakers Removed From Capitol|website=slate.com|date=19 June 19, 2020 |access-date=19 June 19, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/06/18/880253813/confederate-speaker-portraits-to-be-removed-from-the-capitol-on-juneteenth|title=Confederate Speaker Portraits To Be Removed From The U.S. Capitol On Juneteenth|website=www.npr.org|date=18 June 18, 2020 |access-date=19 June 19, 2020|last1=Snell |first1=Kelsey }}</ref>

{{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States Senatorssenators from Virginia|United States Senator (Class 2) from Virginia]]|years=1847–1861|alongside=[[James Murray Mason|James Mason]]}}

[[Category:19th-century American politicianslegislators]]