William Hunter, Jr. (1805– July 22, 1886)
was a politician and diplomat from
Rhode Island. He was a confidential clerk to
Secretary of State John Clayton in the
United States Department of State from 1849 to 1850, serving with
George P. Fisher. He had served as acting
Secretary of State on three occasions, once in 1853, again in 1860, and to temporarily substitute for Secretary
William H. Seward[''The Daily Age'', "Official Announcement of the Induction of President Johnson," Philadelphia, April 17, 1865, p. 1] after his injury in a carriage accident and subsequent wounding in an attack concurrent with the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play ''Our American Cousin'' at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Shot in the hea ...
. He also served as
Chief Clerk of the State Department from 1852 to 1855,
Assistant Secretary of State in 1855 and
Second Assistant Secretary of State from 1866 until his death in 1886.
References
1805 births
1886 deaths
United States Assistant Secretaries of State
Rhode Island politicians
Chief Clerks of the United States Department of State
Acting United States Secretaries of State
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