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Adison Irwin Hunter, of Grand Forks, N. D., was born July 29, 1860, at Freetown, Ind., son of Cyrus R. and Margaret M. Hunter, of Scotch and Irish descent.

Adison attended high school at Southport, Ind., and then spent two years of study at Depauw University, at Greencastle, Ind., 1879 and 1880.  He came to North Dakota in 1883 and went into the real estate and loan business in partnership with E. L. Emery, until 1887, when he carried on a livery business for ten years.  In 1897 he engaged in brick manufacturing.  He is now president of the Red River Valley Brick Company, president of the North Dakota Fair Association, member of the Commercial Club, Elks, and M. W. A.

On February, 6, 1889, Mr. Hunter was married to Miss Alice

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C. Bailey, of Indianapolis, Ind.  They have one daughter, Alice M. Hunter. (History of The Red River Valley Past and Present, Volume II, C. F. Cooper & Company, Chicago, 1909)

HUNTER, A. I., 422 S. 5th St., Grand Forks, N. D.
Banker; b. Freetown, Ind., July 29, 1860; s. Cyrus R. and M. M. (Mann) Hunter; attended De Pauw Coll., Greencastle, Ind., for two years; m. Indianapolis, Ind., Feb. 6, 1889, Alice C. Bailey; one daughter, Alice M. H.  Pres. Red River Valley Brick Corpn., 1900-1913.  Pres. First National Bank; dir. Red River Valley Brick Corpn., Grand Forks Street Railway Co., Great Northern Life Insurance Co.  Republican.  Presbyterian.  Trus. Young Women’s Christian Assn.  Member Sigma Chi Fraternity.  Elk.  Dir. Grand Forks Commercial Club.  Pres. North Dakota State Fair 15 years. (Who’s Who in Finance and Banking, A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries 1920-1922, Edited by John William Leonard, Joseph & Sefton, New York, N. Y., 1911, Who’s Who in Finance, Incorporated, Brooklyn, N. Y., 1922, Page 347)

 

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A. I. Hunter, 76, Banker, Dies

Addison I. Hunter, outstanding figure in Grand Forks business and banking circles for more than half a century, died at 1:30 P. M. Monday in a Grand Forks hospital, where he had been a patient since November 27.  He was 76 years old.

Death of Mr. Hunter removes from Grand Forks another of the connecting links between the present time and the pioneer business life of the city.  He came to Grand Forks in the fall of 1882 and was one of the leaders in the development of the city until about four years ago when failing health caused him to retire from active business.  He resided at 422 South Fifth street.

While Mr. Hunter was most prominently identified with the banking business of Grand Forks in the later years of his life, his interests included farming and many industrial concerns in the city.

He was the organizer of the Red River Valley Brick corporation and its first president.  He retained that position to the time of his death.  He was a stockholder in numerous other concerns in the city, and in his early business years in the city operated a horse sales stable.

Born in Freetown, Ind., July 29, 1860, Mr. Hunter came to Grand Forks when he was 22 years old.  He was a clerk in a loan office for four years and then went into the thoroughbred horse business, operating a stable and shipping thousands of horses into North Dakota.

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In connection with his horse business he engaged in farming.  He organized the brick company in 1896, and became cashier of the Union National bank in 1910.  When the Union National and the First National banks were consolidated he retained his position as cashier until 1914, when he became president of the enlarged bank.  This position he held until 1922, when he was elected president of the board of directors.

In July 1929 the First National bank and the Northwestern National bank were merged and Mr. Hunter was named chairman of the executive committee.  He retired from that post in 1932, and has not engaged in active business since.

Other business concerns with which Mr. Hunter was identified included the North Dakota State Fair association, of which he was president from 1905 to 1908, the Grand Forks Street Railway Co., and the Northern Packing Co.

He was connected with banks at Munich, Gilby and Arvilla, N. D.

He married Alice C. Bailey of Indianapolis February 6, 1889.  The couple had one daughter, Dr. Alice Hunter of Grand Forks, a graduate of the University and of Rush Medical college in Chicago.  She is the only survivor.

Mr. Hunter was a member of the Elks lodge, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the First Presbyterian church.

His education was obtained in the public schools in his native district and DePauw university at Greencastle, Ind.  He managed a store there for two years before coming to Grand Forks.

Funeral services will be Wednesday at 2 P. M. in the First Presbyterian church with Rev. James Robertson officiating and burial will be in Memorial Park cemetery.  The body will lie in state in the church parlors Wednesday from 9 A. M. to 1:30 P. M. (Grand Forks Herald, Tuesday, December 8, 1936, Volume 56, Number 32)