Hunter, Pleasant, 1810-1894

Pleasant Hunter was born in Maryland in 1810 and lived his adult life in Baltimore County in the area of Parkton and Wiseburg along York Road. He was a farmer, an innkeeper, a Baltimore County sheriff (1853), a member of the Board of County Commissioners (1851-1852 and 1875-1876), and a delegate to the Maryland General Assembly (1860-1861). During the 1850s he also collected taxes and other monies. In 1875 he ran on the "Potato Bug" ticket, a third party comprised of Republicans and Democrats who wanted a change in the county Democratic leadership.

In 1839 Pleasant Hunter married Margaret Smyser (b.1820) at the Saint James Protestant Parish, Baltimore. Between 1841 and 1866, Pleasant and Margaret produced nine children. Their son, Pleasant, who was born in 1855, became a clergyman who married and subsequently moved to Minnesota. Peter (b.1841) was a farmer; Thomas (b. 1845) a lawyer; and Silas (b.1849) a physician. All three married and settled in Baltimore County. The oldest daughter, Eliza (b.1843), also known as "Lida," was educated at Linden Hall Seminary in Lititz, Pennsylvania. She died of consumption on April 18, 1872. Clara lived and died in the 1850s. Maggie Eloise (b.1866) died at age seven on January 16, 1873, of scarlet fever. Mary (b.1847) and Laura (b.1857) were living with their parents in 1870; in 1880 only Laura was still at home.

Pleasant Hunter died at his home in Wiseburg on May 2, 1894. Three sons (Thomas, Silas, and Pleasant) and one daughter (possibly Laura), and several grandchildren survived him. In 2001, the Baltimore County Council placed the Pleasant Hunter House and Smokehouse at 18213 York Road, Parkton, on its Landmarks List.

From the guide to the Pleasant Hunter Family papers, 1852-1890, 1860-1870, (State of Maryland and Historical Collections)