Hosta

William Hunter Jr. (November 8, 1805 – July 22, 1886)^[1] 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^[2] after his injury in a carriage accident and subsequent wounding in an attack concurrent with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 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

^ United States Department of State (1919). Register of the Department of State. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 11.
^ The Daily Age, "Official Announcement of the Induction of President Johnson," Philadelphia, April 17, 1865, p. 1

Government offices
Preceded by (none)	United States Second Assistant Secretary of State July 27, 1866 – July 22, 1886	Succeeded by Alvey A. Adee
Preceded by Ambrose Dudley Mann	United States Assistant Secretary of State May 9, 1855 – October 31, 1855	Succeeded by John Addison Thomas
Preceded by William S. Derrick	Chief Clerk of the United States State Department May 17, 1852 – May 7, 1855	Succeeded by (none)