The Fire Chief’s Citizenship Papers
Chief Hunt says he will fight a Pierce County indictment charging that his 1892 naturalization certificate was fraudulently obtained.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Chief Hunt, of the fire department, intends to go to Tacoma to answer the indictment found against him, and expects the trial will take place in the near future. He says he has no doubt of the result and does not care to be interviewed about the evidence he will produce, but is confident of being cleared of the charge.
A great deal of talk has been circulated about Chief Hunt's connection with a fire company in Canada, and an inference has been drawn by many that to belong to that company it was necessary for one to be a British subject. It was a volunteer company, and it is expected that the court will bring evidence to show that it has nothing to do with the case.
The chief had no trouble yesterday in getting a second bondsman; several people volunteered. Mayor Phelps would not express any opinion on the matter otherwise than to say that an indictment is not proof of guilt, and that until proven guilty a man is innocent. Nothing will be done by the fire commissioners until their next meeting.
Chief Hunt's attorney yesterday received from Tacoma a copy of the indictment found by the Pierce County grand jury against his client. It sets forth that on October 24, 1892, A. B. Hunt unlawfully, knowingly and feloniously did obtain, receive and accept a certificate of citizenship—a document issued by the superior court of the state of Washington for Pierce County, bearing that date, and showing A. B. Hunt, before that time an alien, to have been naturalized and admitted as a citizen of the United States. The indictment charges that the certificate was fraudulently and unlawfully procured by Hunt, in that he falsely represented himself to have resided within the United States for the required five years, whereas he had not so resided, and knew the certificate had been procured by fraud. The document is signed by Brinker, United States attorney.
“An indictment is not proof of guilt, and until proven guilty a man is innocent.”
Questions about naturalization and who is eligible for public office are still argued in courts and city halls; in 1894 a fire chief’s citizenship certificate was enough to put his job and reputation on the line. The story also shows how local officials’ lives were bound up with federal immigration law.
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