By Shirley Turner Summers
(Last week, former Governor George W. P. Hunt persuaded the commanding officer to grant the author's father forty-eight hours of leave from Camp Funston to see his mother, Mary Elizabeth Turner Calder, who had met and traveled to the Kansas camp on the same train with the former Governor.)
She was indebted to the governor for this favor, so wrote the poem, "A Rippling Rhyme," about meeting him on the train, and when she got to Virginia, sent it to him in Phoenix with a letter of gratitude.
"Our train sped 'long the iron trail
With its motley human cargo,
With some from the Salt River Vale,
While others came from Fargo.
Acquaintance of mushroom growth
'Oft in a Pullman flourish,
And 'oft such friends to lose we're loth
And fain would keep and nourish.
There was the Governor; Adjutant;
Two maidens young and fair;
The Secretary; Red Cross man;
And a woman with graying hair.
With twinkling eyes and quiet smile
The Governor sat knitting,
While up, and down, and 'cross the aisle
An audience permitting.
Across the plains with dizzy speed
The G. S. L. was whirling.
The Governor gave little heed,
His mind was on his purling,
As stitch on stitch the sweater grew.
Some boy'll be proudly wearing
Where shot and shell of battle's hell
Shall "over there" be flaring.
He hums a tune and works with zest,
Not ever thinks of quitting,
All heedless of the passing jest,
He smiles and keeps on knitting.
The battered storm-tossed Ship of State
His steady hand is steering;
He still finds time to ponderate
On making life more cheering.
'Tis always thus the good and great
Are simple men and kindly,
Who always do the little things
While others strut by blindly.
So may we all a lesson learn,
What could be more befitting,
While on our way to do great things
Take along our knitting."
The governor answered with a letter of thanks for the poem and wanted to see it published, "provided some of these reactionary papers will do it. As you are aware, I am not in very good standing with some of the copper-owned papers in the State of Arizona." He enclosed a picture of himself presenting the Arizona flag to the "Arizona boys" and a request for yarn, the same shade he had given her. In his travels, he had tried to replace the yarn without success. He said in his letter that he had already been to department stores in Chicago, Washington and New Orleans with no results and had to return to Phoenix without the right shade. "If you could get me a couple of hanks, I would be glad to reimburse you."
This was the beginning of a series of letters back and forth from the Governor's office in Phoenix to Newport News, Virginia. In fact, his second letter, dated May 24th thanked her for the yarn, and offered his help to find work for her son (my dad) when he was discharged, "for I feel sure with such a splendid mother he must be a fine son."
The next letter was dated December 2, 1918, when the war was coming to a close. He sent holiday greetings and told about the influenza epidemic in Phoenix. More letters followed, and Christmas cards in 1919 and 1920. Mary Elizabeth and her husband had returned to their home in Phoenix, and by now my dad owned a small dry cleaning establishment at Five Points. My dad said, "He used to bring me his white linen suits to do. He always wore white, a Panama hat, summer or winter, and drove a white Franklin, air-cooled car, mostly driven by a chauffeur."
Dad also said, "He entertained us at the Governor's Mansion on McDowell Rd. several times." They went for tea or perhaps dinner and during the conversation, learned more about George Hunt, the man. He was born in Huntsville, Missouri, the son of one time wealthy landowners. His wanderlust began at an early age, but it was in his genes. His father had been a gold-seeker in 1849 in California. His mother was known as Phoebe Cary of the West, a contributor to Godey's Lady's Book and other publications.
George left home at the age of 19 to make his fortune. In the process, he was a miner in Colorado and worked on the AT & Santa Fe Railroad in Mississippi. Later he joined a group of adventure-seekers and floated with them down the Mississippi on a flat boat. From El Paso, he drifted into eastern Arizona, the new territory.
My grandmother probably questioned him about his comment in his first letter to her; she did not understand completely about his unpopularity with the copper owned papers. He explained that he had lived 38 years in Globe, arriving there as a young man, penniless with only a pack burro, working in the mines in the upper Gila River Valley, making Globe his home. After a series of lucky streaks, he started working at the Old Dominion Commercial Co and was soon made secretary in 1890 and president in 1900. He acquired a ranch on the Salt River and became the common man's voice, the first mayor of Globe, and treasurer of Gila County. While he was in leadership, he became the friend of organized labor and through this strong miner's union was drawn into politics.
He was elected a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1892 and served for eight years. In 1900 he was elevated in Democratic circles and was chosen as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Kansas City. He married Helen Duett and had one child, Virginia, and remained in the Territorial legislature upper house from 1904-1910. Here he proved himself a friend of organized labor. Hunt was among the 52 delegates for the constitutional convention in Phoenix, where he used his influence along with the National Progressive Movement. The constitution was ratified and Arizona became a state. Hunt had appeared to favor both factions at the convention, but voters believed him to be a friend of labor and elected him the first governor on December 12, 1911, by a 1,957 majority vote over the Republican opponent. He shunned a carriage for the inauguration and walked a mile to the Capitol, showing that he was indeed a man of the people.
After his third term as governor, he took a brief respite from politics and was appointed Ambassador to Siam by President Wilson in 1920. While in Siam (Thailand), in 1921, he sent a letter and two old bronze coins to my dad, who was a coin collector. When he returned to Phoenix and re-entered politics, he wrote another letter to my grandmother expressing his appreciation of the work and support she, her husband, and son gave him in his campaign against Tom Campbell. He was twice re-elected in 1924 and 1926 for his fifth and sixth terms.
The election of November 1928 brought defeat by John C. Phillips, the Republican candidate. But, partly because of national political trends during the economic crises of the times, Hunt was able to defeat Phillips in November 1930, and so became governor for his seventh and last term. His wife Helen died in 1931, a serious blow to him, and thus he failed to qualify in the party primaries of 1932. He retired almost completely from politics. He sent my grandmother a picture of himself dated 3/18/32, just 2 1/2 years before his death in December 1934.
He had been opposed many times, and was a popular political character, but his record as a masterful politician made him a legendary figure in Arizona and throughout the Southwest. He was opinionated, determined, the commoner's advocate, considerate of women, children and old people, a true gentleman and friend. Perhaps from my grandmother's own words about him:
"may we all a lesson learn.
What could be more befitting?
While on our way to do great things
Just take along our knitting"!
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po0742pb)
Reuse only by permission.
Seven-term, former Arizona Governor, George W.P.Hunt, 1932.