Daniel Webster Hunter
Daniel Webster Hunter was a 21-year-old waiter at a railway cafe. He lived in Birmingham, Alabama and was the son of Frank and Lillian Hunter. Frank Hunter was a private detective in Birmingham.
Case summary
The federal records for this case, viewable on the Civil Rights Cold Cases Records portal, are limited. The following summary was compiled primarily from other sources, including those listed at the bottom.
Incident
On May 31, 1949, Detective William Arthur Dobson of the Birmingham Police Department arrived at 310 18th St. North – the address for the Pythian Temple building, which served as a hub for Black-owned businesses in the city. One of the occupants of the building was Ace’s Detective Service, a private detective agency founded by Frank Hunter.
According to the Birmingham Age-Herald and The Birmingham Post, Detective Dobson wanted to question individuals at Ace’s regarding a robbery. These accounts state that when Dobson showed his badge to Daniel Webster Hunter, who may have been working for his father at the detective agency office, Hunter tried to run away. The Birmingham News and The Birmingham Post both reported that Hunter knocked the detective over as he ran out the door of the agency.
The Alabama Citizen, a newspaper out of Tuscaloosa, reported that Dobson was investigating a “night spot” at the Pythian Temple building–not the detective agency. According to reporters at the Citizen, Hunter fled when he saw Detective Dobson because his father had warned him against visiting such establishments.
All three newspapers reported that when Hunter began running, Dobson fired a shot and wounded Hunter. Hunter was taken to Jefferson Hillman Hospital where it was reported that he was in “fair” condition, but was left partially paralyzed.
Aftermath
On December 6, 1949, six months after the shooting, Daniel Webster Hunter died. His death certificate listed the cause as a “gun shot wound of spinal cord,” compounded by “Decubitus ulcers & terminal hemorrhage.” On the certificate, the physician noted that a surgical procedure about a month after the shooting revealed a “complete section cord T5.”
According to The Pittsburgh Courier, funeral services for Hunter were held on December 10th. He was buried at Shadow Lawn cemetery in Birmingham. Reporters noted that Hunter’s death was the 16th documented police killing of a Black individual in Alabama in 1949.
It is unknown whether Birmingham police ever investigated Hunter’s death. According to the 1950 census, conducted in April of that year, Dobson was still employed as a Birmingham city police detective. He died in 1996, at the age of 87.
Frank Hunter, Daniel Webster Hunter’s father, died in 1958 at the age of 59.
Case summaries are compiled from information contained in different sources, including, but not limited to, investigative records, arrest reports, court filings, census records, birth and death certificates, transcripts, and press releases. In many cases, the records contain contradictory assertions.
In addition to the incident files associated with this case, this summary relied on the following:
Sources
U.S. Federal Census, 1920, 1940
State of Alabama Death Certificate, 1941
U.S. Deaths and Burials Index for Alabama, 1931
World War II Draft Registration Card
“Frank Hunter, Stalwart Political Figure Passes,” The Huntsville Mirror (Huntsville, AL), August 30, 1958
“Ace’s Detective Service,” Alabama Citizen (Tuscaloosa, AL), April 7, 1945
“Fourth Avenue Historic District: National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form,” United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, February 11, 1982
“Detective Speaks to Businessmen,” The Weekly Review, July 7, 1945
“Getting False Witness Charged to Detective,” The Birmingham News, September 15, 1947
“Detective Begins Term for Contempt,” The Birmingham News, November 5, 1948
“Beg Your Pardon: Wounded Man is Not Connected with Agency,” The Birmingham Post, June 8, 1949
“Northside Man Shot in Fleeing Officer,” Birmingham Age-Herald, May 31, 1949
“City Detective Shoots Negro in Shoulder,” The Birmingham News, May 31, 1949
“Negro Detective Shot by Officer,” The Birmingham Post, May 31, 1949
“Detective’s Victim in ‘Fair Condition,’” The Birmingham Post, June 1, 1949
“Detective’s Son Shot by Police,” Alabama Citizen (Tuscaloosa, AL), December 17, 1949
“Birmingham Police Claim 16th Victim,” Pittsburgh Courier, December 17, 1949
Obituary for William Arthur Dobson, Huntsville Times (Huntsville, AL), October 4, 1996