Scandal in Sea Girt
After two years of leasing the shooting range, in 1887, the state legislature approved commissioners to complete the purchase of 120 acres for the State National Guard Camp at a cost of $50,912.00 “lawful money of the United States.”. It was not the $600/ acre the investors wanted, and delays in getting the money would haunt the Sea Girt project.
In 1907, two additional tracts of land were purchased for $23,900.00 in order to extend the ranges adjacent to the beach, bringing the site to its current 168 acres.
Elliston Morris protested. As a Quaker, training for war was wrong, and he sued to protect his quiet enjoyment of his property from the noise of gunshots and rowdy troops. His case was dismissed.
John Hunter, who had left his younger brother to deal with their business interests, was re-elected in Philadelphia as the reform-minded Receiver of Taxes, with the mayor and other politicians fighting to be on “Honest John’s” ticket. People were sick of machine politics, and John Hunter was above the petty politics and the normal corruption.
James Hunter was missing his older brother’s guidance. The management of Sea Girt and Spring Lake properties, the two calico cloth printing plants, and his struggling western property investment were proving too much for the sixty-year-old. John Lucas was helping him in Spring Lake, but Lucas was in the process of planning his own new bank building on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia for his Keystone Bank.
James Long, Union Bank President and childhood friend of the Hunters from Northern Ireland sat in on an 1887 meeting of the Eighth National Bank of Philadelphia where he was a trustee when an employee indicated that one of Long’s notes in favor of James and John Hunter was offered for discount (less than its face amount). Shocked, Long asked what date they were issued. He immediately knew they were not signed by him. He quickly paid down any outstanding good notes and issued instructions to deny any other notes presented. At least one other bad note had already been paid by his own Union Bank to the Ninth National Bank, who had purchased it, and Long started proceedings to get the money returned.
Daniel Ames wrote the book on 1880s forgery and the Hunter -Long forgery was a prime example in his book.
Word hit the street that the Hunters had been spreading bad paper. Almost instantly, there was a race to redeem $400,000 in Hunter notes, many of which were fraudulent.
Long’s forged signature was quite close to the genuine, and only a handwriting expert, Daniel T. Ames’ testimony settled some of the transactions in question. The husband of the Hunter’ sister, Philadelphia Postmaster John Field also had his name forged on some Hunter Brother's checks.
The credit of John and James Hunter was put into question, and very quickly their other debtors foreclosed on Hunter loans.
The Fraudulent Debtors Act allowed lenders to immediately collect on the full amount due on any loan once the fraud of a borrower was discovered. Long’s prominent position left no doubt regarding the claim of forgery. The race to collect forced the insolvency and ultimately the liquidation of assets of the highly regarded Hunter Brothers firm, its two factories and put claims on the Hunter’s homes.
Influential Philadelphians, careful not to besmirch the reputation of the receiver of taxes “Honest John”, wondered aloud why James did not simply come out and ask them for credit, as John Hunter’s reputation and financial position would have had them write a check.
James Long wound up owning this boarding house after attaching Hunter assets. Longport is named for James Long who purchased the property south of Atlantic City as a speculation. He bought Longport for $2,000 and sold for $150,000
But James Hunter, president of the Sea Girt Land Improvement Company could not be asked as he was nowhere to be found. Rumors placed him in a state of panic, and friends feared he was contemplating suicide.
He was last seen in New York, visiting with his commission salesmen. The newspapers speculated he was on his way to Brazil via steamer with his wife and less than one hundred dollars in his pocket. James’ 18-year-old son answered the door at their home and indicated he had no idea of his father’s whereabouts.
But no ship reported him a passenger. Like a phantom, he was just gone without a trace. James Hunter would not be found for years. Months after he was gone, his wife and son also vanished.
John Hunter initially avoided the inquiring press by visiting with his daughter Margaret Elizabeth Lucas, and her husband, John C. Lucas now President of the Land Improvement Companies. When the reporters found out where John Hunter was staying, Samuel Huey, John Hunter’s family attorney, met them at the door of John C. Lucas’ house.
Huey was a well-respected Philadelphia attorney who also served as the Director and Secretary of the Union League where he had met John Hunter. He led the Philadelphia Board of Education and took cases for the most prestigious corporations. He had served as Secretary of both the Sea Girt and Spring Lake Beach Land Improvement Companies since 1878, and told the inquiring press that John Hunter had given up all involvement in the operations of the Hunter’s various business interests years earlier when he took the Receiver of Taxes job.
Huey told them John had no idea of his brother’s actions or his whereabouts, or the outstanding debt, other than $15,000 owed to the Keystone Bank.
The newsies chirped, “If James Hunter had been swallowed by an earthquake he could not have more effectively obliterate all traces of his flight and present whereabouts”.
“JAMES HUNTER'S FLIGHT. BELIEF THAT HE WAS DEMENTED AND COMMITTED SUICIDE. John Hunter's Bank Account Attached and Another Deed Recorded -Property in New York Restrained. John Wanamaker's Offer. James Hunter, the brother of Tax Receiver John Hunter, who disappeared on Tuesday morning, has not been heard from.
While many of his creditors think that he has sailed for Brazil, a good many of his friends and some of his relatives think he has committed suicide. John Hunter still has confidence in his brother and expects him to turn up at any moment and face the disgrace and ruin that has befallen the firm of the Hunter brothers.”
Groundhog’s Day was first celebrated in 1887. For Sea Girt, the next few years would feel like it was Groundhogs day over and over again, as the financial troubles mounted for the Sea Girt Land Improvement Company.