HON.
J. L. HUNTOON
HON.
J. L. HUNTOON, Treasurer who of Sacramento County for the second term, is one
of the best known and most esteemed official of the county, having resided in
this city since the spring of 1855, and been proprietor of prosperous hotels
since that time. He was born in Groton,
Vermont, in 1822, where his father was a farmer, but removed with his parents
to Craftsbury when only a lad of six or seven years. Until he reached the age of nineteen he resided at home, working
hard upon the farm during the summer in attending school during the
winter. In 1843 he went to Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, and obtained employment as driver of a baker's wagon. This he continued for three years and then
engaged in traveling for the firm of H. S. Doane & Co., of Boston,
Massachusetts, in the sale of brushes throughout the State of Maine. Later he was employed in the sale of
confectionary and cigars, and later still he traveled over the New England
States for the New York House of Curtis & Perkins, the agents for the sale
of Mrs. Winslow's popular soothing syrup.
Those were in the days before railroads went to every little town. He was given a team and a light wagon, and
he drove over the country roads from town to town, living hard and working
laboriously, as it often happened, and exposed to all sorts of weather. Tired of this at last, in the fall of 1855,
Mr. Huntoon set out for this State, proceeding to Panama by the steamer George
Law, which carried so many Californians, and finally reaching this city in the
spring of the following year. First he
purchased and conducted the Telegraph Hotel on J street, between Twelfth and
Thirteenth streets, along a popular hostelry.
After three years he leased the house, bought a band of sheep and drove
them down to Solano County. Selling
these out two years later, he returned to Sacramento and took the Fountain
House on J street, above Tenth, and carried it on successfully into 1865. He then went east for a visit, making the
journey again via Panama. Upon this
trip he was absent from February to September, and had an enjoyable time. Upon his returned he engaged in the
furniture business, and also carried on the manufacturer of mattresses,
upholstery, etc., continuing in this until 1883. From that time until his election as treasurer of the county, Mr.
Huntoon acted as an administrator, being engaged in the settlement of the
estates, etc. He has always taken an active and intelligent interest in
politics, and is well known as a stanch Republican. Mr. Huntoon was married in 1851 to Miss Charlotte P. Cunningham,
at the town of Washington, near Augustine, Maine. They have had four children, of whom one, a daughter, is
deceased. The names of the others are
as follows; William F., the cashier of the People’s Savings Bank, of this city;
Eva May and Joseph Edgar. Mr. Huntoon
has also two brothers living, reside in the State of Massachusetts.
An
Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. By Hon. Win. J Davis.
Lewis Publishing Company 1890. Page 261-262.
Submitted
by: Nancy Pratt Melton.