Yolo County
Biographies
ARTHUR C. HUSTON, SR.
Arthur
C. Huston, Sr., head of the well known law firm of Huston, Huston & Huston,
with offices in Woodland and Sacramento, is one of Yolo county’s most
distinguished citizens and has honored his native community by his life and
labors. He was born at Knights Landing,
Yolo County, on the 16th of November, 1871, and is a son of Walter
S. and Sarah (Laugenour) Huston. The
father was born in Boone County, Missouri, October 2, 1830, and in 1849, at the
age of nineteen years, joined the gold rush to California, crossing the plains
with ox team and covered wagon. Locating
in Hangtown (now Placerville), he engaged in gold mining for awhile and in 1850
returned to Missouri. The following spring
he again came to California and engaged in freighting to the mines in Placer
County. In the ‘50s he located in Yolo
County, and engaged in farming near Woodland, but later went to Knights
Landing, where, in partnership with his brothers Robert M. and Edward T., he
established a mercantile business. Mr.
Huston remained there until 1879, when he came to Woodland and opened a retail
grocery store. He took an active
interest in local public affairs, serving as a member of the board of city
trustees. He was a member of the
Christian Church and gave generously to all benevolent and charitable
causes. He helped to establish Hesperian
College, in Woodland, was one of the organizers of the Woodland fire department
and was a charter member and one of the founders of the California Pioneer
Society of San Francisco. On January 20,
1869, Mr. Huston was married to Miss Sarah Laugenour, who was a native of
Salem, North Carolina, and they became the parents of five children: Bertha, the wife of J. L. Hare, Walter S.,
Edward P., Arthur C. and Harry L.
Arthur
C. Huston attended the public schools of Woodland finished his studies in
Hesperian College. He engaged in the
newspaper business as city editor, first of the Woodland Mail and then of the
Woodland Democrat and later served as deputy county recorder. He then took up the study of law in the
office of Charles W. Thomas, of Woodland, and was admitted to the bar January
16, 1895, entering at once upon the practice of his profession, in which he has
been distinctively successful, being regarded as one of the ablest and most
dependable members of the Yolo county bar.
In 1897 he served as city attorney of Woodland and later was assistant
district attorney under district attorneys R. E. Hopkins and E. R. Bush. He commands a large and lucrative practice in
the courts of this and neighboring counties and has been very successful in
protecting the interests of his clients.
Mr. Huston has also been interested in various local business concerns,
having formerly been president of the First National Bank of Woodland and is
now vice chairman of the advisory board of the Woodland Branch of the Bank of
Italy. He was president and counsel of
the Yolo Power & Water Company, and in recent years he has been actively
identified with reclamation and irrigation work in the Sacramento valley. He is one of the best reclamation attorneys
in northern California, being recognized as an expert authority in such
matters.
The
litigation concerning the water rights of Cache Creek and Clear Lake which were
pending for more than half a century was settled during the period that Mr.
Huston was acting as counsel and president of the Yolo Water & Power
Company. He was attorney for reclamation
district No. 1500, and reclamation district No. 1660, in Sutter County and for
reclamation district No. 1600, in Yolo County.
He is now president of reclamation district No. 730, Yolo County, and
Union Island reclamation district No. 1, of San Joaquin County. His firm is also attorney for reclamation
districts Nos. 2068, and 2076, Solano County, reclamation district No. 108, of
Colusa County, and Sacramento River west side levee district and is attorney
for Knights Landing Ridge drainage district, and also a commissioner. He is chairman of the executive committee of
Iron Canyon Project Association and is also president of Sonol Securities
Corporation of San Francisco and the Woodland Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Huston is personally in charge of the
operation of eight thousand acres of land in Sacramento, San Joaquin and Yolo
counties.
Mr.
Huston was united n marriage to Miss Elizabeth Browning, a daughter of R. W.
Browning, one of the pioneer settlers and ranchers of Yolo County, and they are
the parents of two sons, Arthur C., Jr., and Robert W., both of whom are
lawyers and practice in partnership with their father. Mr. Huston is a member of Woodland Lodge, No.
156, F. & A. M., of which he is past master; Woodland Chapter, No. 46, R.
A. M., of which he is a past high priest; Woodland Commandery, No. 21, K. T.,
of which he is a past eminent commander; Ben Ali Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at
Sacramento, and Woodland Parlor, No. 30, N. S. G. W. He is affiliated with the Yolo County Bar
Association and the California State Bar Association. A man of sterling qualities, high ideals and
distinctive ability, he has long commanded a leading place in the affairs of
this section of the valley and is recognized as one of the representative men
of Yolo County.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J. W. Major, History of
Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2 Pages 318-320. Pioneer Historical Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Yolo County
Biographies