Yolo
County
Biographies
HARRY LYLE HUSTON
Harry
Lyle Huston, a representative in both the paternal and maternal lines of
honored pioneer families of California, has made the practice of law his life
work and has successfully followed his profession for nearly three decades in
Woodland, his native town. Born August
18, 1879, he is a son of Walter Scott and Sarah A. (Laugenour)
Huston. The father, a native of
Missouri, came to California by the overland route in 1849, joining the gold
seekers in Sacramento, where he followed placer mining for a time, and in the
early ‘60s removed to Knights Landing, in Yolo County. He then turned his attention to agricultural
pursuits and also engaged in merchandising.
Establishing his home in Woodland in 1878, he soon became a force for
progress here as one of the founders and a trustee of Hesperian College, while
he also served on the board of city trustees, and was recognized as a man of
high ideals and marked public spirit. He
remained a resident of the community until his death on the 8th of
September, 1894, and in his passing Woodland sustained the loss of a highly
respected citizen whose worth was uniformly acknowledged. His wife was a daughter of Samuel H. Laugenour, who journeyed from North Carolina to California
in 1866 by way of the Isthmus of Panama, becoming one of the early settlers and
large landowners of Yolo County. Here
Sarah A. Laugenour took up educational work,
continuing as a teacher until January 20, 1869, when she was married to Walter
Scott Huston. Endowed with marked
literary talent, Mrs. Huston became a writer of note, editing a column in the
Woodland Daily Democrat and the Woodland Mail.
She established the Home Alliance, a local publication, and in the work
of the Christian Church of Woodland she also took an active and helpful
part. Mr. and Mrs. Huston were the
parents of the following children:
Walter S.; Arthur C.; Edward P.; May, deceased; Harry Lyle; and Bertha
Leona, the wife of James L. Hare.
At
the usual age Harry L. Huston enrolled as a pupil in the Woodland public
schools, afterward attending Hesperian College, and in the office of C. W.
Thomas, a local attorney, he pursued the study of law. On the 12th of September, 1900, he
was admitted to the bar and began practice in Woodland. Well equipped for the work of his profession,
he was chosen district attorney for Yolo County, serving for one term, and he
is now attorney for the state motor vehicle department at Sacramento. As a specialist in reclamation law he has
become widely and favorably known, successfully handling much important
litigation of that character, and is exceptionally well informed on matters
pertaining to this branch of jurisprudence.
A portion of his time is reserved for commercial affairs and to the
discharge of his duties as president of the Yolo County Title & Abstract
Company he brings to bear the forcefulness, wisdom and initiative of the
business executive of modern times.
By his first marriage Mr. Huston
became the father of three daughters:
Helen, Jane, and Harriett, aged respectively, twenty-one, eighteen and
fifteen years. For his second wife he
chose Vera O. Frances, a native of Washington, D. C. Fraternally Mr. Huston is identified with
Woodland Lodge, No. 1299, B. P. O. E., and the blue lodge of Masons. Along strictly social lines he has connection
with the Sutter Club of Sacramento and the Del Paso Country Club. For relaxation he turns to golf, spending
many of his leisure hours on the links.
His keen mentality and even-paced energy have carried him ever onward
and upward and his position in business and professional circles of Woodland is
an enviable one, while his personal characteristics are such as inspire esteem
and friendship.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 139-140. Pioneer Historical Publishing
Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Yolo County Biographies