Samuel B. Huston

Samuel Bruce Huston (March 16, 1858 – November 30, 1920) was an American politician and lawyer in Oregon. Originally a Democrat and later a Republican, he served in both chambers of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and was twice the mayor of Hillsboro, Oregon. A native of Indiana, he served in the state senate as a Democrat from one county his first term, but moved and changed parties by his second term 20 years later.

Samuel B. Huston
Oregon State Senator
In office
1893–1897
1917–1921
ConstituencyWashington County
Multnomah County
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
In office
1915–1917
ConstituencyMultnomah County
11th Mayor of Hillsboro, Oregon
In office
1889–1890
1894–1895
Preceded byS. T. Linklater
Joseph C. Hare
Succeeded byF. A. Bailey
R. B. Goodin
Personal details
BornMarch 16, 1858
New Philadelphia, Indiana
DiedNovember 30, 1920(1920-11-30) (aged 62)
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocrat, then Republican
Spouse(s)Ella Geiger
Alma materNorthern Indiana University
ProfessionAttorney

Early life

Samuel Huston was born in New Philadelphia, Washington County, Indiana on March 16, 1858, to Oliver Wolcott Huston and Lucretia Pearson Huston (née Naugle).[1] His father died while Samuel was young, with his mother remarrying in 1866.[2] The family moved from the southern Indiana town to Illinois, where Samuel received his education at a private school and the public schools in Grand Glade.[1][2]

Huston earned his college education at Northern Indiana University (now Valparaiso University) in Valparaiso.[1] Afterwards he moved to Chicago where he attended a law school before reading law with George M. Parker in Robinson, Illinois, and at the law offices of Heffron & Zaring in Salem, Indiana.[2] He was admitted to the Indiana bar in December 1879 before entering private legal practice in that state.[2] Huston then briefly practiced law in Illinois before working for the Santa Fe Railroad Company in New Mexico, remaining until the Spring of 1883.[2] He then moved to Oregon, arriving on May 7, 1883, in Portland.[1]

Settling for a short time in Forest Grove where he worked in a flour mill and on a farm, he moved to neighboring Hillsboro in January 1884 and set up a law practice.[2] On June 28, 1884 in Forest Grove, he married Ella Geiger, the daughter of Dr. William Geiger, Jr. of pioneer stock.[1] He was admitted to Oregon's bar in October 1884.[1] In 1894, they had a son, Grover Clay, who died five months after birth.[3] Another son, Oliver, attended the University of Oregon and Yale University.[4] The couple had two other children, Samuel Carl and Blanche.[2] In Hillsboro he served for 12 years as a school director.[2]

In 1906, he moved to Portland, where he continued to practice law and served as a member of the city's commercial club.[1] In 1906, Huston and Martin L. Pipes represented a defendant in the Oregon land fraud scandal with Francis J. Heney as the prosecutor and Charles E. Wolverton presiding in Oregon's federal court.[5] Huston was involved with other cases of the land fraud as well as more than ten murder trials, primarily as a defense attorney.[2]

Political career

Huston entered politics in 1887 when he was elected to the Hillsboro city council, serving until 1888.[6] In 1889, he won the election for mayor of the city, the eleventh person to serve as mayor of Washington County's seat, he was in office from December 2, 1889 until December 5, 1890.[7] In 1892, Huston was elected to a four-year term in the Oregon State Senate.[8] A Democrat at the time, he represented District 29 and Washington County, serving through the 1895 session.[9] During this time he also served as mayor of Hillsboro a second term from December 4, 1894 until December 5, 1895.[7] He then served on the city council from 1901 to 1902.[6]

In 1914, he was elected to the Oregon House, representing Multnomah County, now as a Republican.[10] He left the Democratic Party due to the party's views on the silver question and how U.S. currency was backed.[2] Huston then returned to the Oregon Senate after election in 1916.[11] He represented District 13 and Multnomah County,[12] and served in the 1919 regular session and 1920 special session as a Republican.[13]

Later years

During his later life, Huston served as a director at the Oregon Historical Society.[14] On November 30, 1920, Samuel Huston died of a heart attack while in the Federal Courthouse in Portland in Judge Charles E. Wolverton's courtroom while waiting for a trial to resume from the lunch recess.[15] Age 62 when he died, Huston was buried at River View Cemetery in Portland.[16]

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References
  1. Colmer, Montagu, and Charles Erskine Scott Wood. History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon. Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co, 1910. p. 159.
  2. Gaston, Joseph. Portland, Oregon, Its History and Builders: In Connection with the Antecedent Explorations, Discoveries, and Movements of the Pioneers That Selected the Site for the Great City of the Pacific. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co, 1911. Vol. 3, pp. 483-484.
  3. Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery Inscriptions, Surnames E - H. Cemeteries. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
  4. Schmitt, Martin. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the University of Oregon Library. University of Oregon. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
  5. Puter, Stephen A. Douglas, and Horace Stevens. Looters of the Public Domain, Embracing a Complete Exposure of the Fraudulent System of Acquiring Titles to the Public Lands of the United States. Portland, Ore: Portland Printing House, 1908. pp. 355-356.
  6. "City Councilor History". City of Hillsboro. Archived from the original on 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  7. Mayors: City of Hillsboro. The Hillsboro Argus, October 19, 1976
  8. 1893 Regular Session (17th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
  9. 1895 Regular Session (18th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
  10. 1915 Regular Session (28th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
  11. 1917 Regular Session (29th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
  12. 1919 Regular Session (30th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
  13. 1920 Special Session (30th). Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
  14. Oregon Historical Society. The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society: June 1925, Volume Xxvi, Number 2. Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press, 1925. p. 300.
  15. "Samuel B. Huston dies in courtroom". The Oregonian. December 1, 1920.
  16. "Senator Huston buried". The Oregonian. December 3, 1920.
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