Arthur D. Houghton

Last updated

Florence Gildersleeve
​
​
(after 1913)​
Arthur D. Houghton
Arthur D. Houghton, botanist and politician.jpg
Houghton in 1904
Member of the Los Angeles City Council
In office
1904–1906
Alma mater Oxford University
Royal Military School of Engineers

Arthur Duvernoix Houghton (June 8, 1870 - January 23, 1938) was a medical doctor, a botanist specializing in cacti, a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1904 to 1906 and one of the founders of the American Legion. In his early years he was a showman who presented performances in hypnotism and conducted seances.

Contents

Personal

Houghton was born in London, England, on June 8, 1871, and was educated at Oxford University and the Royal Military School of Engineers. He served in the British Army. Houghton had a medical degree and a doctorate of philosophy. He lived in Chicago, Illinois, where he was secretary of the South Side Business Men's League, and he was said to be in Los Angeles in November 1894, when he conducted seances in that city. He moved to Los Angeles around 1902. He was married to Florence Gildersleeve of Chicago in June 1913. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Houghton played the role of Doctor Caius, a French physician, in a benefit Los Angeles performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor in April 1904. [6] He was said to be of slight build [7] and to have "auburn" or "pink topped" hair. [8] [9]

Houghton suffered a heart attack on November 29, 1933, as he was waiting to testify as an expert witness in a lawsuit. [10]

He died on January 23, 1938, after being stricken on the train as he was returning to California from a trip to New York with others in a successful bid to have the 1938 American Legion convention held in Los Angeles. He was survived by his widow; their home was at 14714 Chatsworth Drive, San Fernando. His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Los Angeles City Hall, guarded by a phalanx of American Legionnaires; services were held at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral and private cremation followed. [2] [11]

Botany

Houghton was a noted botanist. He was author of The Cactus Book, published in 1931 by the Macmillan Company [2] He was said to have discovered a "purple orange" in 1911, and he "boasted he was one of the few persons who could grow orchids in an open flower bed." [2] He developed a succulent called "Houghton's Hybrid," Kalanchoe ×houghtoni (Kalanchoe delagoensis × daigremontiana). Kalanchoe ×houghtoni 'Pink Butterflies' has pink plantlets on its phylloclades.

In Los Angeles, his collection was a notable one, valued at $20,000 in 1906, with specimens of 800 varieties from "inaccessible deserts," from "Argentina, Patagonia, Mexico and other places. . . . German and Italian botanists have sent him specimens of the rarest kinds." He offered to donate it to the city for a park in Boyle Heights, but the offer was refused by the parks commission because the property offered by J. Harvey McCarthy on Stephenson Avenue between Pioneer Drive and Fresno Street already had a wooded ravine with an assortment of "magnificent trees." [12] [13]

By 1928, Houghton had moved to San Fernando, California, at 11224 Chatsworth Road, and he was specializing in development of the Watsonia. "This is the finest crop I have had in twenty years," Houghton told a reporter. [14] In 1929 Houghton was president of the Cactus Society of America [15]

The standard author abbreviation Houghton is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [16]

Municipal service

1904–1906 term

Ciry Councilman James P. Davenport, a Republican, was recalled by the voters on September 16, 1904, because he had voted in favor of a city printing contract awarded to the Los Angeles Times even though the Times' bid was $10,000 higher than its nearest competitor. [17] The recall petition also accused him of "aiding and abetting in the erection of a large and offensive slaughter-house." [18]

Houghton, a nonpartisan, [3] was elected on the same ballot to fill the balance of Potter's term. [19] Houghton thus became the first person in the United States to succeed an ousted public official after a recall. [20] He was seated in the council on September 20, 1904. [21]

Houghton was elected to serve only until the end of Davenport's term, on December 8, 1904, so he faced another election on December 5, which he won in a plurality vote over Scholl, a Republican, and Weber, a Democrat. [22]

Shortly after he was elected, Houghton told a reporter he supported the ideas of Herbert Spencer, the prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era, and he said that he was "in favor of less grade crossings and more statues." [3]

Newspaper endorsements

Davenport was supported by the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Herald. Houghton had the backing of the Los Angeles Examiner, the Los Angeles Express and the Los Angeles Record. [23]

Los Angeles Times
Times cartoon of Houghton (with umbrella), December 3, 1904 Arthur D. Houghton shown in political cartoon 1904.png
Times cartoon of Houghton (with umbrella), December 3, 1904

The Times questioned whether Houghton had ever become a U.S. citizen, and after the September election it hired a Chicago firm to check the records in that city. When none were found, the Times stated that "He has not shown that he is an American citizen." [24] The Examiner, however, was able to produce a telegram from Chicago verifying that Arthur Howton, as the name was spelled, "took out his naturalization papers on March 31, 1892." The telegram was presented to the City Council by an Examiner reporter, and the council on September 20 thereupon seated Houghton by a unanimous vote. [25] [26]

The Times, at that time edited by the publisher, Harrison Gray Otis, generally spelled Houghton's name as "Howton." [21] [27] [28] [29] and called him a "seancer" and a "spook" [24] or a "spook doctor." [21]

In a front-page article published on September 21, 1904, the Los Angeles Examiner, owned by William Randolph Hearst, claimed that reporter Fred Hopewell of the Times had stated in front of witnesses that:

General Otis says that he will drive you and your woman out of Los Angeles penniless. . . . we are to make a personal canvass among your friends and patients to prevent you from getting a practice. Before you go into the council we will make you sweat blood. We will make you cringe and go upon your knees and sue us for peace. [30]

Hopewell denied the accusation in a signed statement in the Times the next day. [31]

On September 22, 1904, the Times published a story alleging that "Arthur Howton" had moved from Chicago to San Francisco during the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 and took work as an electrical wireman. "He soon announced that this work was too strenuous and soon blossomed forth as a professor of hypnotism." The Times quoted articles from the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Call, published on February 28, 1894, stating that Howton had attempted suicide by swallowing morphine and that authorities had discovered a note he had written expressing anguish over his unreturned love for a woman, The Times said Howton had then come to Los Angeles where he was "ordained a minister in the Spiritualist church and in little more than a week . . . he was exposed as a fake medium." The newspaper then said that "Prof. Arthur" subsequently made appearances in Denver, Colorado, and in Kenwood Hall, Chicago. [32]

The Times continued:

In 1902 he came to Los Angeles and commenced to practice medicine without the formality of taking out a physician's certificate. This was objected to by the health officers and he later secured a certificate which passed the muster of the Health Office. [32]

Los Angeles Express and Los Angeles Tribune

Houghton received financial support from Edwin T. Earl, publisher of the evening Express and the morning Tribune, according to Houghton's testimony when he was a witness in a $150,000 libel action that Earl unsuccessfully brought in 1917 against the Los Angeles Record. Houghton said he had had two conferences with Earl during the 1904 councilmanic campaign, the second including a question from Earl asking "Why didn't you tell me that you had a past?" "He was very angry that I didn't go into my past, from the cradle up," Houghton testified, adding that the publisher said he had assigned a detective to follow Houghton for six weeks "and that he had the goods on me." [33]

'Resignation'

In a council session on June 9, 1905, Houghton submitted his resignation and left the council chamber after the council refused to bar Attorney C.C. Wright from speaking. He was insulted, Houghton said, because Wright had referred to him as Mister, rather than Doctor. [27] Houghton returned in person on June 19 and, saying that his previous action had been "temporary," requested his seat be returned to him. After some public discussion and a closed meeting, the council allowed him to retain his position. [34]

1917 and 1919 elections

By 1917, Los Angeles had adopted a new city charter, by which all City Council members ran on an at-large basis, with the top eighteen who survived the primary facing a runoff and the top nine of those being chosen at the second election. Houghton put his name in nomination, with one of his election planks being the construction of a new city jail with a modern receiving hospital. He survived the primary but in the final balloting in June 1917 he placed twelfth and so was not chosen. [35] [36]

Two days after the election, Houghton was walking near the City Hall with one of the victors, John R. Reeves, when Reeves was stricken by a heart attack but was revived when Houghton administered an injection of strychnine. [37]

In 1919, Houghton ran again, but this time he came in 19th in the primary and so was defeated there. [38]

Hospital

In September 1917, Houghton was appointed by Receiving Hospital Director John B. Gilmer to oversee the medical facilities at the city jail. [39]

Arrest

No longer a City Council member, Houghton was arrested along with Sherman L. Dodge, a house painter, at Seventh Street and Grand Avenue on July 11, 1908, for speaking on the street without permission of the Police Commission. The arrest before a crowd of about 2,000 was "dramatic in the extreme," the Herald reported. "The crowd was largely composed of persons who had followed the Socialist speakers from Seventh and Main strets[ sic ] when it was found that speaking at that point would seriously interfere with the movement of street car traffic." [40]

Houghton said:

I was a member of the council when this unfair and unAmerican ordinance went through. I voted against it because I believed it to be not only unconstitutional but [also] iniquitous. . . . I believe the safety of the republic and the welfare of the nation demands that the principal of freedom of speech and of the press be held sacred. [40]

After "a vigorous street speaking campaign . . . waged by Socialists,of whom more than a score were arrested," the ordinance was repealed and all those taken into custody were freed without trial. [41]

World War I and American Legion

In April 1917 Houghton helped organize a medical reserves unit of the Home Guard, in which he had the rank of lieutenant-colonel. [42] In June 1918 he helped begin a move to compel all British subjects between the ages of 18 and 50 "to enlist for service abroad," except for those "supporting dependents." He said aid in the campaign would come from the American Protective League. [43]

Houghton resigned from city service in June 1918 to accept a commission in the Army Medical Corps. He left for his assignment in San Francisco, accompanied by his wife. [44] At his death he was reported to have served in the 60th Coast Artillery. [5]

After the war, Houghton was one of the 11 men who formed the American Legion veterans organization. [2]

Syndicalism trial

Houghton was "the star witness" in the 1920 trial of Sydney R. Flowers, who was charged in a Los Angeles court with criminal syndicalism. Houghton told of his conversation with Flowers at the Soldiers' and Sailors' War Replacement Bureau, in which Flowers made a "general tirade against government" and "lauded the I.W.W. in Seattle." Defense attorney John Beardsley subjected Houghton to a "rigid cross-examination" in an effort to show that Houghton had been opposed by Flowers "in one of his ambitions and for that reason felt hostile toward him." [45]

The defense called three witnesses to testify that Houghton's reputation for "truth, honesty and integrity" was "bad." Houghton, however, was vouched for by eleven witnesses, including Buron Fitts of the American Legion. [46] Flowers eventually fled to Canada. [47]

Honors

Houghton had fellowships in the Royal Horticultural Society of England, [2] the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. [5] In 1939 a tree was planted in his honor in an observance by more than a hundred military veterans at the Veterans Administration facility in today's North Hills, Los Angeles. [48]

Further reading

Houghton as a hypnotist. Stage hypnotist Arthur D. Houghton, with subject, probably in the 1890s.jpg
Houghton as a hypnotist.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank L. Shaw</span> American politician

Frank Lawrence Shaw was the first mayor of a major American city to be recalled from office, in 1938. He was also a member of the Los Angeles City Council and then the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. His administration was seen as one of the most corrupt in Los Angeles history, although he had some defenders and was never charged officially with any crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owen McAleer</span> American politician

Owen McAleer was a Los Angeles, California, businessman who was mayor of the city between 1904 and 1906. His brother Jimmy McAleer played in Major League Baseball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Hiram Randall</span> American politician (1865–1951)

Charles Hiram Randall was an American newspaper publisher and politician in Los Angeles, California. He represented the city in the California State Assembly from 1911 to 1913 and the U.S. House of Representatives from 1915 to 1921. He was the only Prohibition Party candidate ever elected to Congress. He also served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1925 until 1933 and as President of the City Council for his final term from 1931 to 1933. In 1926, he was the first council member to face a recall election under the present city charter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Luther Criswell</span> American politician

Ralph Luther Criswell was a member of the Los Angeles City Council for ten years in the early 20th century. He then became a special agent, or lobbyist, for the Colorado River Project that brought water to Southern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wholesale District, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles

The Wholesale District or Warehouse District in Downtown Los Angeles, California, has no exact boundaries, but at present it lies along the BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad lines, which run parallel with Alameda Street and the Los Angeles River. Except for some ancillary commercial uses, its cityscape is mostly occupied by warehouses and refrigerated storage facilities. This area is known as Central City North in the Los Angeles city zoning map.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George P. Cronk</span> American politician

George Parkman Cronk was an insurance man who was on the Los Angeles City Council from 1945 to 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed J. Davenport</span> American politician (1899–1953)

Edward J. Davenport was an American politician who served on the Los Angeles City Council for the 12th district from 1945 to 1953. Elected as a liberal Democrat, he became a staunch conservative anti-communist, switching his party to Republican in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ransom M. Callicott</span> American politician

Ransom M. Callicott was president of the National Restaurant Association, co-founder of Meals for Millions and a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1955 until his death. He was one of the doubters of the proposal to bring the baseball Dodgers from Brooklyn and install them in a new stadium in Chavez Ravine, insisting upon carefully examining the plans for the stadium before it was built.

Samuel J. Beck was a metallurgist, land developer, a judge in Montana, and a member of the Montana State Legislature in the 19th Century. He was also on the Los Angeles Common Council from 1878 to 1880 and was its president during 1878–79, in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1909 Los Angeles mayoral special election</span>

The 1909 Los Angeles mayoral special election took place on March 26, 1909, following the recall attempt of incumbent Arthur Cyprian Harper. George Alexander was elected over Fred C. Wheeler by a small plurality. It was the first election "ever held in any American city for the recall of a mayor." It was also the first election held after the charter amendment that instituted nonpartisan elections and made the office of Mayor nonpartisan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Potter Davenport</span> American politician

James Potter Davenport (1841–1905) was a Los Angeles, California, City Council member who was the first official in the United States to be removed from office in a recall election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Healy</span> American politician

Bernard Healy was a Los Angeles City Council member who was known for his attempt in 1905 to legislate against landlords who refused to rent to families with children, for his support of paid holidays for city workers in the parks and streets departments, and for his large family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George A. Smith (California politician)</span> American politician (1844–1916

George A. Smith was a pioneer resident of Los Angeles, California, a member of its City Council and an unsuccessful candidate for mayor, as well as a Nevada mining speculator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Kern (police officer)</span> American politician

Edward Kern (1860–1912) was a politician and police chief from Los Angeles, California. He also served in the war against Geronimo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Strohm</span>

Thomas Strohm (1846–1929) was fire chief of the city of Los Angeles for three separate terms between 1887 and 1905 as well as a Los Angeles City Council member during 1892–94. He was denied a city pension although he had been injured on the job. Strohm also began a company that later became the Shasta Water Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Asa Todd</span> American journalist and politician(1870–1943)

Robert Asa Todd was a California and Arizona journalist who became a member of the Los Angeles City Council in 1898–1904 and then a deputy city attorney for Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray L. Chesebro</span> American politician

Raymond L. Chesebro was a 20th-century police judge and city attorney in Los Angeles, California, who became known and commended throughout the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin F. Betkouski</span> American politician

Martin Francis Betkouski was a member of the Los Angeles City Council between 1909 and 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry H. Yonkin</span> American politician

Henry H. Yonkin was a politician who served on the Los Angeles City Council, California State Assembly, and California State Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert J. Stevenson</span> American politician and actor (1915–1975)

Robert J. Stevenson was an American politician and former actor who served on the Los Angeles City Council for the District 13 from 1969 to 1975. As a film and television actor, Stevenson had approximately 133 credits. After his death in 1975, his wife, Peggy Stevenson, was elected to the seat. They were the second husband and wife to serve consecutive terms on the Los Angeles City Council—the first having been Ed J. Davenport and Harriett Davenport between 1945 and 1955.

References

  1. ↑ Los Angeles Public Library reference file
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Dr. Houghton Casket Will Lie in State," Los Angeles Examiner, January 25, 1938
  3. 1 2 3 "Character, But No Beauty Is His Abode," Los Angeles Examiner, September 18, 1904, page 1
  4. ↑ "Dr. Houghton Can't Make Denial Stick," Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1904, page A-1
  5. 1 2 3 "Dr. Houghton Succumbs," Los Angeles Times, January 25, 1938
  6. ↑ "Players in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor,' " Los Angeles Herald, April 17, 1904
  7. ↑ "Mayor Ejects Sixth Warder," Los Angeles Herald, March 16, 1906
  8. ↑ "Says Examiner Is Liar and Devoid of Truth," Los Angeles Herald, November 28, 1905
  9. ↑ "Rantings of Dock Are Brought to Close," Los Angeles Herald, February 29, 1906
  10. ↑ "Expert Witness in Insurance Case Suddenly Becomes Ill While Waiting to Testify," Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1933, page A-3
  11. ↑ "Late Dr. Houghton to Lie in State," Los Angeles Herald-Express, January 25, 1938
  12. ↑ ""Bridge to Cost About $40,000," Los Angeles Herald, June 17, 1906". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  13. ↑ "Accept Pioneer Park; Reject Dock's Cacti," Los Angeles Herald, July 13, 1906
  14. ↑ "Scientist Has Newest Flower," Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1928, page A-12
  15. ↑ "Cactus Show at Pasadena Draws Crowd," Los Angeles Times, March 17, 1929, page C-27
  16. ↑ International Plant Names Index.  Houghton.
  17. ↑ "Recall Elections," Los Angeles A to Z, Leonard Pitt and Dale Pitt, University of California Press (1997)
  18. ↑ "History of the Davenport Case," Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1904, page A-1
  19. ↑ "Los Angeles Voters Sustain City's Charter," San Francisco Call, September 17, 1904
  20. ↑ "Recall Candidate Wins," Los Angeles Herald, September 17, 1904
  21. 1 2 3 "Howton Goes Into Council, Admits His Identity, Confesses Assumed Name," Los Angeles Times, September 21, 1904, page 2
  22. ↑ Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1904, page 8
  23. ↑ "Houghton Defeats Davenport by a Large Majority," Los Angeles Examiner, September 17, 1904, page 1
  24. 1 2 "Can a Spook Be a Citizen?" Los Angeles Times, September 20, 1904, page A-1
  25. ↑ Los Angeles Examiner, September 21, 1904
  26. ↑ "In Stormy Session Houghton Is Seated," Los Angeles Herald, September 21, 1904
  27. 1 2 "Doc Howton's Resignation," Los Angeles Times, June 10, 1905, page II-1
  28. ↑ "More Malicious Falsehoods," Los Angeles Times, September 22, 1904, page A-4
  29. ↑ "Bearded Fish," Los Angeles Herald, April 21, 1909 "We notice with interest the demotion of Doctor Houghton in the columns of a morning pro-vice contemporary. This sheet used to refer to him as 'Doc' Howton. When he was advocating causes dear to the heart of our contemporary he was promoted to 'Dr. A.D. Houghton.' But he is demoted, and again he is 'Doc' Howton."
  30. ↑ "General Otis' Threat to Dr. Houghton," Los Angeles Examiner, page 1
  31. ↑ "Malicious Lie Nailed Hard," Los Angeles Times, September 22, 1904, page A-2
  32. 1 2 "Howton History: Many 'Warm' Chapters," Los Angeles Times, September 22, 1904, page A-2
  33. ↑ Roger M. Grace, "E.T. Earl Pulls the Strings of Woolwine's Election Challenger," Metropolitan News-Enterprise, June 5, 2007
  34. ↑ "For Election in Ward Six" Los Angeles Times,June 20, 1905, page II-2
  35. ↑ "Big Reception Planned for Tomorrow Evening," Los Angeles Times, April 11, 1917, page II-6
  36. ↑ "City Election Final Figures," Los Angeles Times, June 7, 1905, page II-2
  37. ↑ "Heart Attack Fells Reeves," Los Angeles Times, June 9, 1917, page II-1
  38. ↑ "Politics: The Watchman," Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1919, page II-8
  39. ↑ "Politics," Los Angeles Times, September 30, 1917, page 19
  40. 1 2 "Houghton Run In for Speech," Los Angeles Herald, July 12, 1908
  41. ↑ "Street Speaking Charge Against Houghton Dropped," Los Angeles Herald, August 14, 1908
  42. ↑ "Reception for the Incumbent," Los Angeles Times, April 8, 1917, page VII-2
  43. ↑ "Britishers to Be Recruited," Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1918, page II-2
  44. ↑ "Joins Medical Corps," Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1918, page 17
  45. ↑ "Avers Flowers Talked Revolt," Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1920
  46. ↑ "Flowers Case to Jury Today," Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1920, page II-11
  47. ↑ "Heavy Flowers Bail Forfeited," Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1920, page II-1
  48. ↑ "Tree Planting Honors Legion Founder," Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1939, page A-2
Preceded by Los Angeles City Council, 1889–1909
6th Ward
1904–06		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.