Arthur D. Houghton

Arthur D. Houghton
Houghton in 1904
Member of the Los Angeles City Council
In office 1904–1906
Preceded by	James Potter Davenport
Succeeded by	Henry H. Yonkin
Personal details
Born	(1870-06-06)June 6, 1870 London,England,U.K.
Died	January 23, 1938(1938-01-23)(aged 67) Los Angeles, California,U.S.
Political party	Democrat Republican(from 1914)
Spouse	Florence Gildersleeve ​ ​ (after1913)​
Alma mater	Oxford University Royal Military School of Engineers

Arthur Duvernoix Houghton(June 8, 1870 - January 23, 1938) was a medical doctor, abotanistspecializing incacti,a member of theLos Angeles, California, City Council from 1904 to 1906and one of the founders of theAmerican Legion.In his early years he was a showman who presentedperformances in hypnotismand conductedseances.

Personal

Houghton was born inLondon,England,on June 8, 1871, and was educated atOxford Universityand theRoyal Military School of Engineers.He served in the British Army. Houghton had amedical degreeand adoctorate 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 conductedseancesin that city. He moved to Los Angeles around 1902. He was married to Florence Gildersleeve of Chicago in June 1913.

Houghton played the role of Doctor Caius, a French physician, in abenefitLos Angeles performance of William Shakespeare'sThe Merry Wives of Windsorin April 1904.He was said to be of slight buildand to have "auburn" or "pink topped" hair.

Houghton suffered a heart attack on November 29, 1933, as he was waiting to testify as anexpert witnessin a lawsuit.

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 therotundaof theLos Angeles City Hall,guarded by aphalanxof American Legionnaires; services were held at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral and private cremation followed.

Botany

Houghton was a notedbotanist.He was author ofThe Cactus Book,published in 1931 by theMacmillan CompanyHe 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."He developed asucculentcalled "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 inBoyle 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."

By 1928, Houghton had moved toSan Fernando, California,at 11224 Chatsworth Road, and he was specializing in development of theWatsonia."This is the finest crop I have had in twenty years," Houghton told a reporter.In 1929 Houghton was president of theCactus Society of America

Municipal service

1904–1906 term

Ciry CouncilmanJames 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 theLos Angeles Timeseven though theTimes'bid was $10,000 higher than its nearest competitor.The recall petition also accused him of "aiding and abetting in the erection of a large and offensiveslaughter-house."

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

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.

Shortly after he was elected, Houghton told a reporter he supported the ideas ofHerbert Spencer,the prominent classical liberal political theorist of theVictorian era,and he said that he was "in favor of lessgrade crossingsand morestatues."

Newspaper endorsements

Davenport was supported by theLos Angeles Timesand theLos Angeles Herald.Houghton had the backing of theLos Angeles Examiner,theLos Angeles Expressand theLos Angeles Record.

Los Angeles Times

Timescartoon of Houghton (with umbrella), December 3, 1904

TheTimesquestioned 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, theTimesstated that "He has not shown that he is an American citizen."TheExaminer,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 anExaminerreporter, and the council on September 20 thereupon seated Houghton by a unanimous vote.

TheTimes,at that time edited by the publisher,Harrison Gray Otis,generally spelled Houghton's name as "Howton."and called him a "seancer" and a "spook"or a "spook doctor."

In a front-page article published on September 21, 1904, theLos Angeles Examiner,owned byWilliam Randolph Hearst,claimed that reporter Fred Hopewell of theTimeshad 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.

Hopewell denied the accusation in a signed statement in theTimesthe next day.

On September 22, 1904, theTimespublished a story alleging that "Arthur Howton" had moved from Chicago to San Francisco during theCalifornia Midwinter International Exposition of 1894and took work as an electrical wireman. "He soon announced that this work was too strenuous and soon blossomed forth as a professor of hypnotism." TheTimesquoted articles from theSan Francisco Examinerand theSan Francisco Call,published on February 28, 1894, stating that Howton had attempted suicide by swallowingmorphineand that authorities had discovered a note he had written expressing anguish over his unreturned love for a woman, TheTimessaid Howton had then come to Los Angeles where he was "ordained a minister in theSpiritualist churchand in little more than a week... he was exposed as a fakemedium."The newspaper then said that" Prof. Arthur "subsequently made appearances in Denver, Colorado, and in Kenwood Hall, Chicago.

TheTimescontinued:

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.

Los Angeles ExpressandLos Angeles Tribune

Houghton received financial support fromEdwin T. Earl,publisher of the eveningExpressand the morningTribune,according to Houghton's testimony when he was a witness in a $150,000 libel action that Earl unsuccessfully brought in 1917 against theLos 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."

'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 asMister,rather thanDoctor.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.

1917 and 1919 elections

By 1917, Los Angeles had adopted a newcity charter,by which all City Council members ran on anat-largebasis, with the top eighteen who survived theprimaryfacing arunoffand the top nine of those being chosen at the second election. Houghton put his name innomination,with one of hiselection planksbeing 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.

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 ofstrychnine.

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

Hospital

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

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," theHeraldreported. "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. "

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 onlyunconstitutionalbut [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.

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.

World War I and American Legion

In April 1917 Houghton helped organize a medical reserves unit of theHome Guard,in which he had the rank oflieutenant-colonel.In June 1918 he helped begin a move to compel allBritish subjectsbetween 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 theAmerican Protective League.

Houghton resigned from city service in June 1918 to accept acommissionin theArmy Medical Corps.He left for his assignment in San Francisco, accompanied by his wife.At his death he was reported to have served in the60th Coast Artillery.

After the war, Houghton was one of the 11 men who formed theAmerican Legionveterans organization.

Syndicalism trial

Houghton was "the star witness" in the 1920 trial of Sydney R. Flowers, who was charged in a Los Angeles court withcriminal 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 theI.W.W. in Seattle."Defense attorney John Beardsley subjected Houghton to a" rigidcross-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. "

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, includingBuron Fittsof the American Legion.Flowers eventually fled to Canada.

Honors

Houghton had fellowships in theRoyal Horticultural Societyof England,theBritish Association for the Advancement of Scienceand theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.In 1939 a tree was planted in his honor in an observance by more than a hundred military veterans at theVeterans Administrationfacility in today'sNorth Hills, Los Angeles.

Further reading

Houghton as a hypnotist.

• Statement in 1894 by M.A. Wright of the First Spiritualist Society that Arthur Howton "has not, nor will not, receive anyordinationpapers "from the society" until he shows himself worthy of such. "[1]
• Description of Arthur Howton, a "celebrated medium," performing aseancein 1894.[2]
• A 1906 article by James M. Harris concerning some of Arthur Houghton's time as a hypnotist in Chicago.[3]
• A 1916 letter from Houghton in theAlice Eastwoodcollection of the California Academy of Sciences archives.[4]
• Column by Alma Whitaker of theLos Angeles Timescriticizing a speech Houghton had made about military training and the coddling of soldiers.[5]
• Photograph and description of cactusKalanchoe kalanchoe."Houghton’s Hybrid" or "Pink Butterflies."[6]

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