Collection Guide
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Houghton (Sherman Otis) Papers
mssHOU
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Sherman Otis Houghton papers
Creator:
Houghton, Sherman Otis, 1828-1914
Identifier/Call Number: mssHOU
Physical Description:
2.40 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1831-1914
Date (bulk): 1860-1900
Abstract: Papers belonging to California lawyer and politician Sherman Otis Houghton.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Sherman Otis Houghton papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased and gift from Eliza P. Houghton, April 1935 and December 1937.
Sherman Otis Houghton, a California lawyer and politician, was born in New York and came to California with the 1st Regiment
of New York Volunteers in 1847. He settled in San Jose and became mayor in 1853. He was admitted to the bar in 1857. He married
two survivors of the Donner Party. In 1859 he married Mary Donner, and in 1861, after her death, he married her cousin Eliza
Poor Donner; both of their parents died during the crossing of the Sierra Nevada in 1846. From 1871 to 1873 he represented
California in the National House of Representatives. Houghton died in Los Angeles in August 1914.
The collection consists primarily of correspondence regarding the publication of History of the Donner Party by Charles Fayette
McGlashan, 1879. Persons represented in the collection by three or more pieces include: Tamsen Donner, Richard C. Kerens,
and Charles Fayette McGlashan. There are also two letters from Jessie Benton Frémont to Eliza Poor Donner Houghton, a petition
written to President Benjamin Harrison recommending Sherman Houghton for the office of Judge of the U.S. Circuit Court, Ninth
District, and a copy of "The California Regiment of 1847" by Albert Gallatin Brackett.
Processed by Huntington Library staff. In 2021, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
Arranged chronologically.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssHOU 1-152.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Donner Party
Overland journeys to the Pacific
Pioneers -- California
California -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
California -- Politics and Government -- 19th century
Nevada County (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Letters (correspondence) -- United States
Donner, Tamsen, 1801-1847
Frémont, Jessie Benton, 1824-1902
Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901
Houghton, Eliza Poor Donner
McGlashan, C. F. (Charles Fayette), 1847-1931 -- History of the Donner Party