Sherman Otis Houghton

Sherman Otis Houghton (April 10, 1828 – August 31, 1914) was an American politician from California. He also married, in succession, two survivors of the Donner Party.

Houghton was born in New York City, on April 10, 1828. He completed preparatory studies and attended Collegiate Institute in New York.

During the Mexican-American War, Houghton enlisted in the First Regiment, New York Volunteers, in June 1846. He arrived in San Francisco, California in 1847 with the rest of his regiment after sailing around Cape Horn. The regiment garrisoned Santa Barbara, before capturing the city of La Paz in Baja California. He was honorably discharged as a lieutenant at Monterey, California, in October 1848.

Houghton then proceeded to mine for gold during the California Gold Rush, and after about six months of mining, he moved to San Jose and entered various commercial businesses. He served as the deputy clerk of the Supreme Court of California in 1854, the same year he was elected to the San Jose Common Council. He was elected the fourth Mayor of San Jose, California from 1855 to 1856. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1857, and commenced practice in San Jose.

During the Civil War he was commissioned as a captain and promoted to lieutenant colonel, and served successively as inspector and ordnance officer. After the war, he was elected as a Republican to the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses (March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875) and was the chairman of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures for the Forty-third Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress.

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