Bela Shaw Huntington (February 5, 1858 – October 10, 1934) was an attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Illinois, he was educated in Vermont and later moved to Oregon where he was an attorney in The Dalles.Colmer, Montagu, and Charles Erskine Scott Wood. 1910
''History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon''.
Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co. p. 158. Huntington was a Republican and served in the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the ...

Early life

Bela Huntington was born in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

, on February 5, 1858, the son of Charles A. and Lucretia Atwood (née Waterman) Huntington. He lived at

St. Johnsbury, Vermont St. Johnsbury (known locally as "St. J") is the shire town (county seat) of Caledonia County, Vermont, Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 7,364. St. Johnsbury is situated ...

, from 1864 to 1867, and then Olympia, Washington, from 1867 to 1875. He received his early education at the

St. Johnsbury Academy St. Johnsbury Academy (SJA) is an independent, private, coeducational, non-profit boarding and day school located in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in the United States. The academy enrolls students in grades 9-12. It was founded by Thaddeus Fairbanks ...

from 1875 until 1878. Huntington attended the University of Vermont from 1878 to 1882 and earned a bachelor's degree. From 1882 to 1883 he attended the University of Michigan Law School, and was admitted to the bar in Michigan in 1883. He then moved to Oregon that year and entered private legal practice. Huntington earned a master's degree from Vermont in 1885. On February 2, 1887, he married Helen May Wilson, and they had two children, Wilson Bela Huntington Irving Curtis Huntington.

Legal career

He entered into partnership with F. P. Mays under the firm name of ''Mays & Huntington'' between 1886 and 1890. Later, until 1909 he practiced with H. S. Wilson in The Dalles. In September 1909, he moved to Portland, Oregon. He was the president of the McKinley Club between 1892 and 1894, and he was chairman of the Republicans' county committee. He was the Republican nominee for the

for

Wasco Wasco is the name of four places in the United States: Places United States * Wasco, California, a city in California ** Wasco State Prison, located in Wasco, California * Wasco, Illinois, a former hamlet (unincorporated town) in Illinois, now pa ...

and Gilliam counties and was elected to a single two-year term in

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

. He represented District 47, but the House failed to organize that year, and Huntington did not return for the 1898 special session. He never served again in the Oregon Legislature.

Later life and death

Huntington's wife Helen died on September 30, 1923, and he remarried on October 23, 1928, to Maude S. Hendryx. Bela Shaw Huntington died on October 10, 1934, at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntington, Bela Shaw Portland, Oregon Republicans Politicians from Rockford, Illinois Politicians from The Dalles, Oregon Members of the Oregon House of Representatives 1858 births 1934 deaths University of Vermont alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni Politicians from Burlington, Vermont