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.
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.
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. He was said to be of slight build and to have "auburn" or "pink topped" hair.
Houghton suffered a heart attack on November 29, 1933, as he was waiting to testify as an expert witness in 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 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.
Botany
Houghton was a noted botanist. He was author of The Cactus Book, published in 1931 by the Macmillan Company 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." 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."
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. In 1929 Houghton was president of the Cactus Society of America
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. The recall petition also accused him of "aiding and abetting in the erection of a large and offensive slaughter-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 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."
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. Los Angeles Times