William O. Huntington was the second of nine children born to James S. Huntington, Sr. and Mariah Bowler Huntington. James was the first Sheriff of Cowlitz County, Washington.

William married Sarah Jane Adams on February 19, 1846 in Brown County, Indiana. They had nine children together, the first three born in Indiana, including little Sarah who died in 1852 on the Oregon Trail.

William and Sarah's children are:

John Dorsey Huntington 1847-1920
James "Walter" Huntington 1849-1920
Sarah Huntington bef. 1852-1852
Josephine Huntington aft. 1852-bef. 1915
Lydia F. Huntington Newton ca. 1854-aft 1886
Laura May Huntington Newton 1859-bef. 1915
Nancy Jane Huntington Bodine 1861-aft. 1915
Samuel B. Huntington 1864-1892
Carrie "Belle" Huntington 1869-1968

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Washington Donation Land Claim Certificate # 156

I, William O. Huntington of Cowlitz County in the Territory of Washington hereby give Notice of my claim to a donation of three hundred & twenty acres of Land. 320 particularly bounded and described as follows beginning at a stake on the west bank of the Cowlitz River one mile above the North line of lands claimed by Jacob Huntington west one mile thince North to the Cowlitz River then down the Cowlitz River to a stake opposite the claim of B. Huntington one mile and a half then south to the place of beginning.
William O. Huntington
Wife Sarah Jane


"According to one story, not wanting to oust a squatter was what brought William O. Huntington to Shanghai. He was the married son of James S. Huntington, one of the four Huntington brothers who came to Castle Rock in 1852. William had built a log cabin near what is now Rocky Point north of Kelso, but before he could bring his family a squatter had moved in. The Huntington's then homesteaded about a mile up the Coweeman Valley opposite what is now Fish Pond Road, which led over the hill to Carrolls. At the time it was called Sam Adams Road after a hitchhiking nephew of Sarah Huntington, William's wife. His aunt had refused to let him come along on the wagon train going west, but he caught up with it on horseback two days after it started, too late to be turned back. Sam Adams immigrated with the Huntington's, married, and settled down in Shanghai.

"They Came to Six Rivers" by Virginia Urrutia; Cowlitz County Historical Society, 1998. Chapter 9, Page 58

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"Kelsonian" February 24, 1915 pg. 4, col. 3

PIONEERS ARE CALLED
COWLITZ PAYS TRIBUTE

William Ormskirke Huntington
William O. Huntington was born near North Bend, Ohio, October 22, 1824, on the farm of General Harrison, famous for the part he took in the war of 1812. Mr. Huntington's parents were Mr. and Mrs. James Huntington, who removed shortly afterwards to the state of Indiana, where they resided at Shelbyville and other points. Mr. Huntington's great grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence and the same faith in the new country, which led their forbears to take a prominent part in the fight for freedom from the mother country, led the fourth generation of the family ever westward till they established their homes on the Pacific slopes.
Shortly after attaining manhood, Mr. Huntington moved into DeWitt County, Illinois. The lure of the boundless west drew him ever onward, however, and in 1852 he travelled with his wife and two children by ox-team from Clinton, Illinois, where he had been living, to the Missouri River crossing, where he joined a number of other family members of the Huntington family, including his father and brothers and other relatives, and crossed the plains with them.
What this long trip of more than 2,000 miles meant in that day is hardly appreciated in this day and generation, when the same distance, which took many months at that time, is crossed in half as many days by our modern trains. Then the obstacles were almost insurmountable and it was only the hardiest and most daring who undertook the journey. Many were the interesting tales of the ox-team journey which "Uncle Billy," as he was familiarly known, would recount to his hearers. The ranks of these bold pioneers are rapidly thinning as one by one they cross into the shadowy land beyond the divide. There are still a few members of the Huntington party living, but last week saw two of them go to their reward. Too much honor and praise cannot be given these people by the present generation.
Following his arrival at Monticello, he lived with his brother-in-law, W. W. Hayes, on the Crawford Donation Claim. For three years after this he lived on the old Carroll place, now the Gray farm, on the west side of the river. After that he took up a homestead below Arkansaw Creek on the west bank of the Cowlitz. His next moved was into Oregon, to Clackamas County, where he operated a tan-yard for Orren Kellogg, Sr., grandfather of the present head of the Kellogg Transportation Co. In 1867 he moved back to Cowlitz County and settled ultimately in the Coweeman valley, where he resided until a few months ago. About ten years ago his faithful wife and companion of almost sixty years preceded him to the Great Beyond.
The last few months were spent at the home of his daughter at Forest Grove, Oregon. News of Mr. Huntington's death came as a complete surprise to his host of friends in Cowlitz County. Despite his ninety years he was as spry and hearty an old man as could be imagined when he left here. Up to three years ago he did a full day of work every twenty-four hours and since then he has never shirked a task. He was more active than the average man twenty-five years his junior.
Five children, many grandchildren and a host of other relatives survive him to mourn his loss. His surviving children are John D. Huntington of Los Angeles, Cal., J. W. Huntington of Shanghai, Mrs. Wm. Bodine of Los Angeles, Cal., and May Newton and Miss Belle Huntington of Forest Grove, Oregon. His brother, James S. Huntington, of this city, also survives him.
Funeral services were conducted Thursday at Forest Grove, interment being made in that city. Eventually the body will be lifted from its resting place in that city and laid beside the remains of his wife in the Shanghai cemetery.