Lucius Seth Huntington, (May 26, 1827–May 19, 1886) was a

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lawyer, journalist and political figure. He was a Liberal member of the

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representing Shefford from 1867 to 1882. He also served as

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and

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. He was born in Compton,

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in 1827. The families of his parents had come to the

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from

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. He studied law with John Sewell Sanborn and was called to the bar in 1853. There was a surplus of lawyers at the time, so he became a merchant to provide himself with additional income. He also established a newspaper in Knowlton, later moving it to Waterloo after he was hired as secretary for a railroad company based there. He ran for the Shefford seat in the Legislative Assembly in 1860, but the election was not settled before parliament was dissolved; he was elected in the election that followed in 1861. In 1863, he was appointed solicitor general for

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. During the

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, he profited from his ownership of a

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

mine; later, the market in copper collapsed and so did Huntington's profits. In 1873, he exposed the

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which led to the fall of Sir John A. Macdonald's

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. He then became part of a syndicate formed to continue construction of the railway. He intended to resign from his government post to enter this business venture, but was persuaded to remain in office when the Conservatives alleged wrongdoing in his sale of his interests in copper mines, since his resignation might be interpreted as a sign of guilt. In 1875, Huntington was heavily criticized for a speech where he advised English Protestants in Quebec to vote Liberal to protect their own interests versus those of French Catholics. He fell ill later in his parliamentary career and, after his defeat in 1882, moved to

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to seek medical treatment. He died in New York in 1886.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Huntington, Lucius 1827 births 1886 deaths Politicians from Estrie Canadian people of American descent Anglophone Quebec people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Postmasters general of Canada 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada