Huntington Oil & Gas is the latest continuation of the Huntington name, which has deep roots in business and our country’s history. With one of Huntington Oil & Gas’ co-founders having an ancestral tie to the Huntington name, it quickly became a candidate for a company name that would embody what the co-founders wanted the business to be about.
“In prosperity be prudent,
in adversity be patient”
Samuel Huntington
Image courtesy of the National Archives
Samuel Huntington was a Connecticut politician, jurist, statesman, and patriot in the revolutionary war. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. He also served as President of the Continental Congress from 1779-1781 and President of the United States Congress assembled in 1781 which elected George Washington President.
Pelatiah Webster (P.W.) Huntington
Image courtesy of Columbus Metropolitan Library
P.W. Huntington was an Ohio banker and businessman starting the predecessor of the Huntington National Bank in Columbus in 1866. P.W. ran the bank until 1918 when he handed down control to his three “Banking Sons” who ran the bank until 1958. B.G. Huntington, one of the sons is quoted as saying “In prosperity be prudent, in adversity be patient”. The bank survives today as the 23rd largest bank in the United States.
![Golden Spike 1869 Photograph by Andrew J. Russell (1830-1902) [Public domain]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d0cfb3677e2300001b5fe16/1562168029160-9JGK501IGUUWJR08JJNZ/Golden+Spike+1869%2C+Andrew+J.+Russell+%281830-1902%29+%5BPublic+domain%5D.jpg)
Golden Spike 1869
Photograph by Andrew J. Russell (1830-1902) [Public domain]
Collis P. Huntington was a California Railroad magnate who, along with Leland Stanford, Jr, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins started the Central Pacific Railroad. 150 years ago on May 10, 1869, Leland Stanford drove ‘The Last Spike’ into the ground, connecting the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad lines and completing the transcontinental railroad in Promontory Summit, Utah.
Henry E. Huntington, Nephew of Collis, continued the family’s railroad activities. He settled in the growing area of Los Angeles and was a major owner of a beachfront area known as Huntington Beach. The Huntington Beach Oil Field was discovered in 1920 and has produced more than one billion barrels of oil and 850 BCF of natural gas.
Huntington Beach Oil Field six years after the Huntington A-1 first produced oil in 1920
Image courtesy of Orange County Archives
