Huntington was born in
Topsfield, Massachusetts on July 23, 1798 to Rev. Asahel and Alethea (Lord) Huntington. Huntington was the brother of
Salem, Massachusetts mayor
Asahel Huntington. He was graduated at
Dartmouth College in 1815 and from
Yale Medical School in 1823. Commencing his professional life at Lowell in 1824, two years before the incorporation of that city, he was identified for the last quarter of a century with its growth and improvement, and was eight times elected mayor. In 1853 he was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. He was also at one time president of the
Massachusetts Medical Society, and from 1860 to 1365 an overseer of
Harvard College. He married in 1825, Hannah Hinckley, of Marblehead, who died in 1859. They had five children, including
William Reed Huntington. ==Notes==