John Heman Orcutt

John Heman Orcutt

John Heman Orcutt was born on 14 July 1856. He was twenty-two when he left Vermont for San Diego with his parents, Heman Chandler and Eliza Eastin Orcutt, and his younger brother, Charles Russell Orcutt, who was fourteen at the time. This photograph was made on 15 July 1881, one day after he turned twenty-five.

A note on his name. Nearly every genealogy has it as “John Herman Orcutt.” I’ve had to go back and edit my posts on this blog because I made the same mistake. Heman, by the way, is a Biblical name, Hebrew for faithful. There were two Hemans in the Bible. One is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:6 and 1 Kings 4:31 as a son of Zerah. The other, a grandson of Samuel the prophet, was described as a singer (1 Chronicles 6:33). He authored Psalm 88.

The Heman/Herman confusion has plagued the Orcutts bearing this given name. They are very nearly identical, especially when written in cursive form. My Grandfather’s name was Heman Cortis Orcutt. In his high school yearbook, and on the graduation class list, he was Herman Cortis Orcutt. John Herman Orcutt is the name given in every Orcutt genealogy I have seen. It may be that this is the spelling in some of the official records. It was this spelling, preconceived in my mind, that lead me to misread family letters and documents. But in reexamining them, I can clearly determine that the name is John Heman Orcutt, after his father, Heman Chandler Orcutt. As a final proof, the name is so spelled in typeset in the sole instance that it is mentioned in The West American Scientist. So here’s a news flash to all Orcutt genealogists. Incidentally, for some reason, many genealogies have Heman Charles Orcutt for Heman Chandler Orcutt. So, come one, let’s get these names right.

John helped his father and brother in the early years in San Diego. He married Susan B. Eagan on 8 November 1882 in San Diego. They had one son, Harrison, born in April 1885. John worked as a machinist. Once again, I can find nothing about John’s life apart from the very few snippets I have already related. I gather from Charles’ letters that John and Sue remained living in San Diego. He died sometime before 1930, after which his wife moved to San Francisco.