Charles James Luttrell, district attorney of Siskiyou County, belongs to the more influential younger class of citizens, and since arriving at years of maturity has taken an active part in professional, public, and political affairs of Siskiyou County. He has been especially interested in the material progress of his county, whose great agricultural and mineral resources, when properly brought to the attention of the world and fully developed, will make this one of the premier counties of the state in wealth and general prosperity. He has found this a fruitful field of his endeavor, and in his own profession, he has attained well-merited recognition during the few years of his active practice.
Mr. Luttrell was born January 18, 1875, in Fort Jones, Siskiyou County, so that his entire career has been passed in the county of his nativity. His father, Lloyd Benjamin Luttrell, was born in Tennessee, and crossed the plains to California in 1864. He located in Scott Valley, Siskiyou County, and bought a farm, where he has ever since been engaged in general agriculture and stock-raising. He is one of the leading Democrats of his section. The paternal side of the family is of Scotch-English descent, but of long residence in America. John K. Luttrell, a brother of Lloyd, served in the state legislature two terms from what is now the first assembly district, during the sixteenth and seventeenth sessions. He was congressman from the first California district for three terms, 1873-79, was state prison director 1887-89, and was occupying an appointive position in Alaska under President Cleveland at the time of his death, which occurred in Sitka, October 4, 1893. Mr. Lloyd Luttrell married Miss Lizzie Jordan, who was born in Brunswick, Maine, and is still living. Her father was a sailor throughout his early years, and in the early fifties came out to California. She came to the West by way of the Isthmus of Panama about the same time as her husband. She is of an old New England family of English descent. There are six living children in the family besides Mr. C. J., and two boys are deceased: Peter is a student at the Cooper Medical College; George is principal of the public school in Hornbrook; John and Bernard are at home; Miss Emma is a public school teacher; and Martha is at home.
Mr. Charles J. Luttrell was educated in the public schools of Siskiyou County, and at the age of eighteen commenced teaching, which he continued in this county for six years. In 1899 he entered the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and in June 1901, graduated with the degree of LL. B. About the same time, he was admitted to the supreme court of this state. He began practice in Yreka in September 1901 and has since carried on the profession along general lines.
He became active in Democratic circles before beginning the study of law, and in 1898 represented his party in state and county conventions. In November 1902, he was elected, on the Democratic ticket, to the office of district attorney for Siskiyou County, for the term from 1903 to 1907. The court records of the county show his activity in this office and how successful he has been in the prosecution of cases on behalf of the state. He has fraternal affiliations with the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Masons, and the Rebekahs and the Order of the Eastern Star.
Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.