Before San Diego blossomed into a modern metropolis and before Los Angeles claimed its mantle as the cultural capital of the West Coast, Southern California was shaped by a cadre of restless, forceful personalities—attorneys, civic leaders, pioneers whose vision and will helped transform a dusty frontier into the economic and cultural hub it would become. Among these foundational figures was William Jefferson “Will” Hunsaker, a distinguished trial lawyer, political reformer, and one of early California’s most respected legal minds. His life, which spanned from 1855 to 1933, cuts across a vivid and turbulent panorama: frontier courts and railroad litigation, boom-town politics and civic reform, and the rise of two cities that would define the American 20th century.
By Allan R. Ellenberger
Hunsaker was born September 21, 1855, in Contra Costa County, California, to parents with deep roots in California pioneer history. Nicholas Hunsaker, Will's father, served several terms as Contra Costa County Sheriff, and established order with "frontier justice" in both Contra Costa and San Diego counties before his son was born. Nicholas Hunsaker's strong sense of public service and commitment to duty would greatly impact his son's future career. The Hunsaker family moved to San Diego in 1869, during the optimistic years of Southern California's post-Civil War reconstruction/redevelopment and young Will would come of age there.
In the 1870s, Hunsaker began reading law in local offices—a customary apprenticeship with attorneys rather than attending formal law school—and was admitted to the bar in 1876 by the District Court of San Diego County, and later by the California Supreme Court in 1882. Recognized even early on for his sharp mind, formidable rhetorical skills, and willingness to grapple with complex disputes, he quickly established a reputation as one of the region’s most promising young attorneys.
His practice of law led to a career in public service. He was elected San Diego County District Attorney in 1882 and served until 1884. In 1887, while San Diego's leadership scrambled to restructure city politics amid a boom period of explosive population growth, Hunsaker was elected San Diego's first real mayor under the city's new 1887 charter on the Workingmen's Party of California ticket at age 32. It was the city's first-ever mayoral election after more than 30 years without one.
However, Hunsaker's tenure was not all smooth sailing. San Diego's boom mentality had created unrealistic expectations and greatly overextended city services, which led to internal turmoil in the City Council. Hunsaker desired to slow growth and cut costs fiscally responsibly. He clashed repeatedly with council members who wanted the city to push speculative and major developments. Frustrated that he could not achieve even a semblance of a majority on his side, Hunsaker resigned after eleven months on November 13, 1888. Statewide newspapers picked up the story and promoted Hunsaker as a man of principle.
Hunsaker returned to private practice after retiring, but like so many others could not resist the siren call of opportunity northward. Southern California beckoned, and in 1892 he moved to Los Angeles at the onset of that city's exponential growth in population, industry and municipal sophistication. Within several years he became a leader in Southern California's legal community. Hunsaker became counsel for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in California in 1893, arguing many large-scale transportation cases at a time when railroad companies were major California industries. He eventually resigned and returned to private practice, becoming partners with several notable attorneys including Eugene W. Britt. Hunsaker and Britt formed the law firm of Hunsaker, Britt & Cosgrove.
In Los Angeles, Hunsaker thrived. He argued on behalf of large corporate clients, defended Los Angeles' leading newspapers in numerous libel and commercial litigation cases, and took cases establishing precedent in land use law, corporate law, and transportation law during Los Angeles' developmental period. His fellow lawyers acknowledged him as a leader in the profession. Hunsaker was Los Angeles County Bar Association President in 1904 and California Bar Association President during the 1913–1914 term, elected to follow in the footsteps of other great lawyers.
Though Hunsaker never again held elective office, he remained a powerful voice in civic and political circles, chairing nonpartisan reform movements, advising campaigns, and maintaining friendships with governors, judges, and business leaders. His legal counsel was sought across party lines, and his stature as a strategist and adviser became part of the region’s quiet backbone of leadership.
Hunsaker's private life was as California based as his public life had been. In 1881, he wed Florence Virginia McFarland. The couple had five children together. Florence played an active role in San Diego and Los Angeles society and civic organizations before she died in November 1928. Her husband deeply felt the loss of his partner of over fifty years of public life.
As friends, Hunsaker found men like Wyatt Earp, someone who also bridged the gap between Old West outlaw towns and the coming age of city slickers. He met Earp in Tombstone, Arizona. Both men were attorneys in Tombstone and the Earp dynasty had found fame with the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. While Hunsaker returned to California, he remained friends with Earp for many years. When Earp died in January 1929, Hunsaker was one of his pallbearers at his funeral in Los Angeles.
Physically slowing down in the late 1920s due to poor health, Hunsaker began scaling back his legal workload after practicing for five decades. He passed away at his home in Los Angeles on January 13, 1933. He was 77. Newspapers across Southern California celebrated his life as one of Southern California's "pioneer builders" who forged much of the civic and legal identity of two great cities both as lawyer and public servant.
He was laid to rest in Hollywood Cemetery (Chandler Garden, Sect. 12, Lot 352), resting among the judges, landowners, and civic leaders who helped transform Southern California from frontier outpost to cultural powerhouse.
Though his name may not ring loudly outside historical circles today, the imprint of William Jefferson Hunsaker’s life—on San Diego’s early municipal identity, on Los Angeles’s legal foundation, and on the region’s transition from pioneer society to modern metropolis—remains unmistakable.
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