About Us

Hutton Settlement Children’s Home is a dream that became a reality. The founder, Mr. Levi Hutton, was born October 23, 1860 in Fairfield, Iowa but sadly, at the age of 6 was orphaned. He was passed around among relatives mostly living on a farm with an uncle and his family. Young Levi never felt a part of a family. His schooling ended after the third grade as he was expected to earn his way by doing farm chores. At age 18, he left his dreary existence and headed west to seek his fortune. He found that California was no longer a mining frontier so after a year in Oregon and a year working among the redwoods of California, in the spring of 1881 he headed north to Idaho. Levi, being a teamster, took on jobs as a fireman on both a steamboat and a locomotive before he was able to realize his first real ambition of becoming a railroad engineer. After some two to three years as an engineer on the “Rocky Mountain Division,” the Northern Pacific Railroad sent him to Wardner Junction, Idaho (now Kellogg) to drive an ore train into the mining country. These were exciting times as people had big dreams of one day striking it rich. It was in this setting that he met his wife, May Arkwright, who owned and operated a boarding house where Levi ate most of his meals. Lucky Levi, she was the best cook in the West.

May was a spirited and adventuresome woman who had spent her youth caring for her blind grandfather, Aza.  May accompanied him to public meetings in and around Youngstown Ohio,  where she was introduced to the hard life of coal miners and their mistreatment in the mining industry. Her formal education ended after grade three. She and her grandfather spent much of their time listening to street corner soapbox orators. One of these orators happened to be William McKinley, who later became president of the United States. McKinley was known to have patted May on the head and said, “I hope that one day you might live and vote under equal suffrage.” These experiences made May politically aware and very interested in the issues of the day. May had heard that “gold out west was free for the picking,” so, as a young woman of twenty-three, she left Ohio, joining 40 miners and headed for Idaho.  Her enthusiasm and interest in politics never lessened, but the suffragette movement was her deepest commitment. However, that was not her only political endeavor, as she would become the first woman to attend a national Democratic convention. Like Levi, May had a heart of gold, always concerning herself about the rights of workers, women and children.

Shortly after they were married in 1887, Levi (called Al by his friends) was transferred to the new town of Wallace where they bought a two-room shack on a steep hill overlooking the tracks. May loved to work so she took the job of overseeing the dining room at the Wallace Hotel. Although Levi worked hard, he spent much of his time involved in the Masonic Lodge and later became a Shriner. The year 1897 was an important milestone in the lives of the Huttons when, along with five others, they invested in the Hercules Mine. After pouring money and hard work into their “hole in the ground,” they struck it rich in June of 1901. As millionaires, life changed for the Huttons but not their values.

In 1906, they moved to Spokane so Levi would have a broader field for his investments and May would have more political, social and literary opportunities. Levi began a string of businesses, invested in others and built the Hutton Building. The fourth floor of that building served as their home until 1914, when they built a house on the south side of Spokane. May, all six feet and 225 pounds of her, shook Spokane Society. They were not used to a lusty woman like this, one who dressed outlandishly and plain spoken beyond belief. She worked tirelessly for her cause until she died in 1915 at the age of 55.

Since Levi had been an orphan and he and May had no children of their own, it had been his ongoing dream to build a home for children.  It was to be a “home,” not an institution.  It had to be a secure place where families could stay together and not be shifted about. In 1919, the Hutton Settlement was born.  The following year, Levi was recognized at the Shrine convention by the national Imperial Potentate who said,  “If one man could build and do for children what Mr. Hutton has done, what could 500,000 Shriners do?”  Consequently, at the next convention, a plan was initiated to start the Shrine Hospital for Crippled Children.

For nine years, Daddy Hutton was able to enjoy the children and to be an intricate part of their lives. On November 3, 1928 Levi died. He fulfilled his dream and left a treasured legacy for the many children who have called Hutton Settlement “home.”

Babe Ruth signs autographs for boys at Hutton Settlement