Tuthill was born on April 3, 1822, in Wading River, New York, the son of Nathaniel Tuthill and Clarissa Miller. His brother was lawyer, assemblyman, and judge James H. Tuthill.[1]
Tuthill served as town superintendent for five years. In 1850, he was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Whig, representing the Suffolk County 1st District. He served in the Assembly in 1851. He returned to the Assembly in 1859, representing the Kings County 7th District as a Democrat.[3]
In 1851, Tuthill moved to New York City, where practiced medicine for about a year. He then began working as city news editor of The New York Times under H. J. Raymond.[3] In 1859, he moved to San Francisco, where he worked as an editor for the San Francisco Evening Bulletin. He bought an interest in the newspaper in 1862.[4] He also began writing The History of California, which covered California's history from its discovery to the Civil War. He finished writing the preface and reading the proof sheets less than a week before he died.[1]
In 1847, Tuthill married Emma Harriet Horton. Their daughter was Anna Elizabeth, who married William Redin Woodward.[1] He was a Presbyterian and was a lay representative of the Long Island Presbytery in two General Assemblies.[3]
Tuthill died in Brooklyn on August 27, 1865, a few weeks after returning to America from a European trip he took for health reasons.[5] He was buried in the Old Burying Ground of the First Presbyterian Church in Southold.
