THE HOUGHTON GENEALOGY - Albion College

1 THE HOUGHTON GENEALOGY . The Electronic Version THE DESCENDANTS OF RALPH AND JOHN HOUGHTON OF LANCASTER, massachusetts . WITH AN INTRODUCTION GIVING THE HOUGHTON FAMILIES IN ENGLAND. FROM THE TIME OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, 1065, TO LORD HENRY BOLD HOUGHTON , 1848. BY. JOHN W. HOUGHTON , A. M., M. D. WELLINGTON, OHIO. 2. THE HOUGHTON GENEALOGY . THE DESCENDANTS OF RALPH AND JOHN HOUGHTON OF LANCASTER, massachusetts . WITH AN INTRODUCTION GIVING THE HOUGHTON FAMILIES IN ENGLAND FROM THE TIME OF. WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, 1065, TO LORD HENRY BOLD HOUGHTON , 1848. BY JOHN W. HOUGHTON , A. M., M. D. WELLINGTON, OHIO. FREDERICK H. HITCHCOCK GENEALOGICAL PUBLISHER. 105 WEST FORTIETH STREET. NEW YORK. 3. Copyright 1912, By JOHN W. HOUGHTON . 4. Reprinted by . HIGGINSON BOOK COMPANY. 148 Washington Street, Post Office Box 778. Salem, massachusetts 01970.

2 Phone: 978/745-7170 Fax: 978/745-8025. A complete catalog of thousands of GENEALOGY and local history reprints is available from Higginson Books. Please write or call to order, or for more information. This facsimile reprint has been photo-reproduced on acid free paper. Hardcover bindings are Class A. archival quality. Visit our web site at it's a very good buy. 5. TABLE OF CONTENTS. TABLE OF CONTENTS .. 6. 8. PREFACE .. 9. IN CONCLUSION .. 13. EXPLANATION OF NUMBERING .. 14. 14. SKETCH OF THE LATE LORD HOUGHTON .. 16. THE EARLY 19. ORIGIN OF THE NAME " HOUGHTON ".. 20. THE REPORT OF THE AGENT TO ENGLAND .. 23. THE REPORT OF THE AGENT TO ENGLAND .. 23. HOGHTON OF HOGHTON TOWER, Lancashire, England .. 34. HOUGHTON 52. Concerning The Location Of The HOUGHTON Conquest House .. 58. Concerning The Lancaster Records .. 59. Methods Of Reckoning Time.

3 60. Time Of Arrival In America .. 60. Extract From The HOUGHTON Memorial Of Francis W. HOUGHTON Of New York, 1862.. 62. Ratcliffe The 63. Concerning The Identity Of Ralph And 67. Connection Of John And Ralph With English Ancestry .. 68. The Colonial 72. Deed From Indians To Incorporators Of Lancaster .. 73. Founding Of 74. THE FAMILY OF RALPH HOUGHTON .. 77. GENERATION I .. 78. GENERATION II .. 81. GENERATION III .. 84. GENERATION IV .. 86. GENERATION V .. 90. GENERATION VI .. 98. GENERATION 112. GENERATION VIII .. 161. GENERATION IX .. 201. FAMILY OF JOHN 218. GENERATION I .. 219. GENERATION II .. 222. GENERATION III .. 224. GENERATION IV .. 227. GENERATION V .. 232. GENERATION VI .. 245. GENERATION 264. GENERATION VIII .. 297. GENERATION IX .. 334. 6. APPENDIX .. 336. INDICES .. 338. INDEX OF NAMES JOHN HOUGHTON .. 340. ITEMS FROM THE INTERNET.

4 341. 7. ILLUSTRATIONS. John Wesley HOUGHTON , A. M., M. D. Frontispiece HOUGHTON Coat of Arms Facing page 3. Arms of Daniel HOUGHTON 5. Hoghton Tower 96. Entrance to HOUGHTON Tower, Lancaster, Eng 28. View of Court HOUGHTON Tower 30. Another View of Court of HOUGHTON Tower 34. Old HOUGHTON Homestead at Milton 86. The James HOUGHTON Garrison House 92. Major Levi HOUGHTON 104. Residence of Levi HOUGHTON 106. Samuel A. HOUGHTON 116. Sewell HOUGHTON 180. Homestead of Sewell HOUGHTON 122. Asa HOUGHTON 124. Henry Merriam HOUGHTON 148. Birthplace of Henry Merriam HOUGHTON 150. Ross C. HOUGHTON , D. D., Litt. D. 156. Oscar A. HOUGHTON , D. D. 158. Dr. M. M. HOUGHTON 164. Edwin W. HOUGHTON and His Wife 180. George W. HOUGHTON 183. Mrs. Mary H. Norton 184. John Wesley HOUGHTON , A. M., M. D. 186. Mrs. Mary Hayes HOUGHTON 186. Mrs. Julia H. Ross 188.

5 William Wallace Ross, A. M. 188. Charles C. HOUGHTON 190. Rev. Willard J. HOUGHTON 196. HOUGHTON Seminary 198. Major Albert C. HOUGHTON 240. Mrs. Angela H. Randolph, A. M. 242. Mrs. Edith HOUGHTON Buell, A. M. 244. Marcus D. Buell, A. M., S. T. D., D. D. 246. Residence of Mrs. Julia H. Ross 250. Leonard F. HOUGHTON 257. Residence of Leonard F. HOUGHTON 258. Abijah O. HOUGHTON 360. William HOUGHTON 368. German D. HOUGHTON 424. General James F. HOUGHTON 428. Amory HOUGHTON , Jr. 432. W. S. HOUGHTON 434. Mr. and Mrs. Edgar H. HOUGHTON 438. Alonzo Curtis HOUGHTON 450. L. T. HOUGHTON 494. Orley C. HOUGHTON and His Residence 518. 8. PREFACE. For many years I have entertained a purpose to put in permanent form as much of a record of the immediate ancestry and collateral branches of the HOUGHTON family as could be obtained, but owing to the fact that my time has been twice mortgaged by the kind of business I have followed, and to a physical condition far from robust, the work has been greatly delayed.

6 As the matter has been investigated I have been increasingly desirous of finding a connected line of descent of Ralph and John HOUGHTON , the two cousins, as is supposed, who came from England about 1647 to 1650 and settled in Lancaster, Mass., the following year, with their English ancestry, but up to the present writing no solution of this question that has been offered is quite satisfactory. I shall, however, include the various theories that have been advanced and leave each reader to accept or reject as he may think the evidence requires. After much correspondence I have, with the assistance of several of our friends, been able to trace an unbroken line of descent, from Ralph and John to many of the Houghtons of the present time and to connect with them many families in different parts of the United States. It is found that nearly all of the Houghtons in America are descended from one or the other of these two persons, and it is hoped that by a general circulation of the facts already obtained many more will be able to trace their relationship to the parent tree.

7 It has seemed best, by way of introduction to the study of the families of Ralph and John, of Lancaster, Mass., to reprint an abridgement of the report of Mr. Rice made to the HOUGHTON association concerning his investigation of the HOUGHTON family, money and estates in England, in 1847. The parts omitted have no special importance as matters of information or history, and so may well be spared by reason of the expense of introduction. From the necessities of the case this work will be largely a compilation, and I shall quote freely from all published material that has come to our hands so that most that is known concerning the family history shall be preserved for the benefit of the present and future generations. Several of the dates and incidents of the Rice pamphlet have been found to be incorrect and will be noticed later. It is my purpose to include much other matter published by Columbus Smith, Francis HOUGHTON , of New York, in "Colonial Houghtons," the records of descendants of Eleazer HOUGHTON , a grandson of John, and the family of Timothy, in the fifth generation of the family of John, and so gather together all the literature we have concerning the families of John and Ralph in one volume.

8 Our correspondence shows an increasing interest in the history of the HOUGHTON family, and it is hoped that this effort will lead to a more general study and a larger understanding of the relationship we bear to each other. This study has been one of intense interest to us, and we trust it may be found of equal satisfaction to our numerous uncles, aunts and cousins. It should not be attributed to conceit when we say that we have reason to be proud of our ancestry, that we have come of noble stock and have an exceptionally clean record, which we trust this and succeeding, 9. generations will have an ambition to maintain spotless and pure. A man without pride of ancestry or ambition for the best development of posterity along all right lines, has not reached the plane of the breeder of fine horses and cattle, and we trust there are few such in the HOUGHTON family.

9 With no claim to unusual greatness it is not too much to say that for sobriety, virtue, industry, energy and intelligence they present a fair average that will not suffer by comparison with other families of modern times. In the following account written by Mr. Rice, we shall put the different generations into separate paragraphs. It will aid to a better understanding if the reader will keep in mind the English custom or law, by which the eldest son is made to succeed to the titles and estate of the father, and this will also explain the reason for the absence of mention of any children of a preceding generation except those of the first son. In case of the death of the eldest son without issue the next son succeeds to the titles and estate. It would be impracticable to enumerate or individually thank all who have contributed their assistance to this work.

10 Some members in nearly all the families represented have shown commendable interest, for which I trust I am sufficiently grateful. We have tried to impress upon all the desirability of furnishing for each person named, date of birth, marriage, to whom, death, residence, and biographical and historical items, but in many instances the records show only the names, and sometimes a few dates, and if some families seem to have fairer treatment than others, it may be understood that either it was on account of our personal knowledge of the individuals or that the writers furnished a fuller account of their families and friends. Many of the old family records have nothing but the names of the different members, and after two or three generations have passed it is impossible to obtain the particulars of their history. There will be found many errors in dates because the different records often do not agree and there is no possible way of reconciling them, since all having personal knowledge have passed on.