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The History of Houghton Surname Research


Dr. Douglass Houghton (1810-1845):

1825+ list of English Houghtons

Joseph Willard
(1798-1865):

Topographical and historical sketches of the town of Lancaster 1826, (Lancaster MA):

First to erroneously report John and Ralph Houghton as "cousins"
 
Fisher M. Rice (1847):

The Houghton Association: report of the agent to England.
Imprint: New York: Jared W. Bell, printer, 1848.

Josiah Houghton (1800-1861):

Wrote a genealogy of John Houghton of Lancaster MA, after supposedly spending a fortune in getting family records and history to enable him to claim and secure property in England.

Rev.Royal and Cecelia Houghton (1868):

Wrote a dairy that contains information about their Houghton family.

Houghton Association (1846-1868): 

The original Houghton Association was created circa 1846 and lasted until 1855. It was then reorganized in 1868 and later dissolved circa 1870. The purpose of the association was to collect information relative to unclaimed Houghton property in England, reported to belong to the Houghton family in America. Clearly a get rich scheme. There were three meetings of the Houghton Association: one at Winchendon, MA, on Apr. 21, 1868, one at Groton, June 3, 1869 and at Milton, June 5, 1869. Columbus Smith spoke at two of them. About 220 Members paid $5 in 1868 to join the Houghton association hoping to receive $200 in any recovered property.  Fisher Rice, agent of the Association interviewed Judge Jacob Houghton, who refused to join, but gave him an introduction to Sir Henry Bold Hoghton Bt in England.

 

Francis W. Houghton (1835-1911) :

Houghton Memorial
,  1869


Compiled descendants of Jason and Caty Houghton, of the Ralph Houghton line
 
Columbus Smith (1869):

Report to the Houghton Association, 1869 (author; relied heavily on Francis W. Houghton's data; he wrote 8 other family reports)

David Anthony Keizer(1857-):

History and Genealogy of the Houghton Family, the descendants of Capt. Timothy Houghton who emigrated to Nova Scotia: 1896

John Wesley Houghton in his 1912 Houghton Genealogy, Almira White in her White Genealogy, as well as Marshall McClanahan in his 1957 Houghton genealogies, all used the data first compiled by David A. Keizer in his 1896 genealogy of the Canadian descendants of Capt. Timothy Houghton of Massachusetts. Keizer noted that he had read H. S. Nourse's Early Records of Lancaster, MA, as well as his Lancaster MA BMD Records, and his Military Annals of Lancaster MA. He also read J. Willard's Sketches of Lancaster MA of 1826. He erroneously believed John Houghton the Emigrant was the John, age 4/40 of the "Abigail".

(1852 individuals included)
 
Henry Stedman Nourse (1831-1903)

Early Records of Lancaster MA (1884)

Lancaster MA VRs (1890)

Lancasteria (1900)

Includes many early Houghton vital records; He was a John Houghton of Lancaster, MA descendant.


Almira Larkin White (1900)

Genealogy of the Descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Massachusetts, 3 volumes,1900-1905

Compiled many early Houghtons

Daniel Merrick Wheeler (1846-)

He wrote a genealogy of the Whitingham VT Houghtons: 1903
 
John Barber White (1909)

Descendants of John Barber of Worcester, Mass., 1714-1909, 1909

Includes a number of early Ralph Houghton descendants
 
Dr. John Wesley Houghton (1834-1924):

Houghton Genealogy. Descendants of Ralph and John Houghton, 1912

The first major published Houghton genealogy. Very few place references; compiled from Houghtons sending him data; no citations. Many errors.

J. W. Houghton obviously used Francis W. Houghton's material (esp. British ancestry) of 1869
(8350 individuals included)
 
Dr. Arthur Wellington Clark (1850-):

Author of an unpublished genealogy of the Houghton Family circa 1900; critical of JWH, lists corrections


John Calvin Lawrence Clark (1871):

A famous New England historian; he researched the Houghtons with Dr. Harris A. Houghton.

Annie Lane Burr and Thomas Hovey Gage (1925):


John Houghton  of
Lancaster, Mass., and some of his descendants, 1925 (first and only NEGHR publication of a Houghton line)
 
Dr. Harris Ayers Houghton (1874-1946):
 
Houghton researcher before 1930 (used many county histories).

His work is in the Chicago SAR Library. McClanahan attributes his genealogy of the Houghton family as being "from early Harris Ayres Houghton data", as well as stating "Possibly Dr. Frederic L. Weis used his data in his Early Families of Lancaster, Mass."

Clarence Winthrop Bowen, Ph.D. (1852-):

History of Woodstock, CT, c 1930

Lists some Houghton lines in Connecticut

Luella Houghton (1879-1945):

She wrote a 32 page Houghton genealogy of her family, "We Houghtons and our beloved Shed-Members", 1938
 
Rev. Frederick Lewis Weis (1941):

Early Families of Lancaster MA, 1941

Compiled 7 generations of John Houghton descendants (40 pages) and several generations of Ralph Houghton (7 pages); no citations; relied heavily on Burr and Hovey; appears to have used Nourse's Lancaster MA VRs data.

William DeLoss Love II (1888- ):

Descendants of Capt. William Houghton and Marilla Clay, 1953

Vivian Imogene Morgan Uran (1891-1970):

Houghton Genealogy, 1954  A compilation of her Houghton ancestry to Ralph Houghton. (CJV's wife's grandmother; Her genealogy started the author's interest in Houghton research)

Norman Wiley Carpenter (1921-1959):

He compiled a genealogy of the descendants of Elijah Houghton in 1955.

Marshall Loring McClanahan (1904-1990):

John & Beatrix (Joselyn) Houghton of Lancaster, Massachusetts, & some of their Descendants, c. 1957
Ralph and Jane (Stowe) Houghton of Lancaster, Massachusetts, & some Descendants.


Second major Houghton genealogies, unpublished manuscript; clearly duplicated JWH and Weis, used HAH; but multiple typos of dates; many misquoting of pages in VRs citations. He clearly read Rev. Royal Houghton's diary.
(Ralph line, 3204 individuals), (John line , 5364 individuals) (total, 8568 individuals)

Rosamond Nadine VanNoy
(1922- ):

A Houghton Family from Ralph Houghton of Lancaster MA., 1652 to Rosamond Houghton VanNoy of Conover, WI
, 1992:

A genealogy of the Broome Co. NY Houghtons, descendants of Otis Houghton
    (includes 217 individuals)

Barbara Marie Houghton, et al
. (1933- ):

The Michigan Descendants of Noah Houghton including Noah's Ancestry in America,
1994
 (includes 1012 Individuals)

Scott Bartley (c 1995):

 
Vermont Families in 1791, 1995:  VT Houghtons based on McClanahan

Howard Baker Houghton, Jr. (1922-1999)

Our Houghton Heritage, 1995

The major Houghton genealogy of the descendants of John Houghton of New Jersey
    (includes about 240 individuals)

Dr. Carolyn Houghton Chapman (1938- ):

She compiled the descendants of John Hart Houghton, of the NJ Houghtons, 1997
    (includes 66 individuals)

William Wells Houghton, Jr (1934-):

He helped compile the descendants of Reuben Houghton of Canada and IA, 1997
 (includes 164 individuals)

Nicholas John Schroeder (1979-):

He compiled the descendants of Nathaniel Houghton, Jr, 2000

Jeffrey Whealdon Bryant (1957- ):

He compiled the descendants of Alfred Haughton of England, 2002
     (includes 629 individuals)

Jeffrey Lynn Haughton (1944-):

He is the major current compiler of Haughton genealogical data, 2003

Deryl Wayne Houghton (1941-):

He helped compile the descendants of Joseph Houghton of MI, 2003
  (includes 402 individuals); also a website


Christopher A. Houghten (1972-) and Marjorie Virginia Houghten Schulkins (1925-):

They separately compiled the descendants of Thomas Houghten of England, 2004
     (includes 557 individuals)


Byril Samuel Sutton (1949-):

He helped compile some of the descendants of Elijah Houghton of VA, 2006
     (includes 1239 individuals)

Dr. Charles J. Vella, Ph.D.
(1944- ):

Houghton Surname Project, 1994-2009
Houghton DNA Project

First researcher to consistently use primary sources; first review and compilation of all of the US census data for Houghton surname listings, and first to compile a DNA analysis of the American Houghton lines.

(includes 80,700 individuals)

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