Houghton Surname Project
The Houghton/Haughton Surname
This is a genealogical site attempting to gather and distribute information on the descendants and ancestors of all the Houghton/ Haughton individuals and families who have immigrated to the United States from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and other countries.
It is also the largest world wide site for comparing Houghton lines from any country.
The Houghton Surname Project©
The Houghton/Haughton Surname in the United States
The Houghton Surname Project is a genealogical research site dedicated to the Houghton/Haughton surname in the United States and to Houghton DNA lines throughout the world. It is an attempt to gather and distribute information on the descendants of Ralph and John Houghton of Lancaster, Massachusetts, John Houghton of New Jersey, and all Houghton/Haughton lines, who have immigrated to the United States. I am updating John Wesley Houghton's 1912 Houghton Genealogy for future publication.
The Houghton Project database currently has 89,222 Houghton/Haughton individualsand their descendants (49,023 Houghton and 3674 Haughton surname individuals). If you are a Houghton or a Haughton descendant, please consider contributing your ancestry or descendancy. Any data submitted to the Houghton Project will be cited to the contributor in the final publication and the contributor will be noted on the website. If you need help with your Houghton/Haughton research, please contact me:
Email Dr. Charles J. Vella (click on the name)
Send any Houghton/Haughton descendancy data you want to contribute to the Houghton Project (I can use Gedcom, TMG, FTM, PAF, Word/WordPerfect/Dos Text formats) to the above email address or use the input method below. I use The Master Genealogist V. 8 as my genealogy program.
Please use the following citation if you use data from this site: "Houghton Surname Project, compiled by Charles J. Vella, PhD"Genealogical Proof in the Current Houghton Database
I have been collecting this Houghton data for the last 18 years. I have fairly solid genealogical evidence (vital records, etc.) for the first 7 generations of the early Houghton families, mostly prior to 1850. Much of the Houghton data after 1850 is census based, or contributed by a living Houghton. All source citations for any Houghton listed in the database are available for those who contact me. I have also included every Houghton reference I have ever discovered in 18 years of research in the hope that others may use the data to help solve some of their ongoing research into the Houghton surname. I have had many contributors who have sent Houghton data, at times without citations or proof. Including everything, which has been my practice, obviously opens the door to an increase in invalid data. Remember that second hand genealogical data is not genealogical proof. This constitutes a warning to all Houghton researchers using some of the later data, without asking for my citations. Having said this, I believe that this database is the single most exhaustive research compilation of American Houghton genealogical data and Houghton DNA data available anywhere.
The Current Work:
I am currently compiling all Houghton surname references in all of the U.S. Censuses:
All current Censuses are completed for Houghton, Hoghten and Houghten surnames : 1790 to 1930
Completed censuses for Haughton surname: 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870
Still to Do: 1940 Census, SSDI
Current work: Haughton surname in US Censuses: 1880
Houghtons in the US Census 1790-1930
Houghton
Surname in US Census
(Double Click the above Line)
Houghton Bibliography: Sources and Census Data
Bibliography
and Sources for the Houghton Surname Project
(Double Click the above line)
is currently in the Houghton Surname Project databast. As an example, all of the information in
John Wesley Houghton's 1912 Houghton Genealogy is included in the database.
The
Theory of a Connection of the American Houghtons to the Hoghtons of
Hoghton Tower of Preston, England
(Double Click the above line)
Conclusion: Despite many historical theories, there is no current genealogically valid evidence for any known English ancestry for either John Houghton or Ralph Houghton of Lancaster, MA.
Anyone claiming such a connection is invited to send such evidence.
The Early Houghtons
The
Earliest Houghton Immigrants to America
(Double Click the above line)
A listing of the earliest Houghton/Haughton immigrants to America
The History of Houghton/Haughton Research
A
History of Houghton Research
(Double
Click the above line)
A brief listing of all prior Houghton researchers
Houghton Documents
(Double Click the above line)
I will research anything in these documents if requested.
Join the world wide Houghton/Haughton DNA Database
The
Houghton/Haughton DNA Project
(Double Click the above line)
Current Volunteer Count: Thirty-Three Contributors
There
are currently fifteen
separate Houghton/Haughton lines:
1 Ralph Houghton, 2 John
Houghton
(via both sons Robert, Jonas and John), 3 John Houghton
of NJ, 4 Elijah Houghton of VA, 5 Thomas Houghton of England, 6 Matthew
Houghton of
England, 7 Frederic S. Houghton of Norwich, 8 William Guy
Houghton of England, 9 Robert Houghton of England, 10 John Houghton of
Australia, 11 Charles W. Houghton of England, 12
Frederick
B. Houghton of Canada
lines, and 13
Richard Haughton of England,
14 Alfred
Haughton of England, 15 Joseph Haughton of Ireland lines
We still need many more male Houghton/Haughton surname volunteers to definitively prove this.
Please consider volunteering.
Houghton
DNA Project: Current Results
(Double Click the above line)
There is now evidence that Ralph Houghton of Lancaster MA, John Houghton of Lancaster MA, John Houghton of NJ , Elijah Houghton of VA, Thomas Houghton of England, and Matthew Houghton of England did not share a common ancestor and, therefore, are not related.
We now have 15
separate Houghton/Haughton lines confirmed by DNA:
1 Ralph and 2 John Houghton of MA, 3 John Houghton of NJ, 4 Elijah
Houghton of
VA, in the USA.
5 Thomas Houghton of England, 6 Matthew Houghton of England, 7 Frederic
S.
Houghton
of Norwich, England, 8 William Guy Houghton of England, 9
Robert
Houghton of England, 10 John Houghton of Australia, 11 Charles W.
Houghton of England, 12
Frederich B. Houghton of Canada; and 3 Haughton
lines: 13 Richard Haughton, 14 Alfred
Haughton, and 15 Joseph Haughton of Ireland
____________________________________________________________
Jeffrey Haughton has started a
Haughton DNA Surname Project.
His site: DNAHeritage: Haughton Surname
____________________________________________________________
Unknown Houghton Photographs
Please help identify these unknown Houghton photographs:
Unknown Houghton: cousin of Joel Houghton b. 1792, Putney VT
Houghton Database Indexes
The following Houghton genealogical indexes include all of the known descendants of Ralph and John Houghton of Lancaster, MA and of John Houghton of New Jersey (representing half of the individuals in the Houghton Surname Project Database). My private Houghton Database contains substantially more data (with pictures, census data, bibliographies, and extensive source citations) than the Birth, Marriage, and Death information given on this website. There are 87,802 Houghton descendants in the database ( with 49,023 Houghton surname individuals, 2387 immigrant Houghtons, and 25,389 descendants of as yet unconnected/orphan Houghton individuals, and 3925 Haughton surname individuals).
Major Houghton genealogies (descendants are marked by colored icons in the actual Surname Index) included:
Ralph
Houghton of
Lancaster MA descendants (17,517 descendants)
John
Houghton of
Lancaster MA descendants (23,470)
John
Houghton of New
Jersey descendants (1992)
Elijah
Houghton of
Virginia descendants (2000)
Thomas Houghten of England and MI (846)
Richard Houghton of England and MI (601)
Foreign
born
Houghtons and descendants (6804) (2387 separate descendancy lines)
English born Houghton lines (478 separate lines)
Irish born Houghton lines (213 separate lines)
Haughton
surname
descendants (3925)
Alfred Haughton of England (970)
Richard Haughton of England and CT (607)
African American Houghton and Haughtons (892)
American Indian Houghtons (79)
Double clicking on any surname in blue in any index will transfer you to their descendants or ancestors.
Contributors to the Houghton Project
Search the Houghton Database
Search
for any name in the
Houghton Database (names in quotes
are more specifically searched).
Once a page is found, double clicking on a blue highlighted name takes
you to that name.
Submission of New Information to Houghton Surname Project
Submit New Houghton Data (click on this last phrase)
If
you have any new Houghton data to
contribute to the
Houghton Project or if you discover any information
that you believe to be in
error,
please click the above phrase.
If you discover any duplicate individuals, please let me know.
Privacy Policy: Any data that you submit will be published unless you state otherwise. Much more data is available in my private Houghton database. If you want to remove any living individual in the online Houghton Project, simply let me know.
Houghton Surname Web Links
Rose Houghton VanNoy Houghton site
Mark Ellsworth Hickman's Houghton site
Christopher Houghten's Houghten site
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
Hoghton Tower in Preston England site
Haughton Tower in Northumberland site
John Houghton Family (English)
1869 Report to Houghton Association
1897 History and Genealogy of Houghton Family by David A. Keizer
1912 Houghton Genealogy by John Wesley Houghton MD (Electronic Version courtesy of Ralph Houghton)
1953 Descendants of Capt. William Houghton and Marilla Clay
Massachusetts Vital Records Project (Houghton Surname)
Birth, Marriage and Death Register of Lancaster, Massachusetts,1643-1850, ed. Henry S. Nourse (Google Real Copy Version)Here's how to subscribe to Houghton List Server on Rootsweb: Send a message to
HOUGHTON-L-request@rootsweb.com
that contains (in the Body of the Message) the command "subscribe" and no additional text (if you have difficulty removing your signature lines, you can put the word "quit" on the line after "subscribe").
You will receive a Welcome message providing full details for sending messages to this group.
Compiler: Charles J. Vella, PhD
Utube: Vella Family Halloween Pumpkins for 2011
Site updated on January 1, 2012; 89,222 people