Houghton Ancestors: A 1,000 Year Historical Adventure (original) (raw)

As a historian, I wanted to learn more about my family and pass on that knowledge to future generations. The 582-page book by John W. Houghton, "The Houghton Genealogy," 1912, is an often quoted classic that does provide an excellent genealogical review of the Houghton Family and can now be found online at Google Books. I have attempted to document the occupations, achievements, history, and the religious, political, and social lives of some of the 30 generations of Houghtons that lived in England and America during roughly the last 1,000 years—from approximately 1,000 AD to 2,000 AD. I have not tried to compile a master list of all the Houghtons that have ever lived. But instead, I have chosen members in my family line that provide a brief snapshot of life over the last 1,000 years. From the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Houghtons were directly linked to William the Conqueror, Thomas Becket, William Shakespeare, and even kings, queens, and saints. There are stories of thrilling sailing ship travel to America and brave combat in the English Civil War, the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and every conflict America has fought in for the past 250 years. During the American Revolutionary War, there were at least 27 Houghtons who answered the call to duty on April 19, 1775, to fight the British during the first day if battle in Lexington and Concord. They were there to hear the “shot heard around the world” and the beginning of a new Nation. One Houghton crossed the Delaware River with General George Washington on December 26, 1776, and another Houghton was Civil War officer who received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Abraham Lincoln. I attempted to use primary sources whenever possible and I’m certainly indebted to the thousands of amateur and professional genealogists and historians that have provided a wealth of data on past generations. I used a computer program developed by Ancestry.com called “Family Tree Maker” to document and track my ancestors and highly recommend it to others that wish to document their families. I have directly quoted some of our ancestors words verbatim, as I wanted to directly express their thoughts as purely as possible. And I also have included 95 pictures or photographs in this book, many of which are published for the first time. I have also included a new chapter at the end of the book captioned “21st Century DNA Testing” that provides fascinating information on the origins and lives of Stone Age ancestors of the Houghton Family that lived in Europe over 300,000 years ago!