Ralph Houghton and Jane —

1. Vital Records of Milton, Massachusetts, 1662-1843 (Online database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004), (Boston, Alfred Mudge & Son, printers. Town of Milton, Milton Records: Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1662-1843, 1900).
2. Boston Registry Department, Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the End of 1825, Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers, 1890, p. 23.
3. Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
4. Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010), p. 100.
5. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
6. Nourse, Henry Stedman, The birth, marriage, and death register, church records and epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850, Clinton, MA: W. J. Coulter, 1890.
7. Ancestry.com. New England Marriages Prior to 1700 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.
8. Ward, Andrew H., "Lancaster Records," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 16, Oct 1862, p. 353.
9. “Thompson.—Houghton.—Earthquake at Port Royal, 1692,” New England Historic Genealogical Register, vol. 19, Apr 1865, p. 122.
10. Houghton, John W., The Houghton Genealogy, New York: Frederick H. Hitchcock Genealogical Publishing, 1912.
11. Savage, James, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England before 1692, vol. 2, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1862.
12. The Ralph/Ratcliffe Houghton Myth by genealogy.com user (unspecified user), Genealogy.com, 4 Jun 1999, http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/houghton/339/, retrieved 24 Oct 2016.
13. Re: James Houghton/Mary ? m @ 1685 by genealogy.com user (unspecified user) in reply to James Houghton/Mary ? m @ 1685 by Linda, Genealogy.com, 13 May 1999, http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/houghton/321/, retrieved 31 Oct 2016.
14. Will of James Houghton (11926:1-7) from Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized mages provided by FamilySearch.org) Gravestones of Caleb and Sarah (Houghton) Sawyer, Harvard Center Cemetery, Harvard, Worcester, Massachusetts.
    

Records related to the Houghton family but not copied below due to copyright considerations:

1. Entry for Edward Clap; Ancestry.com. New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Volumes 1-3; The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volumes 1-6. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1996-2011.

A List of Names Found among the First Settlers of New England

Houghton, Ralph, Lancaster, 1676, where was he was constable, collector of taxes, treasurer, &c. There were at the same place in 1703, Henry, Jonas, Robert, John, Sen., John, Jr., Joseph and Jacob.
 
Source: Drake, S.G., "A List of Names Found among the First Settlers of New England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 1, Apr 1847, p. 138.

Lancaster Records

Caleb, sonne of Thomas Sawjer and Mary his wife was borne                                             20. 2. 1659
John, sonne of Daniel Hudson and Johanna his wife was borne                                         Mch. 10. 1662

Source: Ward, Andrew H., "Lancaster Records," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 16, Oct 1862, p. 353.

THOMPSON.—HOUGHTON.—EARTHQUAKE AT PORT ROYAL, 1692.

Died in Easton [Mass.], Mr. David Thompson, a pensioner of the longest standing of any in the Union; and it is believed the last surviving soldier of the ill-fated garrison that defended Fort William Henry, under the command of Col. Munroe, when, eighty years ago, while these States were yet British colonies, it was surrendered to the French, under the command of Mons. Montcalm, who, with an army of eleven thousand regulars and two thousand Indians, laid siege to the fort, while the defence was maintained with an inconsiderable force of two thousand three hundred men. Mr. Thompson, during his long life, was much respected. He was a large athletic man, with a soldier-like appearance, and unusually erect in his carriage, which posture, when walking, he retained to the very last. His age is not accurately known, as there is no record of his birth among his descendants. They fix it from 98 to 102 years. He belonged to the Congregational Church and Society at the time of his death, having been a communicant 44 years. He left, at his death, six children, 38 grand children, 100 great grand children, and several grand children's grand children. Mr. T., at the age of 16, enlisted in the old French war, and lost his left arm by a bomb in the storming of Fort Henry by the French in 1757. He has received a pension ever since, and was the last surviving pensioner who took part in that war.* His grandmother, Mrs. Mary Houghton (her maiden name was Blackburn), was one of the three whose lives were saved at the sinking of Port Royal,† in Jamaica, by an earthquake. She heard and felt the earthquake, and rushed to the door, and as the place sunk in the water she clung to the sill of the house, which separated from the building. She remained in the water three days and three nights when a vessel passed by and she was taken on board. Her trunk of clothing floated within her reach and was saved. She afterwards lived at a tavern at Dorchester and waited upon passengers. Several years had elapsed when her husband entered the tavern to put up for the night. They immediately recognized each other, and the effect was such that they both fainted; he having expected she was lost at the time of the earthquake, and she expected he was lost at sea, being gone a voyage at the time of the disaster. She died in 1708, at the advanced age of 105 years.—(From the Franklin Mercury, printed at Greenfield, Mass., Oct. 25, 1836.)

* We well remember Mr. Thompson. In our youthful days he used to make occasional visits at the home of one of his descendants in Dorchester. He was said, then, to be about 90 years of age. He had a form erect and commanding, and a firm and majestic step. His countenance was bright and expressive, and according to our impressions he was one of the best specimens of an old soldier we ever saw. He was uniformly dressed, we think, in blue. We used to look upon him with veneration, almost with awe, as a rare sight in those days—a live soldier of the French war. Editor.
† On the 7th of June [1692] a tremendous earthquake shook Port Royal, in Jamaica, to Its foundations; buried nine tenths of the city under water, and made awful devastations over the whole island. Northward of the town, above 1000 acres were sunk. Two thousand souls perished. In the space of three minutes, this beautiful town was shattered to pieces, and sunk. The earthquake took place almost half an hour after 11, A.M.—(Holmes's Annals, i. 445; Univ. Hist., xli. 318, 384-386; Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., iv. 223-230).
“One of our Dorchester people, Ralph Houghton, Jr., was buried in the ruins, as we learn from the following memoranda found pinned to the cover of an old manuscript; viz.: ‘In 1692, Mrs. Mary Horton, widow of Mr. Ralph Horton, huo was sunke in ye earthquake at Jemeco the seventh day of June, betwen a Eleven and twelve a clock at nune in 1692. Ye above named person was then 28 years of age from March ye last past.’”—Hist. of Dorchester, p. 259.
There is a discrepancy here. According to the first statement above, Mrs. Mary Houghton was the person who was saved at the sinking of Port Royal, at the time of the earthquake.
The quotation from the old manuscript, as printed in the Hist. of Dorchester, may be made to read either way, as referring to Mr. Houghton, or to his widow. We wish information on this subject. We are inclined to the opinion, however, that the first account is correct. Editor.

Source: “Thompson.—Houghton.—Earthquake at Port Royal, 1692,” New England Historic Genealogical Register, vol. 19, Apr 1865, p. 122.

From The Houghton Genealogy

EXTRACT FROM THE HOUGHTON MEMORIAL OF FRANCIS W. HOUGHTON OF NEW YORK, 1862.

…

Ratcliffe the Emigrant

"Let us now turn to Ratcliffe Hoghton, Sir Richard's fourth son, who, according to our tradition, was identical with Ralph Houghton, from whom we trace our direct lineage. He was born in the year 1623. Our records inform us, rather obscurely, that he once saved the life of King Charles I while on a hunting excursion, by a display of personal strength and daring, and that he was knighted by the King for this gallant service. He nevertheless stroke boldly under Cromwell for the cause of civil and religious liberty; and took an active part in the Civil War which then ravaged England. None but the most noble and disinterested motives could have actuated him to such a course, for all his associations and interests must have urged him to take up arms for the King. By entering the ranks of the Round Heads he effectually sundered the fraternal claim which bound him to his connections and his family, who were ardent Royalists, and made a Royal stronghold of their ancestral Tower ; he turned his former patron, the King, into a powerful enemy, he became a rebel, subject to all the penalties of high treason, but none of these things moved him."

"He was present and assisted at the taking of Preston (near Hoghton Tower) by the Parliamentary forces, February 9, 1643. According to the English family records he was there slain, but for reasons before stated, we think this an error. Sir Gilbert, Ralph's eldest brother, had garrisoned Hoghton Tower, fired his beacon, and in company with Lord Strange was now taking an active part against the Round Heads. After the taking of Preston, the Tower was invested. As Ralph was present at the capture of Preston, it is more than probable that he participated in the attack on the home of his ancestors. If such were the fact, it speaks better for his patriotism and puritanic hardihood than for his sensibilities. It may be also that his family considered him a renegade, and his treason, particularly the last act, a blot upon their escutcheon, and dropped him from their records, and announced his death at the battle of Preston, a statement which doubtless facilitated his subsequent escape from England. The different accounts we have of Ralph are contradictory as to dates, and therefore difficult to unravel. They state that in consequence of the Civil Wars and religious troubles, which then agitated England, he emigrated to America about the year 1646. This period of his history is involved in obscurity ; some say that he was accompanied by his wife, Jane, and his sons, Ralph and James, also John, supposed to be a cousin, and John's wife, Beatrix, and their children, John, Jacob, Mary, and that they landed 1650-1651. Ralph appears to have settled at Watertown, Mass., in 1646, and to have remained there until the next year (1647) when he and nine others obtained a grant of a township of land a few miles distant, to be forever called Lancaster, the first division of land by the Prudential managers was made in 1653, when, or in the following year, the General Court, in response to their petition, regularly incorporated the township, whereupon Ralph Hoghton was chosen the first town clerk."

 

Francis W. Houghton.

Francis W. Houghton in a letter written to and published by Columbus Smith in a pamphlet he printed says concerning the coming of Ralph to America :

"Although the Houghtons of Houghton Tower do not credit the tradition that Ralph was the son of Richard, and although no documentary proof of its correctness can now be produced, yet circumstantial evidence is not wanting.

"Sir Richard died in the year 1630 leaving several sons, among whom were Sir Gilbert, the eldest, who succeeded to the family estate and honors, and who transmitted them, in turn, to his descendants, who now hold them with an undoubted title.

"Sir Gilbert, the head of the family, during the civil war was a zealous and powerful adherent of the King. He garrisoned Houghton Tower, and held it as a Royal stronghold. This castle, situated on the summit of a commanding hill overlooking Preston, was almost impregnable against such artillery and arms as were used in those days, unaided by treachery. Moreover, Sir Gilbert was a favorite with the King, and had been a companion in youthful sports with the Prince, as appears by the records of the time. The King with his court had visited Houghton Tower and had been royally entertained there with the most splendid festivities. Ralph, on the contrary, is represented as having been as devoted a Round Head as his brother was a Cavalier. Our old records, citing the traditions of his parentage, state that he greatly excited the ire of the King against him. Now we know that in 1643 Ralph was not over twenty years of age. He was, moreover, a younger son of a numerous family, and however active he may have been in the Revolutionary cause, he certainly made no mark in the general history of his time. How a person of no greater consequence that he could have greatly excited the ire of a powerful monarch it is not easy to conceive, except on the basis of some act of special audacity against either the King or some one near to him.

"A possible cause for such a sentiment is afforded by the local history of the time. On the 9th of Feb., 1643, the Parliamentary forces attacked Preston, and captured it after a desperate conflict. They then turned their attention to Houghton Tower, and took it also, but not until after the great central gateway had been treacherously blown up, killing over two hundred men. Sir Gilbert escaped by so hasty a flight, as to leave his lady and family prisoners in the hands of the enemy, and his brother, Ratcliffe, a captain of horse, among the killed. The hill on which Houghton Tower now stands has been the seat of the family since the Conquest, A. D. 1066.

"Now, if it be possible that Ralph, in his puritanic hardihood, carried his zeal in the Revolutionary cause so far as to lead or even assist in the assault on his ancestral home, the bitterest feeling must have been caused between his brethren and himself, and it is therefore not surprising that his name appears no more upon the family rolls.

"This was before the great conflict between the King and his Parliament was decided; and it was while the civil war was still raging that Ralph sought a refuge in America. That he came with great secrecy is evident from the fact that no records extant show when or how he left England, or arrived here; nor can any papers be found in evidence of his identity.

"Strong reasons why no records exist concerning his parentage and estates in England, are readily suggested. Whatever documents he brought with him were, no doubt, burned in 1675, when Lancaster, Mass., was taken by the Indians, under King Philip. Ralph was the recording officer of the settlement and the town records were destroyed with the place. Moreover, it is not reasonable to suppose that one that had fled from before a powerful enemy in England, would in an English colony publish the fact of his identity to all comers, or endeavor to replace any official documents he may have lost. On the contrary, he would naturally communicate the facts to his children only, whence the knowledge would descend by tradition alone, precisely as ours has done.

"Still again, America was at an incredible distance, practically, from England; and when one had settled on the far off shores of the New World he was almost regarded as out of the world altogether. Being then separated from his former home, literally by a great gulf; and being, moreover, one of those stern old puritans who affected a disregard for the fleeting treasures of this lower world, it is not surprising that when he turned his back upon the Old World, he washed his hands of all things therein, especially such of its possessions as he could not carry with him.

"Of course, it is not pretended that these traditions are proven true, and yet in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we are constrained to believe in the traditions which have been so religiously preserved, and transmitted to us, through many generations.

"As a further evidence, in making researches among the family records, old genealogical collections, local histories, etc., much light has been thrown upon the subject, and considerable data discovered, which was not known to exist. Everything found, so far, goes to prove the truth of the family traditions, strengthening us in the belief of their entire truthfulness."

 

CONCERNING THE IDENTITY OF RALPH AND RATCLIFFE.

There are some facts, however, regarding the foregoing theory of Francis W. Houghton that render his theory entirely improbable. First, the records give the date of Ralph's death as occurring in 1705, and his age 82 years, consequently his birth must have occurred in 1623. That this is right is conceded by all parties. The age of Ratcliffe is not in the record of the family of Sir Richard but he was the fourth son and his brother, Stephen, who was the sixth child, was born in 1612. Ratcliffe's birth must have been three or four years earlier, say in 1608 or 1609, fourteen or fifteen years earlier than the date fixed for his birth by the New England records, and his age at death would have been in that case 97 years.

Again, the date of the birth of Sir Richard's thirteenth child, Eleanor, was 1613. The fourteenth child, Alice, must have been born in 1615, and if Ralph was the fifteenth, as Francis suggests, there would have been an interval between the birth of Alice and Ralph of eight or nine years, an interval improbable though not impossible.

Sir Richard's record gives the date of the death of his wife, Catherine, as Nov. 16, 1617, at least six years earlier than the date fixed for the birth of Ralph by the New England record of his age and death.

There is no record of Sir Richard having married a second wife and the sketch of his life says that he had fourteen children by his wife, Catherine, all of whom are accounted for by name in the list of his children.

The foregoing considerations very effectually rule out the idea or supposition that Ralph was the son of Sir Richard. I do not think that the suggestion of Francis Houghton, that Ralph's name was omitted from the family record on account of his treason, has much weight.

Finally, it must be conceded that the question of Ralph's ancestry has not and probably cannot be certainly settled. After weighing all the theories and evidence that have been presented we conclude that he was a grandson of Sir Richard, son of Thomas, the second son of Sir Richard. This Thomas is said to have left descendants and this conjecture very nearly satisfies and accounts for the tradition so general that there must have been some ground for its origin that he was a son of Sir Richard.

A generation is needed to fill the gap between Sir Richard and Ralph which this supposition provides for, and without which it would seem that his descent from Sir Richard would be impossible.

 

CONNECTION OF JOHN AND RALPH WITH ENGLISH ANCESTRY.

By R. H. Curtis, Corning, N. Y.

There has been an effort made by different parties to find a connection between Ralph and John, the emigrants, with their English ancestry. Traditions have been handed down through several generations that Ralph was a son of Sir Richard of 1670, and that John was his cousin. The name Ralph is not found among the children of Sir Richard, and several theories or conjectures have been advanced to make the relation credible.

Mr. R. H, Curtis, of Corning, N. Y., who has given the genealogy of the Houghton family much attention, has kindly furnished me the line of descent from the original ancestor who came over to England with William the Conqueror down to the present time. As already mentioned, he traces the descent from Roger de Busti, joint Lord of Blackburn, the first generation ; then to his son, Warren Bussell, the second generation, and to his daughter, who married Hamo Pincerna, and from this last his record agrees with that obtained by Mr. Rice, as given in the preceding pages. Mr. Curtis' record, however, says that Hamo was a direct descendant of Herocines Watter, who came to England with William the Conqueror. I suspect it amounts to a little difference in spelling the names, and that through the male line we arrive at the same ancestor.

Mr. Rice's record has it first Herverus, second Walter Herverus, third Hamo, who afterward added the name Pincerna. We are unable to account for the discrepancy, and it does not signify very much.

Mr. Curtis also branches off from the Rice record in the twelfth generation, neglecting the eldest child, Sir Richard, who succeeded to the titles and estate, and follows the line of the next brother Henry, down to Catherine of the nineteenth generation, who married Thomas Houghton, a brother of Sir Richard of 1570, and which Thomas is said to have been the father of John the emigrant, and whose line he follows down to the present time.

For the purpose of furnishing the record complete to those who may desire it, we insert as Mr. Curtis gives it from the twelfth to the nineteenth generation.

Beginning with Sir Henry and wife, Jane Ratcliff, the line is as follows:

GENERATION XIII.

"Richard, who married Agnes and held Lagram Park near Chepim in 1420, and of whom the Rice record says that they were the progenitors of the Pendleton Houghtons, who in after times went off in two heirs female, viz., Catherine married to Thomas Houghton, and Mary."

GENERATION XIV.

"Henry Houghton of Pendleton, second son of Richard, living 1453, married Catherine."

GENERATION XV.

"William Houghton married first, Grace Banks ; second, Elizabeth."

GENERATION XVI.

"John Houghton, married first, Elizabeth Farquharson ; second, Catherine Catterall."

GENERATION XVII.

"Henry Houghton, who married Jane."

GENERATION XVIII.

"John Houghton of Pendleton, mentioned in 1569, married Asmull (Ashmole) in 1584."

GENERATION XIX.

"Catherine Houghton, who married Thomas Houghton, brother of Sir Richard Houghton of Houghton Tower, (This is the Richard who was created Baronet by James I March 22, 1611, and was as is claimed father of Ralph Houghton, the Emigrant.)

"Catherine had a sister Mary who married first George Singleton ; second, Livesay Connor of Stayning."

GENERATION XX.

** John Houghton the Emigrant, son of Catherine and Thomas, married Beatrix, was born in Lancaster, England, in 1624, died in Lancaster, Mass., April 29, 1684."

It is assumed by Francis Houghton in his record of the Colonial Houghtons that John the Emigrant was the fifth and youngest child of Thomas and Catherine. As no dates are given we insert them in the order he gives them,

i Christiana, m. Thomas Woolfall.

ii Anna, m. Simon Blakely of Blakely.

ill Jane, m. John Ben.

iv Catherine, m. John Whiteside.

V John, b., according to Francis Houghton, in 1631.

He makes this claim probably owing to his faith that the record of the ship Abigail, which gave John's age as four years, and date of arrival 1635, was correct.

He says further, "Upon the death of John, the father of Catherine, his daughter Mary and his granddaughters, Christiana, Anna, Jane and Catherine, became his co-heirs." If Thomas and Catherine, however, had a son in the way, the estates would have been inherited by him to the exclusion of the daughters. This fact in connection with John's shipment to America in infancy affords grounds for a strong suspicion that he was foully wronged by an abduction from interested motives, instigated, perhaps, by the four husbands who married the four daughters.

Note. — If the foregoing record is correct Ralph and John were cousins, being the sons of the brothers Richard and Thomas. No date is given of the birth of Thomas, father of John, the Emigrant as is claimed, but as Richard was born in 1570 and Thomas was the Third in Sir Richard's line it may be inferred that his birth was about 1573. Then John's birth occurred when his father was 52 years of age, a not improbable interval, and since we have no history of Catherine and do not know when her death occurred it cannot certainly be said to be incorrect, but we incline to the belief that the record furnished by the descendants of Timothy and given elsewhere is much more probable.

 

A later genealogical record published in 1896 by the descendants of Timothy Houghton, gives more probable and reasonable account of the advent of John into this country. Omitting some previous history which does not concern our present purpose, we quote:

"In the year 1635 the ship Abigail, 300 tons, Capt. Sir. David Kirk's flagship, sailed from London with many passengers for New England, some of whom fled with their families and servants because of the religious troubles disturbing Old England.

"Many of those who came out were Puritans, and others had Puritanical leanings and among those who sailed from London in the Abigail was John Houghton, the progenitor of Capt. Timothy Houghton. This John was christened May 19, 1593, in St. Mary's church at Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, where his father, John Houghton, was buried April 28, 1618.

"The following is a transcription of the passenger list : June 20, 1635, passenger from London to New England in ship Abigail, Heckwell, Master, John Houghton four years old, certificate of his conformity from Justice of the Peace and Minister of Eaton Bray, in county of Bedford, England.

"This gentleman did not remain in New England but returned to England, where he had left his family, after the trouble had subsided. In those days as now it was the practice of many to make a home in America for the family who came later.

"December 24, 1624, John Houghton, son of John who sailed in the Abigail, was born. He came to New England about the year 1647 with his wife, Beatrix, and his cousin, Ralph Houghton, with his wife, Jane. Ralph moved from Watertown, near Boston, to Lancaster in 1652, at which place he was a leading man. He died at Milton Common, Mass., April 15, 1705, aged eighty-two years. He was John's senior by about a year."

By reference to the Rice pamphlet as given in the introduction it will be found that this account and the one there given practically agree. The error which has caused so much difficulty was the giving of the age of John who came in the Abigail as four years.

It should have been noticed that a child of four years of age surreptitiously sent into a far country by designing relatives who desired the utmost secrecy would not have been likely to be furnished a Certificate of Conformity signed by a Justice of the Peace and Minister of Eaton Bray. Besides a child of that age would hardly need a Certificate of Conformity either to the Government or a State Religion.

A full correspondence of a descendant of Timothy Houghton with the Rector of St. Mary's Church at Eaton Bray near the close of the last century, when some repairs were about to be made to the tower of that church, soliciting subscriptions from John's descendants on the ground of his former relation to that church, pretty nearly establishes the correctness of the foregoing record. Whether it may conflict with the tradition that John and Ralph were cousins is uncertain, though it may have that result.

It should be added that the foregoing account agrees with that pubhshed by J. Willard in his sketches of Lancaster, Mass.

But for this error in date it is not probable that Francis Houghton and others would have conjectured that he was sent away from England in order that his sisters might inherit his estates.

Another objection to the theory in question occurs to us. It assumes that the four sisters or most of them were married previous to the time he is supposed to have been sent to America and if so there would have been an interval between his birth and that of the next older sister of fifteen to twenty years, which is improbable, to say the least.

The earliest ancestor of John the emigrant, known, as given in the genealogy we are now considering, and his descent through three generations is as follows :

1. "John Houghton, buried at Eaton Bray, April 23, 1618, of whom we have no further record.

2. "John Houghton, christened May, 1593. Married Demaris Buckmaster, and had ten children. He was a passenger on the Abigail in 1635 where his age was entered by mistake as four years, an error probably through carelessness.

3. " John Houghton, christened December 24, 1624, in Lancaster, England, who came with his wife, Beatrix, to America and settled in Lancaster, Mass., in 1652."

If the foregoing is correct we have the ancestry of John the Emigrant traced back to his grandfather John, who was a co-temporary of Sir Richard, of 1570. The lines of Sir Richard and the earlier John may have and probably did run together in some former generation, and if so Ralph and John would have been cousins of some degree, but such connection has not been determined. If they were own cousins then both would have had for grandfather the John buried at Eaton Bray April 28, 1618, and could not have descended from Sir Richard and Thomas.

 

THE COLONIAL HOUGHTONS.

Continuing the compilation of the literature concerning the early Houghtons we quote from the pamphlet of Columbus Smith, of 1869, who says :

"Francis W. Houghton of New York City, who has been long engaged in tracing the pedigree of the Houghton family, and in collecting facts relating to the same, and having gathered a large amount of information not generally known to the family, kindly forwarded to me the following communication:

"The Houghtons of Massachusetts are mostly descended from Ralph and John, who came from England to America sometime between the years 1635 and 1647."

"The name is largely represented among the original settlers of New England. The first mention of the name we find in America is in 1629, when Henry Houghton having arrived by Higginson's fleet, landed at Salem, Mass. He was made a ruling elder in the church and died the same year."

"Chris Houghton, aged 19, came to Virginia Jan. 6, 1635, in the ship 'Thomas and Richard,' Lombard Master."

"William Houghton, butcher, aged 22, came from England in the ' Increase,' Capt. Robt. Lea, April 15, 1635, and removed shortly to Connecticut."

"On the 20th of June, 1635, John Houghton, 4 years old, landed at Charlestown from the ' Abigail de London,' Captain Hackwell. His certificate was signed by the minister of Eaton Bray, near Dunstable, County of Bedford, England." (The error in this is noticed on a former page.)

"The name also appears among the original settlers of Wales, Mass.

"Richard Houghton of Boston, with his sons, Joseph and Robert, bom respectively about 1639 and 1642, removed in 1651 to London. (Connecticut, I presume.)

"A Richard Houghton died at Weathersfield, Conn., in 1682.

"In 1649, William Houghton is named as a resident of Providence, R. I."

 

DEED FROM INDIANS TO INCORPORATORS OF LANCASTER.

The following is a copy of a deed given by the Indians to John Houghton of Lancaster, Mass., A. D. 1701, and conveys land additional to the original grant of Lancaster which was eight by ten miles in extent.

Know all men by these Presents that I, George Tahanto, Indian Sagamorr, for and in consideration what Moneys, namely Twelve Pounds, was formaly paid to Shanlon my Uncle, sometimes Sagamore of Nashuah, for the purchase of D. Tonneshey and also for Forty-six Shillings formerly paid by Ensigne John Moore and John Houghton of said Nashuah to James Wiser, alias Quenniperist, now deceased ; But especially for and in consideration of Eighteen Pounds part paid, and the rest secure to be paid by John Houghton, and Nathaniell Wilder, of said Nashuah, alias Lancaster, To me, the said George Tahanto, for which consideration I, the said George Tahanto, do for myself, my Heirs, and Assigns, Grant, Bargain, Sell, Convey, and confirm to said above named Ensigne John Moore, John Houghton and Nathaniell Wilder their Heirs, Executors and Assigns, FOREVER, a certain tract of land on the west side of the westward line of Nashuah Township adjoining to said land and butts southerly for the most part on the Nasuah River, Bearing westerly towards Wachusetts Hills and runs northward as far as Nashua Township: All which land or meadow be it more or less, to be to the said Ensigne John Moore, John Houghton and Nathaniell Wilder, their Heirs, and Assigns, To Have and To Hold FOREVER ; and the said George Tahanto do hereby promise and engage to procure order from ye Honored General Court for their allowance and Confirmation of the sale of said lands, as afore- said; And also that I will show and Mark out the bounds of Deed from Indians said lands in convenient time not exceeding four months, and also make such Deeds and conveyances as may be necessary for the Confirmation of ye premises ; And also I, the said George Tahanto, do by these presents fully notify and confirm all and every the said Township of Nashuah, ahas Lancaster, to the inhabitants and Proprietors thereof, according as it was formerly granted them or their ancestors by my uncle Shanlon and laid out to them by Ensigne Thomas Noyes and Confirmed by ye Honored General Court for ye performance of all as above said ; I, the said George Tahanto, have set my hand and seal this twenty-sixth day of June in the Thirteenth year of the reign of our Sovereign, Lord William, the Third, over England and King throughout said Domain, One Thousand Seven Hundred and One.

IN PRESENTS OF

John Womsquon

His X mark

John Aguibieus

His X mark.

Peter Tuckabaugh,

His X mark.

Jonathan Wilder

John Guile

George Tahanto

His C mark and Seal.

Mary Annoscamig

Her X mark.

A True copy Compared by John Houghton, Clerk of said

Proprietor.

 

FOUNDING OF LANCASTER.

The evidence concerning the date of the arrival of Ralph and John in America, as already noticed, is somewhat conflicting. Some authorities give the date as previous to 1647 and the founding of Lancaster as taking place that year. Others fix the date of the founding of Lancaster as occurring in 1652-53, and say further that Ralph brought with him from England two children, Ralph and James. Besides these he had seven other children, born in this country. James is said to have been born in 1651 and if he came from England with his parents they must have reached this country sometime in that year or early in the year following in order that Ralph and John associated with eight others might have founded the town of Lancaster in the year 1652. It seems impossible to fix these dates with certainty though they are no doubt approximately correct.

As mentioned heretofore, Ralph and John with eight others bought a tract of land of the Indians eight by ten miles and organized the town of Lancaster. Additional grants of land adjoining, bought subsequently received the names of Sterling and Bolton. Ralph was chosen the first town clerk; one of the six prudential managers ; representative in 1673 and 1689 ; and held various other offices. He is said to have been a beautiful penman and some specimens of his writing are still in existence.

The Nashua Plantation was incorporated as the town of Lancaster in 1653, but the survey was delayed till 1659, when it was found by the surveyor (Noyes) that Marlboro though later in settlement was earlier in the field of survey, and consequently the Lancaster grant which had been originally ten miles north and south by eight miles east and west, lost its southeast corner.

Old Lancaster, now divided into a number of other towns, is in Worcester County, Mass., on its eastern border and adjoining Middlesex County. It is thirty-three miles west of Boston and about seventeen northeast of the city of Worcester.

It was traversed from north to south throughout its entire length by the Nashua River. Large finds of Indian implements and shell heaps attest former long continued occupancy of the Indians, and many local names are survivals of aboriginal nomenclature, as for instance Washachum Pond, Nashua River, Wataquodock Hills, Assabet River, Kequasagansett Pond, etc. So long as old chief Sholand lived he kept faith with the whites, but successors acted and fared differently. Sholand, alias Shwanan Sachem of the Nashuaways, died Oct., 1654.

After the burning of Lancaster by the Indians, in 1675, and the massacre of a large number of its inhabitants, Ralph and John Houghton, who were away at the time, left with others and went to Woburn and Dorchester. Ralph removed later to Milton where he settled permanently, while John returned to Lancaster when the town was resettled. At the close of King Philip's war the Nashua tribe was broken up, some of them joining the Penacooks, Mohawks and other northern and western tribes. After a lapse of three or four years the former residents and new settlers began to return and rebuild the old town of Lancaster on a new charter granted by the General Court of Massachusetts. Among the returned refugees were John Prescott, John Houghton the emigrant, and his son, John, Jr. Ralph returned for a brief time but again went to Milton where he ended his days.

During King William's war, in which the English colonists were pitted against the French and Indians, the northern tribes, led in part by French officers, made frequent raids on the isolated and more exposed settlements. Lancaster was visited by a small band of these savages July 16, 1692, but the town was well fortified, having eight garrisons in different parts, and escaped with the loss of five killed and three captured and carried away.


...

Ralph Houghton was born in Lancaster, England, in 1623 ; died in Milton, Mass., April 15, 1705, aged 82 years, as per inscription on his tombstone. He married Jane Stowe, born in England in 1626 ; d. in Milton, 1, 10, 1700.

Much of the biography of Ralph has been given in preceding pages. In 1682 he removed to Milton, a place a little south of Boston, and on the 18th of June that year he, in company with his wife, was admitted to full communion in the church. He returned to Lancaster three years later, 1685, and remained till 1689-90, when he returned to Milton, and settled at " Scotch Woods, Nigh unto Brush Hill," building the homestead which has until recently been occupied by his descendants.

Boston has so enlarged in later years that Milton has become a suburb of the city and Ralph's farm has been bought and fitted up as a park. A number of the New England Magazine contains a description of the place and homestead, and the scenery showing many points of interest about the farm.

He must have had large interests in the early days of Lancaster as the records show that the assessed valuation of his property in 1654 was £264, which, if estimated as property is at the present day, would make him worth about $2,500, a large sum for a man just settling in a wilderness. The records also show that when a clerk of the town, Feb. 28, 1682, he petitioned the General Assembly for an abatement of the taxes because of the Indian massacre and they were remitted for two years.

He was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of Lancaster and was the first and only clerk for many years, and the history shows that he was one of the prominent men of the town.

By 1675 the settlement had increased largely when the Indian massacre under King Phillip came, and all the people forsook their property and fled to towns around Boston. On the day of the massacre Ralph was away from home in a neighboring settlement.

"He possessed a large land estate situated in Berlin, Clinton and Bolton as the territory of old Lancaster is now divided, and extending from near Clam Shell Pond to the William Fife lands, then southerly including Baker Hill.

"These lands were designated in ancient deeds by names which forcibly remind one of their English origin, such as Houghton's Park, Job's Corner Conveniency. I can locate most of the pieces named but the last staggers me. The Fountains is in the N. M. Allen region ; ' Cranberry Meadow ' is the northwest corner of Alden Sawyer's farm ; and ' Little Meadow Plains ' joins it and takes in the up land to near the Bolton Depot.

"Ralph's farm in Lancaster included the ground now occupied by the brick church and public buildings at Lancaster Center." We copy from the " Annals of Lancaster," by Henry S. Nourse, the following description of the lands of Ralph, preserving the original spelling as a matter of curiosity to the reader.

"The house Lott of Ralph Houghton is the third Lott in that Rang of upland Lotts lying on the neck of the west side of Penicook riuer being bounded south by Richard Lintons.

Lott and north by the Lott where he bought of John Prescutt buting easterly upon Penicook Riuer and west upon that Rang of Lotts that Lyeth on the west side of the neck whare Good- man Whitcomb Liueth.

" a Lott He Bought of John Prescutt. his house Lott whichhe bought of John Prescutt, being the fourth Lott, in the same Rang of Lotts, bounded south by his own Lott, and north by the Lott of James Atherton buting Easterly upon Penicook Riuer, and west upon another Rang of Lotts, that Lyes on the west side of the neck according to the Record of Grants in the old town Book, which Lotts being Eight Score Lotts in Length, and twenty Rods, but now upon Exchange Possessed of the East end of Richard Lintons Lott, which is the second Lott in that Rang of Lotts, and Lyes on the north side of Edward Bricks Lott, which is the first Lott upon which he hath planted his house ; in Lew whereof Richard Linton hath his twenty acres at the west of his own, and the two Lotts of Ralph Houghton as appears by a deed of Exchange betwext them. Both the said Lotts of Ralph Houghton being and Lying for twenty acres be thay more or Less thay being two home Lotts.

"his Enteruail Giuen him by the town. His enteruail Lott which was Giuen him by the town lying on the East side of Pennicook Riuer being the third Lott in that Rang of Lotts wherein Edward Bricks is the first and Lying bounded by the Lott of Robert Brick (so called in the old town Book) on the south side and north by the Lott of Ralph Houghton which he bought of John Prescutt butin east on th Still Riuer and west on Pennicook Riuer and Lyeth for twenty acres be it more or less.

"his Enteruail he bought of John Prescutt. and his enteruail which he bought of John Prescutt Lyes bounded south by his own Lott which was Giuen him by the town bounded north by James Athertons Lot buting Easterly upon the Still Riuer and west upon the Penecook Riuer which is by Estemation, and also by his deed of sale from John Prescutt fifty acres."

In Nourse's "Early Records of Lancaster," Mass., 1884, page 251, he says :

"Ralph Houghton was one of the four who first signed the Lancaster Covenant in 1652, coming here it is said from Watertown. He was then about 29 years of age. Being the best penman of the pioneers he was made clerk of the records and held that position until the massacre. He was admitted a freeman in 1668 and elected a deputy in 1673 and 1679. The date of his death is not found but must have been after 1692 as in that year he with his wife Jane transferred the northern half of his house lot to his son Joseph."

From the same Record, page 83-84 we quote the following :

" This closes the entries in the town book by Ralph Houghton, although in the Book of Lands his signature is attached to records until the year of the massacre, 1775 ; and again upon the resettlement in 1680 and 1681 his pen was resumed in behalf of the town, as appears by a petition to the General Court. The next year another clerk was elected.

"Ralph Houghton's term of service including the four years while the town was deserted of its people, was 26 years, 1656-1682. He was a good penman, and an able man of affairs. If any of his townsmen wanted a will written or to deed land to another, or to send a petition to Court, Ralph Houghton's pen was certain to be summoned for the work. He was the first to attach his name to the covenant (for the incorporation of Lancaster) and although a young man took at once a prominent place in the councils of the plantation. He seems to have had entire charge of the business of the proprietary for over 30 years, surveying and recording each man's share in the several divisions."

On page 90, same author and book, we find the following entry :

"The deposition of Ralph Houghton, aged about 47 years. (Date, 1671-2.)"

This entry has to do with fixing Ralph's age, the dates having been given undoubtedly by himself.

...

James, b. as already mentioned, probably in Charlestown or Woburn, Mass.; d. 1711; m. Mary Sawyer, b. in Lancaster, 2, 14, 1653, presumably dau. of Thomas and Mary (Prescott) Sawyer. James's will was probated 9, 11, 1711. It may be further said with reference to the date of the birth of James that the Lancaster record written by his father Ralph, gives the date of his daughter Mary's birth as 11, 4, 1653, and as the dates of the birth of the other children follow in regular succession until 1667, and as no entry was made of the birth of James, the inference is that he was born before the founding of Lancaster and the beginning of the keeping of such records. Mention is made of his having settled the estate of Ralph Houghton, who lost his life at Port Royal, in 1692.

In 1697 he moved to that part of Lancaster now called Harvard with his brother-in-law, Caleb Sawyer and built a homestead or garrison house on land given him by his father near Still River, which house is still in the possession of his descendants. A historian of Lancaster says of it : "No pioneer home now standing in the town offers more of interest to the antiquary than the James Houghton garrison, which has been handed down from father to son through five generations with only those alterations and additions which the comfort and accommodation of successive families made imperative. No homestead in Harvard has remained thus permanently in the same family.

The capacious farm house lovingly cared for by the present owner, Edward Warren Houghton, is obviously the sum of at least three structures, all ancient, the western end being the original garrison house, built between 1692 and 1704. The first chimney was of stone, the huge foundation of which yet fills the cellar. This was very early replaced by the present many-flued brick pile, with its eight fireplaces, oven, cupboard niches, and a smoke closet, in which there is room enough to hang for curing the hams and shoulders of a score of swine.

Many of the little windows, though the sashes are modern, remain at nearly double the height from the floor which is now thought convenient, and the walls below and around them are filled in solidly with brick and stone so as to be completely bullet proof.

The huge oaken beams and plates, from twelve to fourteen inches square, show for a third of their thickness below the lath and plaster of the ceiling. It became necessary to remove the pencilled wainscot during some renovating. It was unpainted, of the softest pine in which neither knot nor shake nor sap could be found, fastened with wooden pins and fault- less in workmanship. It was doubtless the handiwork of the owner and builder of the house, who was a carpenter, and the portions of it preserved afford evidence of his practiced skill.

Wherever iron was used in any part of the construction, even in fastening the rived clapboards, it was the wrought work of the blacksmith. The successive occupants of this interesting homestead have been: First, the builder of the garrison, James Houghton, the son of Ralph and Jane. His will was proved 9, 11, 1711. Second, Thomas Houghton, the third son of James, who married Mariah Moore, 12, 2, 1725, had one son, Elijah, and died at the age of 68 years, 4, 10, 1764. His widow survived him over 26 years. Third, Elijah, married Mercy Whitney and had eleven children, the oldest, Thomas, coming into possession of the house. Fourth, Thomas, by his wife, Betsey White, had thirteen children of whom, fifth, Cephas retained the homestead and his son, Edward Warren, is the present owner.

...

Ralph, b. probably 1648; m. Mary, b. 1664. A note in the Smith pamphlet published in 1869 says: "This Ralph is rather Apocryphal. I find no record of his birth, and yet his name appears in the town records of Dorchester, Mass., in connection with those of other known members of the family. The genealogical collections of his time state that he was probably a son of the first Ralph. He was a mariner, and went with the Acadian expedition, and lost his life during the great earthquake at Port Royal, Jamaica, June 30, 1692."

The tradition has always been that Ralph and James were the two oldest children of Ralph and brought with him from England. The first part of this tradition is most likely true and he and brother James were probably born in Charlestown or Woburn, where their father made his home on arrival in America previous to the purchase and incorporation of Lancaster to which they subsequently removed. This would account for the names of Ralph and James not appearing in the birth register of Lancaster.

Charles E. Houghton of Baltimore, who gave much time to genealogical research wrote me in recent years that he had consulted the records and found the settlement of this Ralph's estate. Henry S. Nourse, in his Annals of Lancaster, says, with reference to this family, " All but Ralph and James were born in Lancaster." If they brought the two older children with them from England they could not have come earlier than 1650-51 as James was born in one of those years. Another tradition says that they came in 1647-8 and this appears more likely to be correct, and that these two children were born in one of the above named towns where the parents made their home for a short time after their arrival in this country. It is not claimed that the evidence for this theory is conclusive, but taking all the circumstances and traditions into account seems very probable.

Source: Houghton, John W., The Houghton Genealogy, New York: Frederick H. Hitchcock Genealogical Publishing, 1912.

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England before 1692

HOUGHTON
RALPH, Dorchester, perhaps s. of the first John, was lost at Port Royal, when the town was sunk by the great earthq. of Jamaica, 7 June 1692, then aged 28 yrs. leav. wid. Mary.

Source: Savage, James, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England before 1692, vol. 2, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1862.

The birth, marriage, and death register, church records and epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts

Births
Sarah Houghton daughter of Ralph Houghton, & Jane his wife was borne 17 . 12 . 1661.
Abigaill daughter of Ralph Houghton & Jane his wife was borne the 15 : 5 m 1664
Hannah Houghton, daughter of Ralph & Jane Houghton, was borne. Octob. 16. 1667.

Deaths
Hannah Houghton, daughter of Ralph, aged twelve years at Charlestown, October 8, 1679.
John Houghton son of Ralph, aged twenty years, at Charlestown, Oct 10, 1679.
Ralph Houghton, at Milton, April 15, 1705.

Nourse, Henry Stedman, The birth, marriage, and death register, church records and epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850, Clinton, MA: W. J. Coulter, 1890.

Copies of town records are shown below as thumbnails. Click on each thumbnail to view a larger version of the record in another tab.

The birth, marriage, and death register, church records and epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts

Source: Nourse, Henry Stedman, The birth, marriage, and death register, church records and epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts. 1643-1850, Clinton, MA: W. J. Coulter, 1890.

Vital Records of Milton, Massachusetts

Deaths
Houghton,
Ralph, April 15, 1705 82 yrs.
Jane, wife of Ralph, Jan. 10, ,1701, 75 yrs.
Jane, wife of Joseph, Oct. 2, 1707.
Joseph, Nov. 19, 1715.

Source: Vital Records of Milton, Massachusetts, 1662-1843 (Online database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004), (Boston, Alfred Mudge & Son, printers. Town of Milton, Milton Records: Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1662-1843, 1900).

Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the End of 1825

William Bently & Mary Houghton were Married by Mr. William Stoughton January the (20) 1675.

Source: Boston Registry Department, Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the End of 1825, Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers, 1890, p. 23.

Massachusetts Marriages, 1633-1850

Name:    Joseph Haughton
Gender:    Male
Spouse:    Jane Vose
Marriage Date:    31 Oct 1693
City:    Milton
County:    Norfork
Source:    Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0945618.

Name:    Experience Houghton
Gender:    Female
Spouse:    Ezra Clap
Marriage Date:    22 May 1684
City:    Dorchester
County:    Suffolk
Source:    Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0740996.

Source: Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Vital Records to 1850

Dorchester Ezra Clap and Experience Houghton were married by the worshipfull Simon Brodstreet Govn'. may: 22th: 84: Massachusetts

Source: Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010), p. 100.

Massachusetts Town and Vital Records

Name:    Ezra Clap
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    22 May 1640
Birth Place:    Dorchester, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Edward Clap
Mother Name:    Prudence

Name:    Marie Houghton
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    4 Nov 1653
Birth Place:    Lancaster, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Ralph Houghton
Mother Name:    Jane

Name:    John Houghton
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    28 Feb 1655
Birth Place:    Lancaster, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Ralph Houghton
Mother Name:    Jane

Name:    Joseph Houghton
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    1 May 1657
Birth Place:    Lancaster, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Ralph Houghton
Mother Name:    Jane

Name:    Esperance Houghton
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    1 Aug 1659
Birth Place:    Lancaster, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Ralph Houghton
Mother Name:    Jane

Name:    Abigail Houghton
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    15 May 1664
Birth Place:    Lancaster, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Ralph Houghton
Mother Name:    Sara
[Note: Mother's name is Jane in the original record. MB]

Name:    Hannah Houghton
Event Type:    Death
Death Date:    8 Oct 1679
Death Place:    Dorchester, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Ralph Houghton

Name:    Caleb Sawyer
Event Type:    Marriage
Marriage Date:    28 Dec 1687
Marriage Place:    Lancaster, Massachusetts
Spouse Name:    Sarah Houghton

Name:    John Hudson
Event Type:    Death
Birth Date:    abt 1662
Death Date:    19 Nov 1695
Death Place:    Milton, Massachusetts
Death Age:    33

Name:    Ralph Houghton
Event Type:    Death
Birth Date:    abt 1623
Death Date:    15 Apr 1705
Death Place:    Milton, Massachusetts
Death Age:    82

Name:    Sarah Sawyer
Event Type:    Death
Birth Date:    abt 1661
Death Date:    15 Nov 1751
Death Place:    Harvard, Massachusetts
Death Age:    90

Name:    Caleb Sawyer
Event Type:    Death
Birth Date:    abt 1657
Death Date:    12 Feb 1755
Death Place:    Harvard, Massachusetts
Death Age:    98

Source: Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).

New England Marriages Prior to 1700

Hudson, John & Abigail Houghton (1664- ); ?14 May 1688; Milton

Source: Ancestry.com. New England Marriages Prior to 1700 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.

Copies of probate records are shown below as thumbnails. Click on each thumbnail to view a larger version of the record in another tab.

The birth, marriage, and death register, church records and epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts

Source: Will of James Houghton (11926:1-7) from Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org).

Photos are shown below as thumbnails. Click on each thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo in another tab.

Harvard Center Cemetery, Harvard, Worcester, Massachusetts

The Ralph/Ratcliffe Houghton Myth

Despite several early and persistant attempts to link Ralph-1 Houghton to the English Baronets de Hoghton of Hoghton Tower, the identity of his parents remains unproven. Still, I continue to see references to this link as though it were a fact. While no one would like to see such a link established more than I (I'm a descendant of Ralph in the 10th generation), let me set out my reasoning here.

It has been theorized by many of the early Houghton genealogists -- based almost entirely on later family tradition, and frankly in my view wishful thinking -- that Ralph was actually Ratcliffe de Hoghton, son of Sir Richard Hoghton, 1st Baronet de Hoghton, of Hoghton Tower, Preston, Lancashire.See Peter Townend, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, & Knightage 750-51 (London 1970). Sir Richard was born in September 1570, and knighted in January, 1589/90. In 1599, he was created Sheriff of co. Lancaster, and was created a baronet on 22 May 1611. He represented Lancaster in Parliament for several years, and entertained King James I at the ancestral seat -- Hoghton Tower -- for several days on the latter's return from Scotland in 1617. He married Katherine, daughter of Sir Gilbert Gerard, Kt., of Gerard's Bromley, Staffordshire, Master of the Rolls. Sir Richard and Katherine had five sons and eight daughters. Katherine died on 17 November 1617, and Sir Richard died on 12 November 1630. For an overview of the descent of Sir Richard from Adam de Hoghton, who held lands at Hoghton in 1203, which is beyond the scope of this posting, refer to Burke's. It should be noted that the variance between "Hoghton" and "Houghton" is not at all marked; many contemporary records refer to the Hoghtons by the latter spelling. See, e.g., George C. Miller, Hoghton Tower in History & Romance 39, 40, 49, 53 (Preston 1954).

While there is some very circumstantial evidence which might support such a theory, I remain unconvinced by it for several reasons. First, there is no documentary evidence supporting such a claim. In the absence of documentation, I am inclined to believe that the theory rests primarily on a combination of tenuous circumstantial evidence and pure conjecture, and a late-19th early 20th Century tendency for American families of English descent to claim noble lineage.

Second, there are contemporaneous reports that Ratcliffe was killed in the Civil War. A history of Hoghton Tower notes that Sir Richard's son Redcliffe was "killed during the capture of Preston by Sir John Seaton" on February 7, 1642/3. The author quotes the contemporaneous "Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire:"

"Ratcliffe Hoghton brother to Sir Gilbert [the son and heir of Sir Richard] being in the street with Doctor Westby a phisitian and twoo buchers of the towne one of them called Mitton making resistance were all sleyne."

In 1862, Francis W. Houghton, a family historian, noted that a Houghton Association report stated "that Ratcliffe . . . was killed at the taking of Preston on 9th February, 1642-43 . . . ."She then off-handedly dismisses that fact by stating that "Sir Henry Bold Houghton [the 8th Baronet], on the contrary, informs us that "the records do not so state it." Miller clearly contradicts this latter assertion.

Third, as J.W. Houghton points out in his "Houghton Genealogy", the dates for Ralph and Ratcliffe do not match. The records indicate that Ralph was eighty-two when he died; that makes the year of his birth around 1623. Ratcliffe, however, was born around 1608 -- a difference of several years. English records give the date of Ratcliffe's mother's death as 1617, six years earlier than the 1623 birth date. There is no record of Sir Richard having married a second time, and his biographers note that he fathered fourteen children, all of whom are accounted for by name in the list of Katherine's children.

Fourth, I note that the names of Ralph's children do not include Richard (Ratcliffe's father), Katherine (his mother), Gilbert (his maternal grandfather), Alexander or Thomas (the name of several of Ratcliffe's ancestors), Ratcliffe, or any other name which would support the Ralph-Ratcliffe theory.

Thus, I agree with J.W. Houghton, who concludes that while Ralph may have descended from the principle Hoghton line -- Sir Richard was possibly an uncle or grandfather -- he was not the son of Sir Richard.

Source: The Ralph/Ratcliffe Houghton Myth by genealogy.com user (unspecified user), Genealogy.com, 4 Jun 1999, http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/houghton/339/, retrieved 24 Oct 2016.

Re: James Houghton/Mary ? m @ 1685

This Mary is most often identified as either Mary Sawyer, Mary Willard, or Mary Hinckley. There are problems with all three.

MARY SAWYER

MARY SAWYER
The Sawyers were a numerous family in the area, as were the Willards. If Mary was a Sawyer, it is thought she would have been the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Prescott) Sawyer. Tenuously supporting this supposition is the fact that one of James' sons was named Thomas. In addition, James' two sons James and Ephriam married Sawyer girls; and his younger sister Sarah married Caleb Sawyer. However, there are problems with this theory. Mary Sawyer was born in 1652 (J.W. Houghton gives the date as 14 February 1653, McClanahan as 4 January 1652); Hannah Houghton, James' daughter, was born in 1688. That would have made Mary (Sawyer) Houghton thirty-six at the birth, and a somewhat unbelieveable fifty-three at the birth of Edward, their last child.

In addition, as another respondant to the initial query noted, "I don't think that Mary Sawyer, the daughter of Thomas Sawyer and Mary Prescott, married James Houghton. Thomas Sawyer's will and some other documents refer to his daughter Mary as Mary Wilder, which supports the proposition that Mary Sawyer married Nathaniel Wilder. In addition, Mary would have been about 20+ years older than James, which is not impossible but seems unlikely."

MARY WILLARD
A Willard background is slightly more probable. A Samuel Willard was a witness to James' will, and his daughter Hannah married a James Willard. A small printed family history entitled "Houghton Family, Including Ancestry of the Hancock Family & Some Other Descendants", gives the surname as Willard. If she was a Willard, she was most likely the daughter of Samuel Willard. Samuel was the son of Simon Willard, who moved to Lancaster in 1659 and removed to Groton in 1671. Simon had two daughters named Mary, but neither married a Houghton and both were born too early to have been James' wife. Samuel, as noted above, was a witness to James' will. Moreover, he moved to Union, Connecticut, in 1729; James' son Edward moved there in 1744. Samuel's children would have been the right age to have married James.

MARY HINCKLEY
Most Hinkley genealogies I have seen give the husband of Mary-2 Hinckley, daughter of Samuel-1 Hinckley, as John/James Houghton. This Mary was baptized on 18 September 1631, and lived with her father in Scituate and then Barnstable, Mass. There are several problems with this attribution. First, no source gives any authority for concluding that this John/James Houghton is the same James Houghton. Second, given that James was born around 1650, and perhaps more importantly, Mary Hinckley would have been at least 20 years older than him

Source: Re: James Houghton/Mary ? m @ 1685 by genealogy.com user (unspecified user) in reply to James Houghton/Mary ? m @ 1685 by Linda, Genealogy.com, 13 May 1999, http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/houghton/321/, retrieved 31 Oct 2016.