John Houghton of Lancaster

Not the son of Damaris Houghton & John Houghton, II

John Houghton

• Gender: Male
• Birth: 1624, England
• Death: April 29, 1684 (59) Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
• Place of Burial: Granary Burying Ground, Massachusetts
• Parents unknown

Biography

the Houghton Surname Project, compiled by Charles J. Vella, PhD

John Houghton of Lancaster, MA(#102):

John Houghton, the emigrant ancester, was probably born in England circa 1624. His ancestry remains unproven. He emigrated probably circa 1647-1650. He married Beatrix. Her parentage is unknown. John subscribed to the Lancaster covenant in 1653. He died in 1684.

John Houghton is listed in JW Houghton's 1912 Houghton Genealogy as the ancestor of one of the two largest Houghton lineages in United States.

Married

1. Beatrice (unknown)

Children

1. Justice John Houghton Jr & Sr+ b. c 1650, d. 3 Feb 1736/37
2. Robert Houghton+ b. 28 Mar 1659, d. 7 Nov 1723
3. Mary Houghton+ b. 22 Mar 1660/61
4. Jonas Houghton+ b. Apr 1663, d. 20 Sep 1723
5. Beatrix Houghton+ b. 3 Dec 1665, d. a 1711
6. Benjamin Houghton Sr b. 25 May 1668, d. b 1721
7. Sarah Houghton+ b. 30 Jul 1672, d. b 1733

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Immigration: 1635 on ship Abigail He was about 10 years old. (??)

John and his cousin Ralph [SIC] sailed from England to America in 1635 on a ship named "Abigail", settling down in Lancaster, Massachusetts. This voyage took place just fifteen years after the original pilgrims sailed to America on the "Mayflower" and landed at Plymouth Rock. John was born in 1624 and Ralph was born in 1623 making the boys 11 and 12 years of age at the time of the sailing. The "Abigail"s ship records which still survive do not show parents accompanying them. Did they perhaps run away from home? Why would parents allow boys of that age to travel alone to a far and distant shore? That question has been asked, and the answer is not known. One theory is that some sort of a caretaker or servant of a different name came with them or maybe a family member of a different name but no other Houghton name or anything close to it appears on the ship's roster. This mystery will probably never be resolved. In America both boys appear to have been Protestant, yet their parents were believed to be devout Catholics. (wab)

References

• If paternities are all accurate, should be R-M269 Y line DNA (which corroborates NW Euro origin and is highly prevalent in the modern UK). per https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Houghton?iframe=yresults
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~houghtonfamily/p913.htm#i102
• http://peasesawyer.com/Sawyer/houghtonEphah.htm
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~houghtonfamily/HoughtonDNA...
• 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 Houghton, John W. (John Wesley), 1834- (Publication date 1912) (outdated source). Page 296. < Archive.Org >