John Houghton of New Jersey

John Houghton of New Jersey, the emmigrant ancestor, was probably born in England before 1660. His ancestry remains unproven. He emigrated circa 1687 to New England. He settled near Princeton, NJ, at Stony Brook, NJ circa 1690, was probably a Quaker, and died circa 1709. (Alternate birth date: 1654 Stony Brook, Middlesex Co., NJ)

John bought 200 acres of land in 1696 at the bend of the Stony Brook, near Port Mercer, in the province of New Jersey. Over the remainder of his life, he bought other parcels of land in New Jersey. The deeds for these sales are on file with the Secretary of State at Trenton, New Jersey. On one deed he listed his profession as Chirugeon (surgeon).

Married

1. Dyna Phillips b. Sep 18, 1657, d. Oct, 1738

Children

1.  John Houghton b. 1688
2. Joseph Houghton b. 1690
3. Richard Houghton b. 1692
4.  Jane Houghton b. 1694
5. (?) Houghton b. 1696 (Ann?)
6. Alice Houghton b. 1698
7. Thomas Houghton+ b. 14 Sep 1700, d. 1760

The Will of John Houghton

The will of John Houghton is dated January 24 1709 and is filed in the office of the secretary of State at Trenton. He gives his residence as 'Stony Brook in ye county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey' and it was written before all his children had attained their majority.  He mentions his children as follows: John the eldest, Joseph, Richard and Thomas the youngest. He also names one daughter Alice and leaves property to two other daughters whose names are not given. He gives to his two sons John and Joseph 320 acres of land on Stony Brook at Hopewell in the county of Burlington and is described as between Joshua Ward and Samuel Allen divided by a line running from Stony Brook to Thomas Smith's land His dwelling house and plantation he left to his wife and his son Thomas when he comes of age This Thomas was the father of Col Joab One of the daughters not named in the will was doubtless the Jane Houghton who was one of the subscribing witnesses to the will of Richard Stockton April 25 1709.

The Indian name for Stony Brook was Wapowog and the little hamlet known as Stony Brook was located on the east side of the brook, at the crossing of the old Indian path. This village,  which was the nucleus of the little Quaker settlement, had an existence and a name about thirty years before the first house was built on the present site of the Borough of Princeton, and from 1490 to 1725 all correspondence and public documents were dated Stony Brook.

Mlddlesex county extended west to the Province line at that time and for many years the main street in Princeton was the boundary between Middlesex and Somerset counties. Burlington county at that time extended to New York state line and included Mercer, Hunterdon, Warren, Morris and Sussex counties 

Sources

• Ege, Ralph.  Pioneers of old Hopewell: with sketches of her revolutionary heroes. 1908.  Page 11.

Links

• Houghton DNA Results
•  Houghton Surname Project, compiled by Charles J. Vella, PhD

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Spouse and Children (edit)

   H.  Henry MERSHON1672 - 1738

   W.  Ann HOUGHTONABT 1680 - 1738

m. BEF 1698

   Henry MERSHON1696 - 1777

   Anna MERSHON1698 - 1801

   Mary MERSHON1702 - BEF 1802

   Andrew MERSHON1706 - 1793

   Peter MERSHON1707 - 1747

   Thomas MERSHON1710 - 1790

   Rebekah MERSON1711 - 1784

   Elizabeth MERSHON1714 - 1784

   Sarah MERSHON1716 -

   Houghton MERSHON1720 - 1798