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JOHN HOUGHTON (c. 1649–1731), son of John Houghton and Beatrix Unknown

MARY FARRAR (1740/50–1724), daughter of Jacob Farrar and Ann Unknown

John Houghton was the son of John and Beatrix Houghton of Lancaster. [1, 212][2] He was born about 1649. He died on 3 February 1736/7, age 87. [1, 213][2] He married Mary Farrar on 22 January 1671/2 in Lancaster. [1, 212][2][3][4][5] John Houghton, Sr., of Lancaster married second Hannah (Atherton) Wilder of Lancaster on 27 January 1724/5 in Lancaster. [1, 212][2] Hannah was the daughter of James and Hannah Atherton and widow of John Wilder. [3] She is probably the Hannah who died on 8 January 1737/8 in Lancaster. [2]

Mary, the daughter of Jacob and Ann Farrar, was born between 1640 and 1650 in England. [4] She died on 7 or 9 April 1724 in Lancaster. [1, 212][2]

John and Mary's gravestones in the Old Common Burial Ground in Lancaster say: [2]

HERE LIES BURIED ye BODY OF JOHN HOUGHTON ESQUIR, WHO DIED FEBRUARY YE 3d ANNO DOMINY 1736-7 AND IN Ye 87th YEAR OF HIS AGE.

HERE LIES BURIED Ye BODY OF MRS MARY HOUGHTON ye WIFE OF JOHN HOUGHTON ESQr WHO DIED APRIL Ye 7th ANO DM 1724 & IN Ye 76 YEAR OF HER AGE.

John lived in Lancaster and served repeatedly as moderator, selectman, assessor, schoolmaster, representative to the General Court, town clerk and clerk of the writs. [3]

John and his father signed an 11 March 1675/6 petition describing the state of Lancaster after the Indian massacre. It said many had fled, but those left were encompassed by Indians in just two garrisons and unable to leave; they were running out of food. They requested a guard of men. [1, 108]

In 1691 John was on a committe to lay out a highway from Concord to Lancaster. [1, 128] On 3 March 1694, on behalf of the town, John petitioned for assistance, saying the war with the Indians had reduced the town to poverty. [1, 131] On 13 October 1697—after the Indian massacre in Lancaster on 11 September 1697—John again petitioned for assisstance. [1, 136]

On 14 April 1704—during Queen Anne's War—John was in a Captain Thomas Wilder's garrison in Lancaster. Also in the garrison were [his brother] Jonas Houghton, [his sister] the widow Beatrix Pope, and [his son] John Houghton, Jr. [1, 143] John and Jonas Houghton petitioned on behalf of the town for relief during the war on 2 November 1704. [1, 151]

John suffered from a loss of vision at the end of his life. When he died, Hannah was blind and had been bedridden for three years. [1, 213]

Children of John Houghton and Mary Farrar:

i. Lieutenant John Houghton was born on 13 December 1672/3 in Lancaster. [2] He died on 5 April 1724, age 51, and is buried in the Old Common Burial Ground in Lancaster. [2] He married first the widow Mary Goss on 20 November 1698 in Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [2] Mary was the widow of "the elder" Philip Goss. [1] John married second Sarah Gulliver on 7 January 1719/20 in Lancaster. [3]

John lost a three swine, 15 pounds of personal estate, and a large dwelling house that belonged to him and Philip Goss during the Indian raid on Lancaster on 3 January 1705. [1, 152]

Administration on John's estate was granted to his widow Sarah in 1724. The inventory amounted to 781 pounds. [3]

ii. Jacob Hougthton was born on 17 April 1674 in Lancaster. He married Rebecca Whitcomb on 16 December 1704 in Lancaster. [2]

iii. Henry Houghton was born on 23 February 1676 in Woburn. [3] He died on 17 December 1756, age 80 years and nine months. [3] He married first Abigail Barron. [3] She was born on 30 July 1680 and died in 1711, age 30. [3] Henry married second Anna ___. [3] She was born in 1681 and died on 14 February 1747/8, age 66. [3]

iv. Joseph Houghton (twin) was born on 26 February 1678 in Woburn. [3] He died before November 1711. [3] He married his first cousin Isabel Houghton, daughter of Robert Houghton. [3] She was born on 6 June 1687. [3]

v. Benjamin Houghton (twin) was born on 26 February 1678 in Woburn. [3][2] He probably died, leaving no heirs, before 1746, when he was not named in the division of his brother William's estate. [3]

vi. Mary Houghton was born on 7 February 1680 in Woburn. [3] She died on 1 April 1752 in Bolton. [3] She married William Sawyer. [3] He died on 3 February 1740/1. [3]

vii. Mercy Houghton was born on 15 March 1682 in Woburn. [3] She died on 7 January 1733/4 in Lancaster. [3] She married Ebenezer Wilder on 23 June 1783. [3] He died on 25 December 1745[/6?].

viii. Anna Houghton was born on 7 May 1684 in Lancaster. [2] She died on 3 April 1751, age 66. [3] She married John Priest. [3] He died on 29 September 1756. [3]

ix. Jonathan Houghton was born on 20 February 1685/6 in Lancaster.  He died on 8 April 1737. He married Thankful White.

x. Hepsibeth (Hephzibah) Houghton married Joseph Brabrook. [3]

xi. William Houghton was born on 26 April 1696. [3] He died, leaving no children, on 15 July 1743, age 48. [3] He married Experience Houghton, a descendant of Ralph Houghton, on 4 June 1724. [3] She married second Timothy Sabin, widower of Martha Johnson.

His estate was divided among his siblings in 1746. [3]

References:

1. Henry S. Nourse, The Earliest Records of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643–1725 (Lancaster: J. Coulter, 1884).

2. Nourse, Henry S., Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643–1850 (Clinton, MA, W. J. Coulter, Printer, 1890).

14 John Houghton & Mary his wife, 22 . 11 . 71
14 Jno. of Jno. & Mary Houghton, 13 . 12 . 72
14 Jacob of Jno. & Mary Houghton 17 . 2 . 74
15 Anna, Daughter of John and Mary Haughton borne. May 8, 84.
19 John Houghton Senr. & Hannah Wilder both of Lancaster were married Jany. 27, 1724-5
52 Jonathan Houghton the Son of John & Mary Houghton was born ye 20 of february 1685-6
125 John Houghton Esqr. who died in Lancaster February 3. 1736-7. Is by tradition from his ancestors, that John Houghton with his wife fled from England to America, to enjoy their Religion : They being the parents of the said John Houghton Esquire, who came with them in his infancy.
125 Jacob Houghton & Rebecca Whitcomb were Married Dec 16 1704.
156 Mrs Mary Houghton ye wife of John Houghton Esqr. Deceased April ye 9. 1724.
156 John Houghton Esqr. Deceased february the third: 1736-7
158 Hannah Houghton Deceased January ye 8th 1737-8
412 Here Lyes Buried ye Body of Lieut. John Houghton; Who Decd April ye 5th, 1724. Aged 51 Years.
412 HERE LIES BURIED Ye BODY OF MRS MARY HOUGHTON ye WIFE OF JOHN HOUGHTON ESQr WHO DIED APRIL Ye 7th ANO DM 1724 & IN Ye 76 YEAR OF HER AGE
412 HERE LIES BURIED ye BODY OF JOHN HOUGHTON ESQUIR, WHO DIED FEBRUARY YE 3d ANNO DOMINY 1736-7 AND IN Ye 87th YEAR OF HIS AGE 
451 John Houghton, Jr., and Widow Mary Goss, at Concord, November 20, 1698.
452 Israel, son of John and Mary (Farrar) Houghton, ____ 1676. [Henry?]
452 Benjamin, son of John and Mary (Farrar) Houghton, ____ 1678.
Births of Israel and Benjamin: "from sundry sources supposed reliable"

3. Anne Lane Burr and Thomas Hovey Gage, "John Houghton of Lancaster and Some of His Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 79 (1925): 392–400.

4. A Member of the NEHGS, "Memoir of the Farrar Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 6 (1852): 313–28.

5. Lillian K.P. Farrar, "The English Ancestry of Jacob Farrer of Lancaster, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 95 (1941): 3–13..

Last revised: 17-Dec-2023