The Houghton Surname and Homeopathy

The Houghton surname gave us one homeopathic hospital doctor, three Presidents of a Homeopathic Society, a President of a Homeopathic Association, a homeopathic Consultant Ophthalmologist and Professor of Physiology, an editor of a Homeopathic Journal, a jobbing homeopath and the founder of a modern international publishing house that began life publishing the works of homeopaths and homeopathic supporters.

Burr L Houghton** **1853 - ** **

of Brooklyn, New York, was born in Sidney, Delaware county, New York, August 13, 1853, son of Orrin Houghton and Louisa Hughes, his wife, and is of English and American descent.

His earlier education was received in the public schools of Sidney and at the Delaware Literary Institute in Franklin. In 1877 he matriculated at the New York Homœopathic Medical College and Hospital, and graduated from there in 1881, with the degree of M. D.

He began his professional career in the village of Greene, Chenango county, New York, remained there about ten years and then removed to Brooklyn, where he now lives.

He is a member of the medical staff of the Prospect Heights Hospital of Brooklyn, and is attending physician to the Methodist Episcopal Home for Aged Women in that city ; a member of the New York State Homœopathic Medical Society, the Union League Club of Brooklyn, of the subordinate masonic bodies of Greene, and of Malta Commandery, K. T., of Binghamton. Dr. Houghton married, in 1902, Nellie Whitley.

Henry Arvin Houghton 1826 - ?1910** **

of Keeseville, Clinton county, N. Y., was born on Christmas day, the 25th of December, 1826, at Lyndon, Vt. He is the second son of Paul Houghton, Esq., of Lyndon, and received his education at the Lyndon Academy.

So great was his desire for knowledge that he undertook to defray his own scholastic expenses by working during a portion of each year in the well-known scale manufactory of Messrs. E. & T. Fairbanks, of St. Johnsburg, Vt., where he doubtless imbibed that interest in manufacturing pursuits which characterized him in after life.

He commenced his medical studies under Dr. Darling, of Lyndon -the second convert in the State to the doctrines of homœopathy. He afterwards attended a course of lectures at an allopathic college in Woodstock, Vt., finally finishing his course of study at Philadelphia, Pa., where he graduated in March, 1852.

He now began practicing homœopathy, in partnership with his old preceptor, in his native town ; his success being so satisfactory that he felt justified in assuming the responsibilities of a family. He found a congenial companion in Miss Sarah D. Page, of St. Johnsburg, and was united in marriage to her about this time.

After practicing four years in Lyndon, he removed, by urgent invitation, to Keeseville, a picturesque and thriving village on the Au Sable river, where he has resided for seventeen years, constantly occupied with an extensive practice and numerous consultations, at the same time, however, finding leisure to interest himself deeply in the schools and various manufacturing industries of the district in which he resides.

He was last year President of the New York. State Homœopathic Society, and a very enthusiast in his profession, taking great delight in training the younger aspirants for medical honors, of whom he has already launched on the sea of life twenty, who are now successful physicians.

The character of Dr. Houghton is a happy mixture of the stern unyielding nature of the Green Mountain State and that generous sympathetic spirit which renders its possessor happy by the reflected happiness of others.

Living in the Adirondack region, he is passionately fond of nature, and a ride through some of the mountain passes is a high day and festival for him ; the healthy bracing air invigorating his frame and the glorious mountain scenery imparting strength and calmness to his mind. Such men never grow old.

Henry Arvin Houghton M. D. was born on 25 December 1826 in Lyndon, Caledonia Co., VT, USA. He was the son of Paul Houghton and Eunice Potter. Dr. Henry Arvin Houghton M. D. married Sarah D. Page in 12 October 1852 at St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., VT, USA. Dr. Henry Arvin Houghton M. D. and Sarah D. Page appeared in the census of 1860 of Ausable, Clinton Co., NY, USA. Dr. Henry Arvin Houghton M. D. and Sarah D. Page appeared in the census of 1870 of Ausable, Clinton Co., NY. Dr. Henry Arvin Houghton M. D. married Harriet Baber in 8 September 1894 at Boston, MA, USA. Dr. Henry Arvin Houghton M. D. died before 1910. Children of Dr. Henry Arvin Houghton M. D. and Sarah D. Page - Henry Houghton b. 1854, Edmund K. Houghton+ b. May 1857, Dr. Silas A. Houghton M.D.+ b. Mar 1865

Henry Clarke Houghton** **1837-1901** **

of the city of New York, was born on the 22d day of January, 1837, in Roxbury (now Boston Highlands), Mass. He is the son of Isaac Smith Houghton and Zebiah Adams Hill, and traces his family name back to three brothers who settled near Boston in the latter part of 1600, having left their parents in England.

He left high school at the age of eighteen years, and was engaged in business for two years ; then studying under the Rev. A. H. Quint, D. D., he entered the Normal School at Bridgewater, Mass., from which he graduated in 1860 (BSC was founded by Horace Mann as a normal school styled Bridgewater Normal School. One of the first normal schools in the nation, its initial mission was to train school teachers).

He then engaged in teaching in Massachusetts and Maine for three years, studying during the time with private instructors. At the close of his duties as a teacher, he entered the service of the Christian Commission in March, 1863, and had charge of financial and sanitary matters of the Commission for one year in the Army of the Cumberland and one year and a half in the Army of the Potomac.

At the close of the war he returned to study, and attended the University Medical College of New York city, under the Presidency of Professor J. W. Draper, M. D., LL. D., during the session of 1865-‘66. He then took the spring course at Bowdoin College, the summer course at the Portland Medical School, and, returning to New York, the University for the session of 1866-‘67, at the close of which he graduated.

During the two sessions in the University Medical College he assisted Professor Roosa, and became interested in aural surgery, which interest has been continued by distinguished service at the Five Points House of Industry as Resident Physician for two years, and at the New York Ophthalmic Hospital, receiving the appointment of Aural Surgeon to the latter institution in December, 1868.

He has also held the position of Professor of Physiology in the New York Homœopathic Medical College, and the New York Medical College for Women, which last he still holds ; also Treasurer (and President) of the New York Homœopathic Medical Society for three years, and Visiting Physician to the Five Points House of Industry.

He was married on the 29th of December, 1869, to Miss M. Ella Pratt, daughter of Thomas Pratt, Esq., of Yarmouth, Me.

Henry Clarke Houghton was a friend of William Wesselhoeft.

Henry Clarke Houghton wrote Lectures on Clinical Otology: Delivered Before the Senior Class in the New … , The Medical Ehtics of the Use and Abuse of Alcohol: An Address, and he contributed to the following journals Transactions of the … Session of the American Institute of Homœopathy, The American Journal of Homœopathic Materia Medica, American Observer Medical Monthly.

Henry Clarke Houghton’s letters are held in the Rockefeller Family Archives and the Benjamin J Austin Collection:

Autograph collection 1885-1894 This small collection of letters was assembled by Benjamin W. Austin, often functioning as secretary of the Trinity Historical Society in Dallas, Texas, 1885-1894.

The letters are from physicians, several of them eclectic or homeopathic, accepting honorary or non resident membership in the society and responding to Austin’s request for autographs, photographs, and pamphlets. Some biographical data is included.

Mary Ella Pratt was born circa 1845 in ME, USA. She married Dr. Henry Clarke Houghton M.D., son of Isaac Smith Houghton and Zebral Adams Hill, in 29 December 1868. Mary Ella Pratt and Dr. Henry Clarke Houghton M.D. appeared in the census of 1870 of New York, New York Co., NY. Mary Ella Pratt and Dr. Henry Clarke Houghton M.D. appeared in the census of 1880 of Manhattan, New York Co., MA, USA. Mary Ella Pratt died in April 1898.

Henry Lincoln Houghton 1869 - 1948

A pupil of James Tyler Kent, Henry Lincoln taught at AFH Post Grad School (founded by Julia M. Green) and was President of the International Hahnemann Association in 1917.

Henry Lincoln graduated from Harvard.

Henry Oscar Houghton 1823 - 1895

HENRY OSCAR HOUGHTON was born on the 30th of April, 1823, in Sutton, a hill town of Caledonia County, in the northeastern corner of Vermont. His mother, who was forty-three years old at the time, was Marilla, daughter of Captain James Clay, of Putney, Vermont, an officer in the Revolutionary army.

His father, six years his wife’s senior, was Captain William Houghton, a native of Bolton, Massachusetts. Bolton had been set off from Lancaster, and Lancaster had been the home of the Houghton family since John Houghton, of Lancaster, England, came to America in the Abigail in 1635.

Captain William Houghton was somewhat of a rover, and took his growing family with him as he moved from one place to another up the Connecticut valley and into the Vermont hills, and even, when his children had begun to establish themselves, into the southwest part of New York State.

There were six sons and six daughters, and a period of nearly twenty-one years separated Henry Oscar, who was the youngest but one, from his sister Stella, who was the oldest in the family. Of the six sons, two became clergymen, one died in his early manhood, two were merchants, and the youngest was the printer and publisher. He had one sister younger than himself, Marilla Houghton, who became a teacher, married Dr. J. C. Gallup, and established the large girls’ school in Clinton, New York, now known as Houghton Seminary.

Mr. Houghton outlived all his brothers and sisters, but during their lifetime his relations with them were very close. He was, at one time, under the watch and ward of his brother Daniel, eight years his senior; his brother Albert Gallatin became his business partner in 1866; he owed much to his oldest sister and her husband, David Scott, and the long period when he and his younger sister were the only ones left made the connection between them one of special tenderness.

The family scattered widely, five of the members going to Alabama ; but when the youngest son was born no one was yet married, and probably all were gathered in the home at Sutton…

At Bradford there was a country academy, and here the boy had for three years his schooling, but at thirteen began to earn his living by binding himself as apprentice in the office of the Free Press, at Burlington, then owned by H. B. Stacy, where he served for six years… continue reading this article and see Houghton Mifflin Company below:

J T Houghton

Writing in the North American Journal of Homeopathy in 1856, J T Houghton explained that high dilutions had little effect on patients who were users and abusers of alcohol, tobacco, coffee and patent medicines; those who garnished their foods with pickles and hot sauces; and those who washed little and lived in badly ventilated apartments. For those patients, he prescribed low dilutions, tinctures, first triturations, and even crude drugs, ‘repeated … ofetner than the strict homeopathic rules permit’

Thomas Houghton

The Missouri Homeopathic Institute was created in 1876, having been preceded by the Missouri State Homeopathic Society of June 1853 (Dr. Thomas Houghton, President, and Dr. T. G. Comstock, Secretary)

Thomas Houghton was the editor of The South Western Homeopathic Journal and Review between 1847 - 1850

Houghton Mifflin Company

With its origins dating back to 1832, Houghton Mifflin Company combines its tradition of excellence with a commitment to innovation in order to satisfy the lifelong need to learn and be entertained.

Houghton Mifflin Company traces its history back to 1832, when William Ticknor purchased The Old Corner Bookstore in Boston and, together with partner James T Fields, established a publishing house.

By the mid-nineteenth century, Ticknor and Fields had assembled the most distinguished list of writers ever associated with one American publisher, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, and Henry David Thoreau.

Ticknor and Fields formed a close association with The Riverside Press, a Boston printing company, founded by Henry Oscar Houghton in 1852. Well known for its fine design and printing capabilities, The Riverside Press established its own publishing business in 1864.

After working in almost every position at the Press, George Mifflin, an eager young Harvard graduate, became Houghton’s partner in 1872. In 1880, Ticknor and Fields merged with The Riverside Press to form a new partnership called Houghton, Mifflin and Company.

While continuing to publish the esteemed authors on the Ticknor and Fields trade list, Houghton, Mifflin and Company also established an Educational Department in 1882.

Under the Educational Department, the Company published textbooks and the very popular Riverside Literature Series written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

By the time of Houghton, Mifflin and Company’s incorporation in 1908, educational sales had increased 500 percent, and the department became the largest, most profitable business for the Company. By 1921, Houghton, Mifflin and Company was the fourth-largest educational publisher in the United States.

In 1967, Houghton Mifflin became a publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HTN.

Today, Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Company combines its tradition of excellence with a commitment to innovation, and serves as one of the leading educational publishers in the United States, with more than $1 billion in sales.

Houghton Mifflin Company. Contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive), 1880-1940 (bulk) archive is held at the Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University. The Henry Oscar Houghton 1823-1895 Archive is also at Harvard. The Mifflin Family Papers are held at the William L. Clements Library The University of Michigan.

James T Fields, one of America’s most famous publisher of American writers, and a partner in Ticknor and Fields, had a bookstore known as Parnassus Corner on Old Corner.

His literary salon was packed with the influential people of the time, including Louisa May Alcott, John Greenleaf Whittier, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, James Russell Lowell, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Julia Ward Howe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, William Makepeace Thackeray, Charles Dickens, Matthew Arnold, Robert Browning, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Bret Harte, Bayard Taylor, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edwin Booth, and Nathaniel Parker Willis, who described Parnassus Corner as ‘the hub in which every spoke of the radiating wheel of Boston intellect had a socket.. ‘

The Houghton Genealogy Project is here

Musings:

Henry Oscar Houghton may be related to the homeopathic Houghtons but he does not seem to connect via the geneologies.

The Houghton clan IS probably all interelated and so they probably are some sort of distant relation. Interestingly, the geneologies only mention Henry Clarke, and some common ancestral first names do suggest that Burr and Henry Arvin must fit in there somewhere but they are not directly mentioned, neither is Henry Lincoln or Thomas, which is surprising as this is a very common name. Oscar or Henry Oscar is not mentioned at all and JT is not possible to trace as yet.

However, it is likely that Henry Oscar is probably related to Henry Arvin, which would make him part of the ‘elder generation’ to the younger Houghton’s running around with William Wesselhoeft and all the rest of the intelligentsia of their day, and getting themselves trained up as homeopaths.

They were all circulating around Parnassus Corner and must have known each other as they have so many common friends. The younger Houghtons did at least have the talking point of a common surname with Henry Oscar at the Riverside Press, who was working with Ticknor and Fields (to produce fine paper printing) at this crucial time around 1840-50, and so it would have been very easy for the homeopathic crowd to go to Ticknor and Fields to seek publication there, and then meet up with the Ralph Waldo Emerson crowd. As a result, Ticknor and Fields and Houghton Mufflin seem to have printed almost all of the homeopathic journals as well as the poetry and literature at this time in this place.