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Facts and Events
| Name |
Jonathan Houghton |
| Gender |
Male |
| Birth[1] |
7 Nov 1737 |
Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States |
| Christening[2] |
18 Dec 1737 |
Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States |
| Marriage |
24 Nov 1759 |
Bolton, Worcester, Massachusetts, United Statesto Susannah Moore |
| Death[3][4] |
Bef 3 Mar 1829 |
Bolton, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States |
References
- ↑ Nourse, Henry Stedman. Birth, Marriage, and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850. (Clinton, Massachusetts: W.J. Coulter, 1890)
p. 65.
Jonathan ye Son of Jonathan and Mary Houghton was Born november ye 7th 1737.
- ↑ Nourse, Henry Stedman. Birth, Marriage, and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850. (Clinton, Massachusetts: W.J. Coulter, 1890)
p. 287.
1737.
Decemb.
18th. Jonathan, Son of Jonathan Houghton [baptized].
- ↑ Massachusetts. Probate Court (Worcester County). Probate files, 1731–1881. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Digitized by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 2012)
Case 31038 Houghton Jonathan Bolton 1829.
3 Mar 1829: Bond of Rufus Houghton of Bolton as administrator of Jonathan Houghton late of Bolton deceased.
13 Apr 1829: Inventory of Jonathan Houghton late of Bolton deceased: personal: $2.14, real: $725, by Samuel Houghton, Amory Homan, Abijah Lawrence.
16 Nov 1831: Account of Rufus Houghton Adm'r of Jonathan Houghton late of Bolton deceased, allowed. A balance was left owing to administrator, who claimed charges for paying certain debts on behalf of deceased and for support of deceased back in 1826. Assent signed by "heirs of the estate": Henry Houghton, Abigail Holman, Oliver Nurse.
- ↑ A Find A Grave memorial shows a gravestone giving the dates Nov 7 1737 to Oct 29 1780, and notes the discrepancy with the "Dec. 1829" date given in Source:Houghton, John Wesley. Houghton Genealogy p. 317. The gravestone looks very modern, and one could easily suspect it was erected based on erroneous research. The source for the 1780 date appears to be a death record in Bolton VRs, p. 209, for "Lieut. --- Houghton" on 29 Oct 1780. Worcester Probate file 31064 for "Houghton, Lieutenant" of Bolton shows that on 19 Mar 1772, the selectmen of Bolton, requested a guardian for Lieutenant Houghton of Bolton, "who hath Been from a child and still Remains a person noncompos", recommending his brother Jonathan Houghton, which was echoed in a petition by Jonathan himself. Jonathan was so appointed 3 Apr 1772. Lieutenant Houghton had no personal estate but held title in 75 acres in Petersham. The account dated 3 Apr 1783 said that Lieutenant Houghton late of Bolton "is now Deceased". Nowhere in the file is there a given name, and it reads as if Lieutenant is the actual given name.
[Note: The following speculation, generated from studying this man in vacuo, is left here as support, but has since been confirmed by the distribution of the real estate of the father Jonathan Houghton Jr. of Lancaster which gives a share to his youngest son Lieutenant, as well as Jonathan and other children.] See the father's page..
It is not entirely clear which Jonathan Houghton is involved in the above, as there are no records of the birth of a Lieutenant Houghton, so it is difficult to ascertain which family they came from. It seems likely it may be this Jonathan, since several deeds (Worcester 7:422, 7:456, 8:149, 9:522) shows parcels in Petersham being sold to Jonathan Houghton Jr. of Lancaster (being younger than an older Jonathan at the time of the deeds), i.e., the land was sold to this Jonathan's father, and then this Jonathan has two deeds selling land in Petersham (Worcester 70:145, 99:190) including one parcel of 75 acres that is a good match to the lot described in Lieutenant Houghton's inventory. In any event, it seems pretty clear that the gravestone in the Find A Grave memorial was erroneous in matching the 1780 death to this Jonathan. The Houghton Genealogy makes this problem more confusing by calling this Jonathan "Lieut. Jonathan" despite its description of his military career showing he was captain on several occasions.
Based on the heirs listed, the probate cited above for Jonathan could conceivably belong to the son if the son had no children, or to this man, the father, if he did not die in 1780. We can show the father did not die in 1780, first by showing the 1780 death date belonged to another man as shown in the above paragraph, and second by a deed (Worcester deed Vol. 341, p. 265) where Jonathan and wife Susannah sell land to son-in-law Henry Houghton in 1809, long after 1780. The Houghton Genealogy lists the son as dying 19 Dec 1825 leaving a widow Betsy (confirmed by Boston records and a probate in Suffolk County, which adds that he left 15 children - some may have been his widow's, but there are births recorded with him as father by both wives). Meanwhile, the probate cited above was alive in 1826 and the probate shows no sign of a widow. Thus this probate appears to belong to the father Jonathan, and not the son Jonathan. As the probate was opened in March 1829, the father must have died earlier than Dec. 1829, meaning the death date in the Houghton Genealogy is also erroneous.
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