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Background
Analysis
| In his pension application James gives his birth as in Cumberland county in 1760. In that year the county's boundaries extended from modern Cumberland County to the modern border of Pennsylvania. This vast area included modern Washington County, where James died in 1834 [Check date].
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Theoretically, at James birth his parents could have been living anywhere within Cumberland County, perhaps within the boundaries of modern Washington County. European's were moving through this area prior to 1760, but most of this traffic was primarily related to trade, exploration, and military defense. There were probably occassional settlers attempting to establish homesites in the area prior to 1760. Dallzall, 1890, for example, notes that Pittsburgh was founded in 1760, and had a population of 250 persons when destroyed during Pontiacs war of 1765. Substantive settlement in the western portions of Cumberland county prior to the close of the French and Indian War (1754-1763) seems unlikely. While we can't entirely rule out the possibility that James parents were among the intrepid few to venture this far west, it seems much more likely that in 1760 they were living in the eastern portions of Cumberland County.
There are several land warrants dating to 1769 (none earlier), but it is not clear that they were ever occupied by the warrant holders. We can, however, confirm one person of interest in the area, and that is person:William Huston (4) who was living on Catfish Creek in what would later be known as the town of Washington. This William Huston testified in 1793 that he was living on Catfish Creek in 1774. When William came to Washington County is unknown, but it seems likely that he was not there as early as 1760.
James reported in his penesion application that he enlisted in 1778 in the area where he was then living, now Washington County. He takes pains to indicate that this was in the area then claimed by Virginia. This does not prove anything about his place of birth, but it would seem likely that someone who clarified their place of enlistment like this, would probably have been equally specific about their place of birth. The implication is that for him, "Cumberland County" meant the area well east of Washington County.) He would have been 18 years of age at the time, and could, in theory, have been on his own. More likely, his parents had moved from his place of birth in Cumberland County, settling in the area where he enlisted in 1778. This suggests that another characteristic of his parents to look for is someone who left Cumberland County to settle in the Washington County area. And that they should be nearby the location where he was living when he enlisted.
 See Surname Map for larger image; Houston's of Old Cumberland are shown in the unshaded portions to the left. The men shown in the various groups are the primary candidates for James' father. | An examination of early warrants, land surveys and other data shows that Houston's were living as far west as the Juanita River Basin in 1760. This probably represents the extreme westward extent of substantive settlement at this time. Though we can not rule out the possibility that some settlers were even then living westward of the Juanita, it is probably in the Juanita River Basin, eastward to modern Cumberland County that James parents can be found. Unfortunately, there are many candidate Houston's in this area. [1]
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A brief summary of information about the various study groups identified in the above mapping, is given in the "West" portion of the Houston Old Chester Register. The following study groups should be examined in detail:
- Conodoguinet ---Samuel, Christopher, and James Huston, are believed to share YDNA signature with a descendant of James Huston (4)
- Big Springs---not well developed, much work needed
- McCuistons ---probably not candidates, as they are believed to have moved to the Carolinas during the 1750's
- Conococheage---Numerous possibilities, family affinities not known
- Juanita Basin---Two Williams, John, and a Robert
- Brandywine Creek---a single James located in the Juanita Basin, comeing to the area from Brandywine Creek in eastern Old Chester. Probably shares a YDNA signature with a descendant of James Huston (4), but too old to be the same person
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