Houston, John W.

Born: 1814-05-04 Concord, Delaware

Died: 1896-04-26 Georgetown, Delaware

John Houston attended country schools and Newark Academy. He graduated from Yale College in 1834 and studied law in Dover, Delaware. He earned admittance to the bar in 1837 and moved to Georgetown in 1839, where he started a law practice. He served as secretary of state of Delaware from 1841-1844. Houston won election, as a Whig, to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1845-1851. He earned appointment to associate judge of the Superior Court of Delaware in 1855. Houston served as a member of the Peace Conference of 1861, in an attempt to prevent the impending Civil War.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1961), 1080; Gravestone, Lewes Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lewes, DE.