INTRODUCTION
I can’t sort out all the Sam Houstons without tackling the other Houstons as well. I’m pretty sure someone has already figured it out, but I haven’t come across it yet. The trees I've seen so far on Ancestry are no help, so I’ve decided to use this page as a dumping ground for everything that might ultimately prove useful. I find it rather stunning to learn about all the ways the Houstons helped build churches, schools, and governments in multiple generations.
I wrote about one Sam Houston here, and a later one here. Additionally, this autobiography of John Houston Pryor mentioned the Houston/Paxton connection.
In case you are wondering why I’m studying the Houstons for my page dedicated to Southern West Virginia, it’s because Gen. Sam Houston’s mother was a Paxton, and I am related to Jane Paxton McVey, who raised her children in Greenbrier County, and eventually settled in Fayette County. I wrote some about the Paxtons here.
Sam Houston’s home is very close to where I live, and, believe it or not, I’ve never visited it. I think I will try to get there very soon, and, if I do, I’ll tell you all about it. We do have a HUMONGOUS statue of him along the highway, and anybody who dares try to tear it down is in for a surprise. WON’T HAPPEN.
BOOKS ON FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
The name Monroe causes us enough trouble when we try to distinguish between Monroe County, West Virginia, and the town of Monroe, Virginia, which is in Amherst County and is famous for a train wreck. (I’m partial to Johnny Cash’s version of the song.)
However, the first Houston family bio I came across at FamilySearch is called The Houston Family, posted to Family Search by Ray Beeman, and is about a branch of Houstons who settled near Monroe, Union County, North Carolina. They came from Rockbridge County, Virginia, where most of the other Houstons had lived. The estimate on Google maps has the distance from Rockbridge County, Virginia, to Union County, North Carolina, as about 250 miles, which is estimated as a four-day walk. I’m pretty sure it took them longer than that. Apparently, it was downhill for the most part, so maybe that helped.
The file uploaded to FamilySearch by Beeman1 is actually pretty well-written, though it would be better with more documentation. It’s only 32 pages long, but a professor named S. G. Hawfield actually wrote it, explaining very well how his North Carolina Houstons were connected to the ancestors of Texas hero Sam Houston. The common immigrant ancestor was John Houston I.
Explaining more about the immigrant ancestor John Houston, Hawfield quotes David Franklin Houston, a descendant who was a member of Woodrow Wilson’s Cabinet:
2. In her book The Houstons of Pequea, Margaret E. Houston explains the origins of the family before the first immigrant, John Houston. She explains the family crest at the beginning of the book (image below from Pinterest) and describes the Scottish origins and reasons for immigration. She also mentions that there were other Houston immigrants in addition to John.
Margaret E. Houston tells quite a bit about the life of the immigrant John Houston; then she discusses his children. The book has 290 pages and appears to be a good source for those studying this family.
Here’s an excerpt:
Another Houston book, Houston Valley, by Thomas M. Johnson, focuses on Houstons of North Carolina and Tennessee, though it seems they originated in Augusta County, Virginia. The book is described, as follows:
The Houston Family in Virginia, by Leslie Lyle Campbell, refers to the previously mentioned immigrant John Houston. The book has 96 pages and includes photos. It starts out—-
There are many other books listed at FamilySearch.org about the Houston family, but not all of of them are available online. I am most interested in the immigrant John Houston of Rockbridge, from whom Gen. Sam Houston apparently descended. After I study them a bit more, I may write more about them, especially in regard to the Paxton connection.
I would be interested to know if any of you are related to Houstons or Paxtons. Please comment if you have any information on them.
Beeman, Ray, creator. The Houston Family, a document with 31 unnumbered leaves written by Prof. S. G. Hawfield. Published by FamilySearch International. Owned by Dallas Public Library. In the public domain.