ASA TURNER HOUSTON

As a worthy representative agriculturist of one of Lee county's sturdy and capable pioneer families the name of Asa Turner Houston may well be chosen, for it stands high upon the list of younger farmers who have made themselves felt in the affairs of the community. Mr. Houston was born on the farm on which he now resides, located on section 34, Denmark township, Lee county, Iowa, on August 18, 1868, and is the son of John, Jr., and Maria (Sturges) Houston, his father being a native of Lyndeboro, New Hampshire, where he was born December 15, 1823; and John Houston, Jr., was the son of John, Sr. and Zerviah (Fields) Houston. John Houston, Sr. was born June 5, 1787, and on March 21, 1811, married Miss Fields who was born November 1, 1784, and to them were born the following sons and daughters: Albert F., born January 15, 1812; Laura, who married William Davis, was born August 13, 1813; Abigail, born April 2, 1812, became the wife of Dr. George Shedd, a pioneer physician of the village of Denmark; Sarah, born October 7, 1816, married Warren Henderson; Zerviah, who became the wife of Mr. Bell, was born July 13, 1821; John, father of our subject, born December 15, 1823; Joseph, born September 13, 1826, now resides in Burlington, Iowa, and is the only survivor of his father's family; and Mary Jane, born May 28, 1829, married Joseph Ingalls. When ten years of age John Houston, Jr., removed with his parents to Lowell, Massachusetts, where his father was a mechanic in a woolen factory, and there he pursued his education in the city school preparatory to entering college, but before the time for his graduation the family again removed, having resolved to locate in the West, and traveling by rail to Albany, New York, where they took the Erie canal to Buffalo, thence by the lakes to Chicago, and from Chicago westward by wagon, they arrived in Lee county after a long and trying journey. Upon their arrival here they took up their residence with Ira Houston, brother of John Houston, Sr., with whom they continued to reside until a dwelling could be erected upon the farm which they had purchased, they having bought eighty acres of land at $1.25 an acre with money earned by the daughter Laura as a school teacher before leaving the East. Upon this farm the father and mother of the family passed the remainder of their lives in the pursuit of their vocation and in devotion to the higher needs of the community, they being faithful workers in the Congregational church. Both were buried in the Denmark cemetery.

After coming to Iowa John Houston, Jr., taught school for a number of years, and in 1849 he was united in marriage to Miss Maria Sturges, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Sturges, both natives of Connecticut who joined the colony from that state at Granville, Ohio, where their daughter was born April 20, 1827, and came to Lee county with her brother, Albert A., who was the first teacher in the Denmark Academy and was one of the three who established the mission at the Island of Micronesia. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Houston took up their residence on the old Houston homestead, to which Mr. Houston eventually added another eighty acres, and here he gave his attention to farming and cheesemaking, always maintaining a large dairy, which was the source of considerable profit. He was very successful in his business, and attained to much prominence in public affairs as a loyal supporter of the Republican party and its doctrines, being elected to the office of assessor and to a number of minor official positions, in which his faithfulness to the interests of others was always conspicuous and was the determining factor in all his public acts. He was also an active worker in the Congregational church of Denmark, in which he was a deacon, continuing this connection until his death, which occurred on December 23, 1898. He is buried at Denmark, survived by his widow, who now resides in the village of Denmark, and by a numerous family. TO them were born the following children: Albert S., born July 6, 1851, who was graduated from Denmark Academy, from Grinnell College and from the Theological School of Chicago, and for a number of years acted as a missionary at the Island of Micronesia, but is now deceased; Servia J., born September 8, 1853, who is the wife of Charles A. Swift and is a resident of Oregon; Warren H., born November 23, 1854, who was educated at Oberlin College and is now a Congregational minister in Kansas; Laura M., born November 27, 1856, who was a successful teacher prior to her marriage, is the wife of Fred Bement, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Mary E., born January 25, 1859, who is a teacher and resides in Denmark; Hattie A., born August 7, 1862, wife of William Hitchcock, professor in Jaffna College, Ceylon, India; John J., born May 23, 1865, who died at the age of four years; and Asa Turner, the subject of this review.

Mr. Houston received his formal schooling in Denmark Academy, a training which he has since supplemented by extensive reading and observation, and has always resided on the farm home, which is known as the Fairview farm and which he purchased after his father's death. In 1899 he wedded Miss Mary Leverett, of Denmark, and one son, Clyde Leverett, and one daughter, Florence Sturges, grace their union. Mr. Houston is engaged in stockraising and in general farming, in both of which he has gratifying success, having been trained to work since his early years and having made a study of the problems involved under the direction of his father and later independently, keeping abreast of modern progress by reading along the line of scientific investigation which has a bearing upon his occupations as a farmer and stockraiser. He gives his support consistently to the Republican party, as embodying in its principles the fundamentals of political science as necessarily applied to American conditions, and is widely known in this portion of the county as a representative of agricultural interests. He is at present time one of the trustees of Denmark Academy, a position for which he is eminently fitted by business ability and by his training and well-known devotion to the cause of education, while the connection is of benefit to the institution by reasons of his prominent standing in the community. Mr. and Mrs. Houston are members of the Congregational church, being active and helpful in its various departments of endeavor, and their beautiful home is a prominent center of social life on a high plane, for they have many friends who yield them respect and esteem.

Source: "Biographical Review of Lee County, Iowa" ⁷⁴⁸⁵