Short Biography of John Houston

John Houston, Jr. was a lad of ten years when he removed with his parents to Lowell, Massachusetts, where his father was a mechanic in the woolen mills. Subsequently the family came west, traveling by rail to Albany, New York, from that point on the Erie Canal to Buffalo, thence by the Great Lakes to Chicago and then across the prairies by wagon, finally arriving in Lee County, Iowa, where they settled. The journey was a long and tedious one, but most of the early settlers of this county came in such a way. The family made their home with Ira Houston, a relative, until a building could be erected on the eighty acres which they had purchased at a dollar and a quarter per acre. John Houston, Sr., and his wife passed the remainder of their lives upon their farm in this county and here departed this life, mourned by their many friends. They were loyal and consistent members of the Congregational Church.

Source: "The History of Lee County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc" ⁴⁰