Pearl Brooks and Lester Arthur Houston
LESTER ARTHUR HOUSTON, son of ELIZABETH THOMPSON and WARREN HENDERSON HOUSTON, was born July 12, 1893 in Ellsworth, Nobles, Minnesota,8 and died January 2, 1952 in Seattle, King, Washington.3661 He is buried in Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, King, Washington.456, 4543
He married PEARL BROOKS on March 26, 1915 in Greenwood County, Kansas.10032 She was born in 1895 in Kansas.
Children of PEARL BROOKS and LESTER ARTHUR HOUSTON:
- HAZEL ELEANOR HOUSTON, b. December 23, 1915, Denmark, Lee, Iowa;2432 m. JOHN THOMAS GOODMAN; d. April 19, 2001, Vandalia, Audrain, Missouri.56, 10039
- HAROLD BROOKS HOUSTON, b. January 4, 1917, Denmark, Lee, Iowa;2432 d. March 17, 1945, Phillippines.4542
- MARGARET LORA HOUSTON, b. February 2, 1919, Fort Madison, Lee, Iowa;2432 m. LEE TROTT on March 24, 1939168, 9893; d. February 9, 2009.56
- HELEN MARIE HOUSTON, b. May 23, 1921, Missouri;706 d. August 9, 1922, Jasper Township, Ralls, Missouri;706 bur. Vandalia Cemetery, Audrain County, Missouri.706, 456
- ESTHER M. HOUSTON, b. January 9, 1923, Missouri;706 d. March 10, 1927, Vandalia, Audrain, Missouri;706 bur. Vandalia Cemetery, Audrain County, Missouri.706
Personal Information
- Lester Arthur Houston was a member of the Denmark Congregational Church, Lee County, Iowa. 7484
Work History
Marriage Announcements and News
Eureka Herald and Greenwood County Republican, April 1, 191510032
Brooks-Houston
Miss Pearl Brooks and Mr. Lester Houston were united in marriage last Friday evening, at six o'clock, at the bride's home, three miles north of Fall River. Only the members of the immediate family were present. The bride and groom were former students together at the S. K. A. in Eureka, and this is the culmination of their friendship there. They will be at home to their many friends after March 31 at Fort Madison, Iowa.
Newspaper Articles
Burlington Hawk-Eye, March 5, 19204540
Mr. Lester Houston and family have moved onto a farm newr Vandalia, Mo. Mrs. Houston and family spent Sunday here with Mrs. Elizabeth Houston before going to their new home in Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Asa T. Houston have gone to Vandalia to help Mr. and Mrs. Lester Houston get settled in their new home.
Intelligencer, September 16, 192710038
Vandalia Author Wants to Give Play in Mexico
Mrs. P. Brooks Houston of Vandalia Here Thursday In Interest of Presenting Her Play, "Burnt Clay."
Mrs. P. Brooks Houston of Vandalia, well known writer and contributor to a number of the leading current magazines, was in Mexico Thursday in the interest of presenting her play, "Burnt Clay," in this city. No definite arrangements as to the production have been made.
Mrs. Houston's play was taken from the narrative poem of the same name. The story is built around the brick making industry, Mrs. Houston obtaining her information from the brick plant at Vandalia. The poem is being published by Dean and Company of New York.
Mrs. Houston is a native of Kansas, and is a member of the Authors Club of that city. SHe has lived in Vandalia for five years, and is head of the Houston Co-Operative Syndicate of Vandalia which published a magazine for newspapers and writers called "The Van."
The following review of "Burnt Clay" is carried in a recent issue of "The Van:"
It is a vivid story—a high-sung song of the brick-making industry told in two parts, In the main the poem is written in iambic penameter, but trips occasionally into lighter, happier measure. These variations in rhythm keep the reader interested and on tiptoe from the first to the last pate.
The author knows about brick-making. Kilns, transfer-riders, crushers, hot-floors, etc., are words sprinkled thru the poem. An epic of brick-making, it carries thru it, like a vari-colored thread, a throbbing human interest story of thwarted ambition, mistaken sacrifice and fulfillment.
The hero, Kent, came on a freight train to Vandalia, an orphan "of an alien race." He was one who "pondered on symbolic things of right and wrong." He learned the ways and customs of the town and "found strange charm upon the docks were bricks were made." He is at heart an artist craving expression. This passage is taken from the note book he keeps:
"Indomitable Crushers: How your steel wheels grind,
Like thunder-driven road-drags of the gods,
The hard rock clay to dust!"
To tell more of the gripping story of Kent's ambition, sacrifice, and long years of atonement and triumph would be going too far. The gifted author, whose name is well known among writers, has taken human characters—put them on a stage and is an uncanny master at pulling the strings. The reactions are true. The "Darky's Song" and "Sambo's Yarn" though told in a lighter vein show a vast familiarity with negro dialect as well as negro psychology.
Obituaries
Seattle Daily Times, January 2, 19524547
LESTER HOUSTON
Lester Houston, 58, an orderly at Firland Sanatorium, died this morning in a hospital after a long illness. He had lived here since February.
Mr. Houston, 1704 E. 150th St., was born in Ellsworth, Minn. He was a former grocer in Vandalia, Mo., before moving to Seattle.
Surviving are a sister, Lora Houston, Seattle, and two daughters, Mrs. Hazel Goodman, Vandalia, and Mrs. Margaret Trott, Bellingham.
Bonney-Watson has charge of funeral arrangements.
Mexico Evening Ledger, January 4, 19524543
Former Vandalian, Lester A. Houston, Dies In Washington
VANDALIA — Mrs. J. T. Goodman received word Wednesday of the death of her father, Lester A. Houston, which occurred that morning in Seattle, Wash. The funeral was to be Friday at one o'clock in Seattle and burial there or in Bellingham Wash.
Mr. Houston, who went to Washington from Vandalia in February, 1951, had been in ill health for several months. He is survived by his two daughters, Mrs. Goodman of south of Vandalia, and Mrs. Margaret Trott of Bellingham, Wash., one sister, Miss Lora Houston of Washington.
He was about 58 years of age, and with his family came to this community in 1919, buying a farm east of town. He later moved to Vandalia and had employent as a meat cutter with different stores. He was an active member of the First Christian Church of Vandalia.
Census Records
| Date | Location | Enumerated Names |
|---|---|---|
| April 26, 19104537 | Eureka, Greenwood, Kansas |
|
| January 12, 19203413 | Fort Madison, Lee, Iowa |
|
| April 15, 19304544 | Vandalia, Audrain, Missouri |
|
| April 27, 19404539 | Vandalia, Audrain, Missouri |
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