Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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Henry Howard Houston and Sallie S. Bonnell




Husband Henry Howard Houston 1 2




           Born: 3 Oct 1820 - near Wrightsville, York Co, PA 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


         Father: Samuel Nelson Houston (1791-1878) 3 4 5
         Mother: Susan Strickler (      -      ) 1 3


       Marriage: 1856 6 7



• Additional Image: Henry H. Houston.




Wife Sallie S. Bonnell 6 7

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


Children
1 F [Infant] Houston 6 7

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: in infancy
         Buried: 



2 M Henry Howard Houston, Jr. 6 7

           Born: Abt 1858
     Christened: 
           Died: Jun 1879 - Rome, Italy 6 7
         Buried: 



3 F Eleanor Anna Houston 6 7

           Born: Abt 1863
     Christened: 
           Died: Jan 1875 6 7
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Did Not Marry


4 F Sallie B. Houston 6 7

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 



5 M Samuel Frederic Houston 6 7

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 



6 F Gertrude Houston 6 7

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 




General Notes: Husband - Henry Howard Houston


He left school at fourteen to enter the mercantile house of Mr. John S. Futhey, in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. This was probably the best house in its day in this section of the country for qualifying boys for a thorough business life. Mr. Futhey was a man of large means, great industry, strict integrity, high moral character, always on duty himself, and kept his boys at their post. Proverbially he dealt in "everything that grew, was manufactured, or consumed." This gave those with him a knowledge of the value of products and material rarely obtained in one establishment. During the five years young Houston was with him, say from 1834 to 1839, the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad (Wrightsville to York), the Tide-Water Canal (Wrightsville to Haver de Grace), the dam across the Susquehanna River, and towing-path bridge were being constructed, and supplies for most of the contractors and laborers on these works were furnished by Mr. Futhey, which, with the bulk of the trade of the rich region within five miles of Wrightsville, gave him an extensive business. Houston's associates in this house were Samuel M. Smith, afterwards a successful merchant; Samuel D. Young, who went early into the transportation business at the Columbia Canal basin, and at the time of his death was superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Harrisburg; Jasper W. Boyd, son of the first superintendent of the Tide-Water Canal; and J. Smith Futhey, later Judge Futhey, of West Chester, Pennsylvania.
At twenty Houston went with Mr. Samuel M. Reynolds, of Lancaster, to Lucinda Furnace, in Clarion County. After remaining there three years he joined Mr. Edmund Evans in rebuilding and operating Horse Creek furnace, on the Allegheny River, in Venango County; remained there two years, and returned to Columbia, Lancaster County, in January, 1845; remained at home one year, then made a tour of the southern and western States, reaching home in December, 1846. In February, 1847, entered the Philadelphia office of Leech & Co., canal and railway transporters. Continued with this company in Philadelphia and New York until December, 1850. The Pennsylvania Railroad was then completed to Hollidaysburg and with the State Portage Railroad over the mountains and the canal (Johnstown to Pittsburgh) furnished a through line from Philadelphia to the Ohio River. Col. William C. Patterson, then president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, selected him to organize the freight department of the new road. The rail line was completed to Pittsburgh in 1853, and from this time until 1860 the efforts required to secure and maintain trade against rivalry in the North and South was incessant and laborious. He continued in charge of this department for fifteen years.
Since then he has, with associates, been largely interested in the construction of local railroads and roads across the continent. He is now engaged in lake and ocean transportation, being part owner of a line of nine steamships on the ocean and a fleet of twenty steamers on the northwestern lakes; was an early and successful producer and operator in petroleum, a miner of coal in Pennsylvania and Western Virginia, and interested in gold and silver mines in Montana and Colorado. He is now in the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, the Pennsylvania Company, the International Steamship Company, the Erie and Western Transportation Company, besides others of less importance. [HLC 1883, 591]

He left school at an early age, and devoted several years to mercantile life in his native town. When he reached the age of twenty, he went with Mr. Samuel M. Reynolds, of Lancaster, to Lucinda Furnace, Clarion County, Pennsylvania. He remained there three years, and then joined Mr. Edmund Evans, going with him to the abandoned Horse Creek furnace, on the Allegheny River in Venango County, which they rebuilt and put in successful operation. Mr. Houston, in February, 1847, entered the Philadelphia office of D. Leech & Co., the then leading canal and railway transporters of Pennsylvania. He remained with this company, attending to important business in its behalf in Pennsylvania and in the cities of New York and Philadelphia, until December, 1850.
The Pennsylvania Railroad had then completed its line to Hollidaysburg, and with the State Portage road which was constructed over the mountains, and with the State canal from Johnstown to Pittsburgh, formed a through line from the eastern terminus of the road at Philadelphia to the Ohio River. Mr. Houston's merit as a business man while engaged with Leech & Co. had attracted the attention of Col. William C. Patterson, at that time President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and he was selected to organize the freight department of the new road. It was the right man in the right place. There was an intense and bitter rivalry, and the most vigorous and unremitting efforts were required to secure and maintain trade as against competing lines. The Pennsylvania Railroad was completed to Pittsburgh in 1853, and from that time until 1865, Mr. Houston scarcely knew what rest meant. He was fortunate in possessing sound health, and the constant strain did not seriously affect him. For fifteen years he managed the department with satisfaction to the company and with credit to himself. In 1865 Mr. Houston entered into special transportation on local and transcontinental railroads, connected in these enterprises with several gentlemen, who still [1889] are associated with him as owners in steam vessels and the conduct of lake and ocean transportation on a large scale. Mr. Houston is now [1889] the part owner of twenty-one ocean steamers, and has a large interest in a fleet of twenty steamers on the lakes in the Northwest. He was successful in the early days of the oil excitement by careful investments, which resulted in handsome profits, and he became known not only as a prosperous producer and operator in petroleum, but also successful as an investor in gold and silver mines in Montana and Colorado. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, the Pennsylvania Company, the Inman Steamship Company, the In-ternational Steamship Company, the Erie and Western Transportation Company, and a number of other companies of minor importance.
Mr. Houston is a member of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church at Germantown, and has been Rector's Warden from the time of the organization of the parish. He is a man of much force of character, and is quick and accurate in his estimate of men and measures. He is of robust physique and an active man both mentally and physically. His benevolence and charities are unostentatious but munificent. He is a trustee of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, where he is held in high esteem, and also a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the oldest and most popular institutions of learning in the country. [ECBP i, 95]


General Notes: Wife - Sallie S. Bonnell

from Philadelphia, PA

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Sources


1 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 591.

2 —, Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I (New York: Atlantic Publishing & Engraving Co., 1889), Pg 93.

3 —, Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I (New York: Atlantic Publishing & Engraving Co., 1889), Pg 94.

4 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 590.

5 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 164.

6 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 592.

7 —, Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I (New York: Atlantic Publishing & Engraving Co., 1889), Pg 95.


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