Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/300

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272
HOUGHTON
HOUSE

storm, his frail boat encountered the violent sea, and he was drowned.


HOUGHTON, George Frederick, jurist, b. in Guilford, Vt., 31 May, 1820; d. in St. Albans, Vt., 22 Feb., 1870. He was graduated at the University of Vermont in 1839, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1841. In 1848-'9 he was state secre- tary of civil and military affairs, and in 1852-'3 state's attorney for Franklin county. The next year he established the " Vermont Transcript," and was subsequently connected with the "Church Journal," New York. Mr. Houghton was a founder, and at the time of his death president, of the Ver- mont historical society, and had contributed largely to historical and biographical literature.


HOUGHTON, George Washington Wright, author, b. in Cambridge, Mass., 12 Aug., 1850 ; d. in Yonkers, N. Y., 1 April, 1891. During 1868 he became editor of the " Hub," a trade-paper, published in New York city. He was one of the incorporators of the society of Sons of the Revolution, and was its second secretary. He was the author of " Legend of St. Olafs Kirk " (Boston, 1881) and " Niagara, and other Poems " (1883).


HOUGHTON, Henry Clark, physician, b. in Roxbury, Mass., 22 Jan., 1837. He was graduated at Bridge water normal school in 1859, where he was made instructor. He received his medical degree from the New York university in 1867, and in that year was appointed resident physician to the Five Points house of industry, which place he held till 1869. From 1868 till 1870 he was pro- fessor of physiology in the New York homoeopathic college, and from 1869 till 1872 professor of physi- ology in the New York college for women. In 1868 he was appointed surgeon to the New York oph- thalmic hospital, which post he now holds (1887). For two years he was individual relief agent in the Christian commission. He is now dean and pro- fessor in the College of New York ophthalmic hos- Eital, professor of clinical otology in New York omceopathic medical college, president of the American homoeopathic ophthalmological and oto- logical society since 1881, and president of the Homoeopathic medical societies of New York coun- ty and New York state. He is the author of " Lec- tures on Clinical Otology " (Boston, 1885)..


HOUGHTON, Henry Oscar (ho'-ton), publish- er, b. in Sutton, Vt., 30 April, 1823. He attended the academy in Bradford, Vt., learned the printer's trade in Burlington, and worked at it in Nunda, N. Y. He was graduated at the University of Ver- mont in 1846, and failing to obtain a place as teacher went to Boston and engaged as reporter for the " Traveller." In 1849 he became a member of the firm of Bolles & Hough- ton, printers, in Cambridge, Mass., and in 1852 estab- lished in that city the Riverside Press, under the firm-name

of H. O. Houghton

and Co., of which head. In 1864 he became a member of the pub- lishing-firm of Hurd and Houghton, which in 1878 was succeeded by that of Houghton, Osgood and Co., and in 1880 by that of Houghton, Mifflin and Co. By the change of 1878 it acquired the large list of the old Ticknor and Fields house, which included many famous American authors of the general ion of Emerson, Longfellow, Whittier, and Holmes. When Mr. Houghton was an apprentice in Burling- ton, an unknown man one day walked into the of- fice, handed him a printed slip, and said : " My lad, when you use these words, spell them as here, theater, center," etc. It was Noah Webster, whose great dictionary is now printed at the Riverside Press, where several presses are constantly at work upon it. Among the notable books that have been produced there are fac-simile reprints of the " Bay Psalme Book," and Cromwell's "Souldier's Bible," "Notes on Columbus," edited by Harrisse, Win- sor's "History of America," and the illustrated edition of Longfellow's works. In 1872 Mr. Hough- ton was elected mavor of Cambridge.


HOUGHTON, Sherman O., lawyer, b. in New York, 10 April, 1828. His grandfather served in the Revolution, and his father was a captain of artillery during the war of 1812. The son was educated at a commercial institute in New York, and entered the army as a private in 1846, serving throughout the war with Mexico, and being pro- moted to the rank of lieutenant. In 1846 he went to California by Cape Horn. He became interested in gold-mining, and was mayor of San Jose in 1855-6. In 1857 he was admitted to the bar, and, owing to his knowledge of French and Spanish, and Spanish and Mexican land-grants, he soon ac- quired a large practice. During the civil war he served as inspector of militia. He was elected to congress as a Republican, serving from 1871 till 1875 on the committees on post-offices and post- roads, the Pacific railroad, and weights and meas- ures. In 1881 he was appointed a commissioner to investigate the affairs of the U. S. mint in San Francisco. He now (1887) resides in Los Angeles, Cal., and practises law.


HOUSE, Edward Howard, author, b. in Bos- ton, Mass., 5 Sept., 1836. His' father, Timothy House, b. in 1814. was an engraver of distinction, engaged in bank-note engraving from 1834 till his death in 1864. The son educated himself, and from 1850 till 1853 studied music, and during this period his light orchestral compositions were per- formed in Boston. He was also an engraver on steel in the New England and American bank- note companies. He was part proprietor, associate editor, and musical and dramatic critic of the Bos- ton " Courier " from 1854 till 1858 ; special corre- spondent, associate editor, and dramatic and mu- sical critic of the New York " Tribune " from 1859 till 1873 ; on the editorial staff of the New York " Times " in 1870 : and from 1874 till 1876 was cor- respondent from Japan and Formosa of the New York " Herald." From 1871 till 1873 he was pro- fessor of the English language and literature in the University of Tokio, Japan. He has trav- elled through North and South America, in Eu- rope, Africa, eastern Asia, Japan, China, and un- explored parts of Formosa. He has labored with energy for fifteen years to defend Japan from for- eign powers, and especially devoted himself to se- curing the return of the " Simonoseki Indemnity" from the United States government, which was effected in 1882. His publications are " The Si- monoseki Affair" (Tokio, 1874) ; "The Kaposi ma Affair " (1874) ; " The Japanese Expedition to For- mosa " (1875) ; " Japanese Episodes (Boston. 1882) ; and " The Tokio Times," a weekly periodical, his exclusive work (Tokio, 1877-'80).


HOUSE, James, soldier, b. about 1775: d. in Georgetown, D. C, 17 Nov., 1834. lie was appointed to the army from Pennsylvania, and be-