Notes:

William married Tabitha SMITH after 1810 in Duplin County, North Carolina. Tabitha (daughter of Frederick SMITH and Winnifred SMITH) was born about 1797 in Duplin County, North Carolina; died after 1830 in Duplin County, NC. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Female HOUSTON was born between 1810 and 1820 in Duplin County, NC.
2. Male HOUSTON was born between 1810 and 1820 in Duplin County, NC.
3. Male HOUSTON was born between 1810 and 1820 in Duplin County, NC.
4. Female HOUSTON was born between 1820 and 1830 in Duplin County, NC.
5. Female HOUSTON was born between 1820 and 1830 in Duplin County, NC.

Notes:

Notes for Griffith Houston:( From Jacqueline B. Perrin)
Received much material from his descendant, David V. Brooks, at Brooks, Steven, and Pope, PA. Suite 150, 2000 Regency Parkway, Cary, NC. 27511; 919-481-9103

Context of North Carolina Will Abstracts, 1760-1800 the North Carolina Wills J. page 34
1782 JONES, GRIFFITH, Wife (not named); Margaret McRee and Mary White (daughters); Griffith Houston (grandsons).

FROM DUPLIN COUNTY DEEDS, BOOK 1A PAGE 21, May 13, 1784
A tract of land granted to William Houston Senr. of Duplin County It being part oof 840A granted to Henry McCulloh Esqr. March 3, 1745. It was granted to William Houston Esqr. May 1780, beginning at a maple & ash on the branch of Cape Fear River, William Hubbard's lower corner William Houston and wife had use of wood and said land for their plantation. On May 13, 1784 for $1 a tract of 256A on the Eastside of the Northeast River of Cape Fear. It was granted to Griffith Houston son of William Houston Esqr.
Witness: Charles Ward, Joseph Bray, Senr.
July Court 1784

Note 2./
Duplin County and Sampson Countys were formerly a part of New Hanover County, and about the year 1749 was divided from New Hanover County. In 1784, Sampson County was erected from the portion of Duplin

NOTE 3./ The Year Was 1780 Historical Note:

The year was 1780 and the American Revolution wasn't going well for the Americans in the South. British forces captured Charleston and 5,400 American troops garrisoned there. During the siege, South Carolina Governor John Rutledge managed to escape and when word reached the British General Cornwallis, he sent Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton to chase Rutledge and troops under Colonel Abraham Buford who were escorting him to North Carolina. Tarleton's men caught up with Buford's troops near the Waxhaws District six miles south of the North Carolina state line, as Governor Rutledge continued north. Buford's men put up a brief fight during which Tarleton's horse was shot from under him. As the American troops began to surrender, Tarleton's men, thinking he had been killed began renewed their attack on the surrendering Americans. More than one hundred men were killed outright and perhaps another hundred died of their wounds shortly after.

Up to that point, most thought that the South was going to remain loyal to Britain, but the Waxhaws Massacre became a rallying point for the rebels, with "Tarleton's Quarter" becoming synonymous with "no mercy."

The divisions in the South were apparent in the Battle of King's Mountain, which was fought between two American forces--Tories under the command of Major Patrick Ferguson, and the "Overmountain Men," American frontiersmen from what is now Tennessee and parts of Virginia. The Americans surrounded the Tories and this time it was they who gave "no quarter" to the surrendering Tory troops. Eventually American officers were able to reign in the troops and the battle was over. The defeat was a turning point in the Revolution in the South and forced General Cornwallis to retreat further south.

To the north, a British spy was captured with correspondence revealing that Benedict Arnold, who had recently been given command of West Point, planned to surrender it to the British. When news that the spy had been caught reached Arnold, he fled to the safety of a British ship and became a brigadier-general for the British, siding with them for the remainder of the war.

There was trouble in England as well. In 1778 a Catholic Relief Act had been passed, which reversed some of the Penal Laws of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It allowed Roman Catholics to join the armed forces with an oath amenable to Catholics and gave them the ability to hold longer leases on land. It also ended the requirement that a Catholic distribute his lands evenly among his sons upon his death. The Catholic Relief Acts weren't popular with some Protestants though and in 1780 Lord George Gordon established the Protestant Association in 1780. In June of that year an estimated 60,000 people marched on the House of Commons demanding the Relief Acts be repealed. The huge crowd turned violent and a week of rioting left two hundred and ninety people dead, and devasted Roman Catholic churches and related buildings, as well as the homes of prominent Catholics and supporters of the legislation. Troops had to be called in to end the rioting. Twenty-five of the leaders of the riot were hanged, but Gordon was found "not guilty" of treason.

May 19th was a dark day in New England--literally. A low-lying dark cloud that at times had a yellow and at times reddish hue descended on New England and was noted from Maine to as far south as New Jersey. It was darkest around northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire and Maine, where it became so dark that candles needed to be lit to see. The cause is thought to have been a combination of low clouds that mixed with smoke and ash from a forest fire, but at the time it wasn't known and the event caused panic for many.

New England's dark day was a minor event though in comparison to the hurricane season of 1780. Eight storms struck in various parts of America and the Caribbean. British fleets off American shores took heavy hits during several storms. (Hurricanes in the 1780s were the cause of more British Naval losses than battle.) The worst storm struck on October 10th devastating Barbados and the Windward Islands, and claiming an estimated 22,000 lives.

RS married Ann Martha PATSEY about 1778 in Dobbs, North Carolina. Ann was born about 1745 in Duplin County, North Carolina; died after 1800 in Duplin County, North Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Note 1./ from TENTH GENERATION at

In 1800 there was a Patsey Houston household enumerated in Duplin County. She was over 45 years
of age. In her household were 4 females age 16-25, 1 male age 10-15, and 1 female age less than 10.
She had one slave. Thus Patsey had apparently been widowed less than 10 years. Patsey was probably
a nickname for Martha Houston, wife of Griffith Houston. Griffith Houston apparently deceased prior to the 1800 census.

WilliamEsq married Anna JONES about 1735 in North Carolina. Anna (daughter of Squire Griffith JONES and Margaret MCREE) was born in 1715 in Bladen County, North Carolina.; died about Apr 1805 in Duplin County, North Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sources:
1./ Text: MCEACHERN, Leora H., DUPLIN COUNTY OF PLEAS AND QUARTER SESSIONS, Abstract of Minutes, 1803-1805, Part 6., Duplin County Historical Society, Rose Hill, NC, 1984.
2./ Text: DUPREE, Garland Monna Crowe, PEOPLE OF PURPOSE, VOLUME TWO, Walker Printing, 1990.

Notes:

NOTE 1./ As a historical time frame point of reference; In 1585, Sir Francis Drake, the English explorer, rescued the 1st English attempt at colonizing the New World. This was at Roanoke Island North Carolina

NOTE 2./ e-mail: Houston family genealogy from Sherri Shrat <> 12-18-06

We – are currently researching and trying to find Dr William Houston, (our immigrant’s ancestry) – We know he came from Ireland and was born in County Antrim about 1710-1715. He came with his Uncle (by marriage) Henry McCulloh, a Merchant and Land Agent of King George. Bob Epperson, one of our cousins has been doing a great deal of research on the McCulloh connection and we have just recently connected with Fletcher Freeman a descendant of Henry McCulloh who has provided us with some interesting info. Fletcher is an attorney and former J.P. from Dallas who lives and practices in MN now.

I need to back up here and tell you we also have a blood connection to Henry McCulloh that we are currently working on securing record proof of. Edward Houston (Rev War Vet) (son of Dr. William Houston) was married to Mary Miller. His brother Henry married Mary’s sister Sarah. Mary & Sarah Miller were the daughters of George Miller and __________ McCulloch. Their mother according to several historians was the daughter of Henry McCulloh. There is some historical error/conflict as to which daughter.

NOTE 3./
Historical reference for the time frame cir the time the Houston family had emigrated to America: (from the Ancestry Weekly Digest, 03 July 2004)

COLONISTS OPPRESSED

King George III succeeded his grandfather, George II, to the English throne in 1760 at age 22. At the time of his ascent to the throne, the French and Indian War still raged over territories in North America. The Sugar Act was passed in 1764, which taxed the importation into the colonies of sugar, coffee, Madeira wine, silks and other cloths, indigo, and pimentos. It also imposed fines on shippers who sold such commodities to the colonies.

The Stamp Acts, passed by Parliament in 1765, placed a duty (tax) on "every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be ingrossed, written, or printed," for the
purpose of "further defraying the expences [sic] of defending, protecting, and securing" the colonies. The expense was enormous. A Stamp Act Congress consisting of representatives from nine colonies
was convened on 19 October 1765 and produced a Declaration of Rights that complained about the Stamp Act and other injustices imposed upon the colonies by Parliament.

The Townsend Acts were passed in Parliament in 1767 for the purpose of raising revenue to support the British army in the colonies. Import duties were imposed on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. The
Townsend Acts also provide salaries for some colonial officials so that the provincial assemblies could not influence them by withholding wages. Other particularly offensive bills authorized blank search warrants called Writs of Assistance, created three additional vice-admiralty courts which operated without juries, established a Board of Customs Commissioners headquartered in Boston, and suspended the New York assembly for a failure to comply with the Quartering Act of 1765 which dealt with providing quarters for British soldiers.

Parliament also passed the New York Restraining Act, which suspended the provincial legislature until it provided "his Majesty's troops... with all such necessaries" as required by British law. Colonists
protested these taxes by petitioning Parliament and boycotting these and other British goods. On 5 March 1770, Parliament altered the measure, and the duties on all commodities except tea were repealed. The tea tax, however, was the most lucrative and was retained by Parliament to show the colonies that it still had the right to impose taxes on them.

On 5 March 1770, a young barber's apprentice, Edward Garrick, apparently yelled an insult at a British soldier, Hugh White. The soldier responded by hitting the boy with a rifle. The boy called out for help and a crowd of more than four hundred colonists responded in a short time and began to throw snowballs and ice at the soldiers. The soldiers, egged on by more insults, ultimately fired shots into
the crowd, killing five men and wounding others. Although the soldiers were arrested for murder in what became known as the "Boston Massacre," they were all acquitted at trial. Colonists became more
afraid and resentful of the standing British army presence and some areas began organizing their own provincial troops in secret to help protect the populace.

The British East India Company controlled all the tea shipments into the colonies and colonial boycotts of their tea placed the company in jeopardy of going out of business. The colonial merchants had been
smuggling tea in from Holland. However, the British government was determined that the British East India Company would survive. In May 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act, which allowed the company to sell tea directly to the colonists. This action bypassed the colonial merchants and, in fact, made the price of tea cheaper than even the Dutch imports. The colonists demanded the removal of the tea tax and dockworkers refused to unload tea from the company's ships. The Governor of Massachusetts demanded that the dockworkers in Boston unload the tea. He also demanded that the people pay the duty on tea.

On the night of 16 December 1773, a group of men dressed as Mohawk Indians and calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, went to Boston harbor and boarded three ships. They incapacitated the crew and
guards and, over the next hours, conducted what has become known as the Boston Tea Party. They dumped forty-five tons of tea into Boston Harbor and escaped unchallenged. The Crown and Parliament were livid and retaliated with the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts. These included the following:
- The Boston Port Bill, which closed the Port of Boston to all colonists until the damages from the Boston Tea Party were paid.
- The Massachusetts Government Act nullified the original charter of the colonies and placed the British governor in complete control of town meetings. This act took control from colonists and, in effect,
stifled freedom of speech.
- The Administration of Justice Act stated that British officials could not be tried for capital crimes in provincial courts. They would be extradited to England for trial.
- The Quebec Act extended the Canadian borders to take over lands that had formerly been parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia.

Outraged, colonial leaders organized and convened the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia on 5 September 1774. Fifty-five delegates from all the colonies except Georgia attended and met until
late October. They sought to petition Parliament to right the wrongs imposed against the colonies, rather than advocating independence.

THE SHOTS ARE FIRED

The colonists' covert military organization had not gone unnoticed. On 15 April 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British military governor in Massachusetts, was ordered to destroy the rebels' military stores
at Concord. On 19 April, he led a large number of troops across the Charles River. Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode through the countryside and alerted the so-called Minutemen of the
impending arrival of the British.

When Gage's troops arrived at Lexington Green, they were met by a group of armed colonial militia. A shot was fired and the British troops began firing on the small group of militia, killing eight and
wounding ten more. The militia retreated and the British continued on to Concord.

The Concord militia was more prepared--it flanked the retreating British troops, shooting at them from behind trees and bushes. The British had never experienced such guerilla tactics, and their morale
was severely damaged. The British casualties were very high. The Battles of Lexington and Concord mark the beginning of the full-fledged American Revolution.

NOTE 4./ Houston Family Scrapbook <>

Our "Houston Heritage" is rich and colorful. I have traced our "roots" in this line back to Dr. William Houston born about 1710, County Antrim, Ireland. He is our Houston line's original immigrant. The family name Houston, pronounced "House-ton" (the English pronunciation) was used by our line, rather than the Irish pronunciation of "Hugh's Town shortened to Hugh's-ton". Some of the descendants in our line have adopted or gone back to the original Irish pronunciation.

Dr. William Houston, although he has not been officially recognized as a Patriot by DAR, was in fact a Patriot. His son Edward Houston my family's direct line ancestor has been recognized as a Patriot. I have joined DAR through him. If any of you would like to join DAR through Edward, please let me know. I can send you information to assist you. I am going to have Dr. William Houston recognized as a Patriot and added as a supplement to my membership, which will open membership to all our Houston cousins who are interested and not direct descendants of Edward

Our Houston DNA tests show that we are of Viking descent. (A Viking in our genetic woodpile) Apparently Vikings controlled much of Ireland and Scotland from 800 - 1100 A.D. This was prior to the common use of surnames. This is why we have a Scot/Irish surname rather than a Scandinavian surname for our Houston line. I am continuing with other family members, researching to find documented proof of Dr. William Houston's ancestry.

William married Unknown MCCULLOH. Unknown (daughter of James MCCULLOH) was born about 1675 in Ireland; died in in Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Note: From: Richard & Carol Ann Lantz [mailto:[email protected]] I am interested in your research re. the Houston family line -- most especially your 4th generation (William Houston with spouse ?McCulloh). I am researching the McCulloh line and find many contradictions of dates and births. One of my references refers to a Helen Houston marrying a Henry McCulloh, but I don't see any reference to a Helen Houston in your Descendency list. But -- and the reason for my e-mail -- a Dr. William Houston came to North Carolina around 1735 and was the nephew of my ancestor, Henry Eustace McCulloh, Sr. He had sisters by both the first and second marriages of his father, James (McC) of Grogan. If one of these sisters is the ? McCulloh that is the mother of William Houston, Esq. (b 1715), then that would make this Dr. William Houston the nephew who was made agent of many of Henry McCulloh's lands in North and South Carolina prior to the Revolutionary War. I would like to know the source of your entry that ? McCulloh married a William Houston. Although I find in your research a reference to "Repository: Title: v8t1352.FTW", I am unfamiliar with the source reference and hope you can clarify for me the source of this marriage.

Squire married Margaret MCREE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sources: Text: DUPREE, Garland Monna Crowe, PEOPLE OF PURPOSE, VOLUME TWO, Walker Printing, 1990.