Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 996 - 997 

JOHN S. HOUCK, who is both a carpenter and a farmer, resides upon section 16, Salem Township. He was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, Dec. 5, 1821, and is a son of Solomon and Sarah A. (Gothrup) Houck, both of whom were natives of Maryland. On his father's side the family are descended from German ancestry, while his forefathers on the mother's side are supposed to have been Scotch.

             Solomon Houck, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier of the United States Government in the war with Great Britain in 1812-15, and his son has in his possession a buckskin purse of curious construction, which was carried for years by the old hero. Solomon and his wife were the parents of ten children, four of whom are living, viz.: Jacob, who resides in Woodford County, Ill.; Eleanor, Mrs. William Clifford, who lives in Ford County, Ill.; Emily, Mrs. John Day, a resident of Champaign County, Ill.; and John S., the subject of this sketch. Those deceased bore the following names: James, Joshua, Sarah A., Elizabeth, Mary Hannah and Isaac.

             The subject of this personal narrative was reared to manhood on his father's farm in his native State, and received such rudimentary education as was furnished in the district schools of that place and period. He had not the advantages enjoyed by the young men of to-day for acquiring a good education. In his nineteenth year he commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, which he has followed more or less up to the present time. After his marriage, which took place when he was some twenty-three years of age, he followed his trade in his native county in the Buckeye State for a number of years, after which he removed to Columbus, the capital of that State, where for twenty-eight years he was engaged in carpentering and building. In the spring of 1878, feeling the necessity of seeking in a newer country in the great West a field for his efforts, he and his family removed to Kansas and settled in Wichita. On his arrival in that city he had but twenty-five cents in his pocket, so whatever he has accumulated since has been made while a resident of Sedgwick County. He remained at the county seat for some time, but in the spring of 1883 removed to his present location on section 16 in Salem Township, where he owns some eighty acres of good arable land, which is well cultivated, and brought to the uses of civilized man. 

            On the 21st of September, 1844, John S. Houck and Miss Mary J. Love plighted their troth at the marriage altar. The bride, a daughter of James and Mary Love, was also a native of Fairfield County, Ohio, and was born March 17, 1819. Her parents, who were natives of Ireland and Pennsylvania respectively, were among the first pioneers who blazed the way for progress and civilization into the wilderness of Fairfield County, having settled in that locality as early as 1802. Even as late as the time when Mrs. Houck was born, her parents had no neighbors nearer than five miles distance, and they were compelled to endure many hardships and privations. Mrs. Houck was one of a large family of children born to her parents, only one of whom survives: Martha, the wife of Robert Black, a resident of Carroll County, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Love died, the former May 25, 1844, and the latter Oct. 2, 1833.

             To Mr. and Mrs. Houck have been born eleven children, four of whom only are living, as follows: Edward, who is farming in McLean County, Ill.; Thomas, a resident of Coffeyville, Kan.; John F., at home with his father; and Anne, Mrs. Harry Traverse, who is living in Lane County, Kan. Although the family came to this county with comparatively nothing, still, with the assistance of his devoted wife, and by the exercise of industry, frugality and good management, Mr. Houck has succeeded in securing a good home and accumulating some spare capital. In his declining years he is enjoying the remembrance of a life passed in usefulness and well-doing. Mrs. Houck, after an illness of only five days with pneumonia, departed this life at her home, Feb. 28, 1888. Her death was mourned by a large circle of friends.

             In National and State politics Mr. Houck is a supporter of the Republican candidates, but in all local matters is generally independent, voting for the nominee whom he considers the best man for the place, and the best calculated for the interests of the township or county. Mrs. Houck was a sincere and consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, communing with the congregation of that denomination at Derby.

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