My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Lawrence County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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J. E. Houghton, editor and publisher of the Marionville Buzz Saw was born in Hardin County, Tenn., in 1863, and is a son of a prominent citizen and ex-sheriff of Hardin County, J. K. Houghton. The father was a music teacher by profession for a number of years, and was married to Mary McGee. He lives in Savannah, Tenn., and is seventy-five years of age. J. E. Houghton received very meager educational advantages, and at the age of fourteen years entered a printing office, and by energy and close attention to business he became very proficient as a printer. After leaving the office where he began to learn his trade, he secured a situation in the Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House at Nashville, Tenn., remaining with them several years, till he learned his trade, after which he spent about six months in traveling, and finally located in Harrisburg, Ark., where he edited a paper for about a year, and then sold out. In 1885 he purchased the Commercial, of Marionville, a Republican paper, and began editing it under the name of the Marionville Buzz Saw, and in the interest of the Democratic party. It is a seven-column, four-page paper, and has one of the largest subscription lists in Southwest Missouri. He has a fine job and news office, with new Campbell cylinder press, and prints both sides of the paper at home, not caring to use the patent sheet. He was married to Miss Jennie Tanner, of Kentucky, and by her is the father of two interesting children: Van and Emery. He is well-to-do in worldly goods, and has a nice home and owns several town lots.

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This family biography is one of 272 biographies included in The History of Lawrence County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Lawrence County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Lawrence County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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