First, or Septennial Meeting of the Class of
1858 Yale College
with a Biographical Record (1865)
Francis Henry Houston, (East New Market, Md.,) son of Henry White and Tryphena M. (Dixon) Houston, was born in East New Market, Md., May 15,1837. He was prepared for College by William H. Russell, (Y. C. 1833,) New Haven, Ct., and entered the Class July 24,1854. and left in December, 1854, during the first Freshman term. He entered the Class of '59 in September, 1855, and graduated.
In the following October he took a Department in the Academy at Easton, Md., at the same time commencing the study of Law in the office of J. C. W. Powell, Esq. In February, 1860, he resigned his position as teacher, and in October became Editor of the Social Journal, in Easton, which was suspended in May, 1861. In September, 1861, he began teaching in East New Market, and became Principal of the Academy. Nov. 8,1861, he was admitted to the Bar in Centreville, Md. In January, 1863, he resigned the Academy and became a private tutor in West Farms, N. Y., until October, 1863, from which time, until March, 1864, he taught in the Charlier French Institute, N.Y. He then resumed the same tutorship until August. In December he became a clerk in the Mercantile Library, N.Y., and since July 1, 1865, until December, 1865, he has been an Assistant Librarian there.
From the "Obituary record of graduates of Yale University" By Yale University (1915)
Francis Henry Houston, son of Henry White Houston, M.D. (Univ. Md. 1832) and Tryphena Mason (Dixon) Houston, was born May 15, 1837, at East New Market, Md. His father was one of the leading men of the town, a trustee of the Methodist Church, and a school trustee. In preparation for college he studied at Sherman's Institute, near his home, and the Collegiate and Commercial Institute of General William H. Russell (B.A. Yale 1833) in New Haven. He was a member of the Class of 1858 during the first term of its Freshman year, and the following autumn reentered with the Class of 1859. He was greatly interested in music, and was a member of the Tyrolea as a violinist.
After graduation he taught a department in the academy at Easton, Md., and at the same time began the study of law in the office of J. C. W. Powell, Esq. In February, 1860, he resigned from the academy, and from October, 1860, to April, 1861, edited The Social Journal, published in the town. In June, 1861, he returned to his native place, and became principal of the academy there. He was admitted to the bar November 8, 1861, at Centreville, Md. Early in 1863 he went to New York City, where he engaged in private tutoring, and continued his law studies in the office of Richard A. McCurdy (LL.B. Harvard 1856) in company with his classmate, Eugene Smith. His experience in the courts gave him a distaste for the law, and he abandoned the profession.
He soon joined the staff of the New York Mercantile Library, and became first assistant librarian in February, 1866, and chief librarian in April, 1868. He resigned in October, 1869, and was for a time correspondent for George W. Child's Literary Gazette, but later returned to Maryland and engaged in fruit culture.
In the autumn of 1873 he settled in Paterson, N. J., where he bought a house and became a real estate dealer, but in August, 1876, he entered the wholesale department of A. T. Stewart & Co. in New York City as commercial statistician and remained until the wholesale business of the house was closed in 1882.
He then utilized his literary and commercial experience in general statistical and newspaper work in New York, and was statistical editor of the Commercial Bulletin, New York, on the editorial staff of the Journal of Commerce, editor of the Journal of Fabrics, assistant editor of Textile America, correspondent of the Boston Cotton and Wool Reporter, the Chicago Commercial Bulletin, the Belfast Linen Journal, and other papers.
In March, 1899, he suffered a paralytic stroke, but about November was able to join his family in Belgium. In October, 1901, he removed to Berlin, Germany. There a succession of paralytic shocks followed until his death, April 7, 1913. He was in the 76th year of his age.
He married in Baltimore, Md., December 16, 1871, Matilda Hodson Thompson, daughter of John Thompson, a large planter of Vienna, Md., and Mary (Payne) Thompson. Mrs. Houston died in 1877. Their son (B.A. Columbia 1895) is living, but the two daughters by this marriage died in early childhood.
Mr. Houston married again in New York City, October 25, 1884, Elizabeth Lusby, daughter of Rev. James Liston Houston and Adeline (Price) Houston of Wilmington, Del. She died in Berlin in 1908, but their two daughters are living.