Houston, William Churchill, c. 1746-1788

<p>William Churchill Houston (c. 1746 – August 12, 1788) was an American teacher, lawyer and statesman. He was a delegate to both the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention for New Jersey. Houston was elected in 1780 to the American Philosophical Society.</p>

<p>Houston was born in the Sumter District of central South Carolina. His parents, Archibald and Margaret Houston, were farmers who had emigrated to the then British colony from Ireland. He studied at the Poplar Tent Academy before attending the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), where he taught grammar school on the side to fund his studies. After his graduation in 1768 he stayed on as a tutor and became a Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy (science) in 1771. He married Jane Smith and together they had five children.</p>

<p>When British forces occupied Princeton in 1776 at the outset of the Revolution the college was closed and the students and professors returned home. Houston then joined with the militia of nearby Somerset County and saw action in the area. He was later elected Captain of one of their companies. When the British withdrew from New Jersey in 1777 and the college reopened, he returned to his teaching post.</p>

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>12/31/1784 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1783 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1780 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1779 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1778 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

HOUSTON, William Churchill, a Delegate from New Jersey; born in Sumter District, South Carolina, around 1746; pursued classical studies; was graduated from Princeton College in 1768; professor in the same college from 1769 to 1783, when he resigned; served as captain in the Second Regiment, Somerset Militia, during the Revolutionary War; deputy secretary of the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776; member of the New Jersey Provincial Congress in 1776; member of the New Jersey house of assembly 1777-1779; member of the council of safety in 1778; Member of the Continental Congress 1779-1781; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1781 and commenced practice in Trenton, N.J., in 1783; elected as the first Comptroller of the Treasury in 1781, but declined to serve; receiver of Continental taxes 1782-1785; clerk of the supreme court of New Jersey 1781-1788; again a Member of the Continental Congress in 1784 and 1785; member of the Annapolis Convention in 1786; delegate to the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention in 1787; died in Frankford, Pa., August 12, 1788; interment in the Second Presbyterian Churchyard, Philadelphia, Pa.