My cousin, Carol Watson, and I traced our Houston line back to Robert Huston, who died in Chester County, Pennsylvania about 1807. That was about 1992 and in the ensuing 15 years I've found nothing new on him. He appears on the 1790 Chester County census, living near Jno. Wynn, father-in-law of two of Robert's sons. In the Chester County census of 1810 Robert's sons Robert and James (spelled "Hughston") appear in the census of East and West Nantmeal townships in Chester County, along with associated families of Wynn, Benner, Pricer, Goodman, Millard, and McMullin. There is at least one other apparently unrelated Huston family in the same area.

Susan Huston Reber, a granddaughter of Robert Huston, recalled late in her long life what she could about her forbears and wrote, "The Hustons were from the north of Ireland, two brothers, Robert and Hugh, settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania; a third brother went to Virginia. From "that one" the descendants of Texas Sam sprang. Of the Pennsylvania Hustons, only one married, that one was my grandfather Robert. Hugh died a bachelor." None of this has been verified; however, if you check the genealogy of "the" Sam Houston (can be found at The Sam Houston Memorial Museum) you will see the first Houston in that line in America was John Houston, Jr., who came to Rockbridge County, Virginia in 1735 with his mother, his wife, and six children. One of those children was Robert Houston, who is the antecendent of Sam Houston. This Robert is not the same as "our" Robert and there is no mention of a "Hugh". None of these Houstons migrated to Pennsylvania, but rather remained in Virginia or moved south to Tennessee. There may be a more distant connection to our own family, but I haven't found it yet.

So, I'm sorry to disappoint the folks who continue to believe we're related to famous Sam. The fact is our surname was spelled "Huston" until the 1860's, after some of our clan had settled in Texas. It may be that since the name "Houston" was familiar by way of Texas President/Governor Sam Houston, the name "Huston" got misspellled so often that it was easier to just take on the new spelling. Franklin Huston and his brother Luther both spelled their name without the "o" when they settled in Belton, Texas before the Civil War. The spelling varied for a few years, but by 1870, both brothers spelled their name "Houston."

The following stories begin about 1816, as six of the seven Huston siblings that I know of migrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio. They first settled in Ross County near Adelphi. By 1830 some of the clan had settled in the adjacent county of Pickaway, in Circleville. After 1830 the family began dispersing to Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Click on each name to go to that individual's family page.

Please if you have anything to add to the research.