| Research | | The following request to join the Houghton project was entered at Family Tree DNA by Robert Horton.
Below is my grandson’s conclusion statement. Hope that this helps you see our rationale. One other fact to know; Howard Hamilton Horton (1924) has a YDNA 37 that matches exactly my YDNA 37 markers, along with one of my Horton third cousins. James Elliot Horton (1948?) has a YDNA 37 that has only one marker different than my YDNA 37 markers.
Here is Jacob Horton’s conclusion:
“Let me preface this by saying that this isn’t exactly news: I believe Jeff Horton of the Horton Surname Project already drew a similar conclusion. Since you gave me login access to familytreedna.com, I have been able to examine the patrilineal lineages of both James Elliot Horton (the Cape Cod Hortons) and Howard Hamilton Horton, Jr. (the New London Hortons), and I reaffirmed Jeff Horton’s findings that they are commonly descended from the English immigrant Richard Houghton, i.e. they are seventh cousins twice removed. The alluded lineages are feature below:
James Elliot Horton (1948?), Carroll Winslow Horton (1914), Carroll Winslow Horton (1887), Robert Ripley Horton (1856), Isaiah Holbrook Horton (1814), Barnabus S. Horton (1779), Cushing Horton (1757), Samuel Horton (1729), Samuel Horton (1686), John Haughton (1646), Richard Houghton (1614)
Howard Hamilton Horton (1924), Howard Hamilton Horton (1890), Frederick Horton (1853), Hamilton R. Horton (1807), Sampson Horton (1765), Stephen Haughton (1730), Ebenezer Houghton (1699), Sampson Houghton (1664), Richard Houghton (1614)
[Most of the recent generations can be attested by the Federal Census, though JEH also has comprehensive records for his family shared to Ancestry.com including Birth, Marriage, and Death Certificates. Some relations are mentioned in Wills/Probates or pre-1800 indexed vital records. Both lineages have mentions in Daughters of the American Revolution and the Boston Evening Transcript. The very early generations are described by the Houghton Surname Project at their website or a genealogical index created by Margaret Horton Weiler, PhD, Descendants of John Horton of Boston, Massachusetts and New London, Connecticut: Through His Son Samuel Horton of Eastham, Massachusetts ]
There is some further history, in England, tracing Richard to a line of knights dated all the way back to the thirteenth century (I have yet to examine the sources behind these relations). The genetic evidence is quite significant behind proposing that the Cape Cod, New London, and Ohio Hortons are all descended from this same Houghton line.
What is truly fascinating though is the hard transition from Houghton to Horton. The following illustrates the flux in usage recorded in birth indexes found in the Bourbon Collection for Connecticut alone (with some exceptions):
Before 1740, New London: HOUGHTON; 1740 to 1760, Hebron: HORTON;
1760 to 1770: HAUGHTON;
1770 to 1800: HORTON; After 1800, Glastonbury.
The Houghton Surname Project has little evidence for many other hard transitions to Horton, that is one that keeps to the next generation rather than a spelling variation on only a few documents. It seems highly unlikely that a cousin of Richard’s would also emigrate to New England and have his descendants make the same transition into the surname Horton by similar means. The most likely scenario then, is that the common link is not simply Richard Houghton’s line but Richard himself. FTDNA estimates the likelihood of this descent at approximately 95%.
What this leaves is to explore all records or rumors for descendants of Richard Houghton with hopes of finding a Henry Horton sized hole or possible father in the Connecticut River Valley area. With that said, at an average of three surviving sons per generation and roughly three generations a century, one can expect over seven hundred possible lines leading from Richard to Henry (if one exists at all).
So while I have yet to confirm the parentage of Henry Horton, I can say, after reviewing the genetic evidence, he is most likely descended from Richard Houghton and most certainly descended from the same line of Houghtons.” |