M. HOUSTON,
dealer in and repairer of furniture. M. W. Houston, the father of the subject of this biography, was born in Kentucky and
subsequently emigrated to Indiana, where he was married to Miss Mary Grayson, a native of Tennessee. Mortimer Houston was
born in Lawrence County, Indiana, April 24, 1838.
He was reared and educated in his native county, and when about seventeen years of age he began the
trade of cabinet making. In 1857 the family moved to Iowa and located in Des Moines, where he completed his trade, which he
followed in Des Moines till the beginning of the war in 1861. For six months during the year 1863 he was sutler in the
Twenty-third Iowa regiment, being obliged to return home on account of sickness.
In the spring of 1864 Mr. Houston moved to
Missouri, and located in Savannah, Andrew County, where he worked at his trade till 1865, when he came to Holt County.
Here he has since been engaged in various branches of business, among which are fruit growing and bee keeping, making a
specialty at the present time of these industries.
He has a farm near the city limits. His bees on an average furnish
from three to five thousand pounds of honey per year. In October 1881 he opened his present store and is deserving of
a liberal patronage from the people of his vicinity. Mr. Houston was married January 6, 1862 to Miss Maggie Buzick, who was
born in Wapello County, Iowa, January 22, 1840. She is a daughter of Henry F. Buzick, a native of Ohio. Her mother's
maiden name was Mary Ruckman, a native of Illinois. The family of Mr. and Mrs. H. consists of nine children, seven of
whom are living, Henry M., Charles I., Irene, Leonard, Carl, Alice and Clarence. Mr. and Mrs. H. are members of the
M. E. Church.
Source:"History of Holt and Atchison Counties, 1882"
Transcribed by Karyn
