Houstoun

the grand-daughter of Jonathan Dickinson, the
first president of the College of New Jersey, and
their two sons and two daughters.

[Files of the Congressional Joint Committee on
Printing; T. A. Glenn, W. C. Houston (1903); N. J.
Hist. Soc. Colls., vol. IX (1916); E. F. and W. S.
Cooley, Geneal. of Early Settlers in Trenton and Ewing
(1883) ; Archives of ... N. J., especially ser. 2, vol.
II (1903), III (1906), and V (1917); John Maclean,
Hist, of the College of N. J. (2 vols., 1877) J V. L.
Collins, President Wither spoon (2 vols., 1925) ; re-
ferred to as Euston in Works of John Adams, vol. II
(1850), p. 355; John Hall, Hist, of the Presbyterian
Church in Trenton (1859), which copies part of a biog.
notice in New York Observer, Mar. 18, 1858; E. R.
Walker, Hamilton Schuyler, and others, A Hist, of
Trenton (2 vols., 1929); J. O. Raum, Hist, of the City
of Trenton, N. L (1871); Pa. Packet, and Daily Ad-
vertiser, Aug. 13, 1788.] W.L. W—y.

HOUSTOUN, JOHN (Aug. 31,1744-July 20,
1796), Revolutionary leader, twice governor of
Georgia, was the son of Sir Patrick Houstoun
who emigrated with Oglethorpe and was a mem-
ber of the council under the royal government of
Georgia. Born in Georgia near the present town
of Waynesboro, he studied law and commenced
practice in Savannah. As the Revolution ap-
proached, he became one of a group—the others
being Noble Wymberly Jones, Archibald Bulloch
[qq.v.*], and John Walton—who took it upon
themselves to organize the liberty sentiment in
the colony. In July 1774 these men called the
first revolutionary meeting. Houstoun was a
leader in promoting the first provincial congress,
held in January 1775, and was by it elected a
delegate to the Continental Congress. Since only
five of tHe twelve parishes were represented in
the provincial congress—so powerful was the
royalist influence—the delegates felt that they
could not justly claim to represent the province,
and did not attend the Continental Congress.
Houstoun, with his associates above mentioned,
except that George Walton [g.f.] was now sub-
stituted for John Walton, called another meet-
ing for June 1775, which set up a Council of
Safety, an informal executive committee of the
Revolutionary element. The Council successfully
agitated for another provincial congress, which
met in July 1775, at which all the parishes were
represented. Elected by this body a delegate
to the Continental Congress, Houstoun went to
Philadelphia, and would have had the honor of
signing the Declaration of Independence but for
the necessity of returning home to counteract the
efforts of his colleague, John J. Zubly, who was
bent on defeating the movement for independence.
In January 1778 Houstoun was elected gov-
ernor of Georgia. His administration was sig-
nalized by a military effort against St. Augustine,
Fla., the headquarters of an important force of
British and Indians who were ravishing south-

Hove

era Georgia. An agreement was entered into
with General Robert Howe [g.z>.], in command
of the Southern Department with headquarters
in Savannah, to concentrate all forces for a move-
ment against Florida to take place in the summer
of 1778. The available forces consisted of the
Georgia militia, numbering 350, an undisciplined
and poorly equipped group under the personal
command of the Governor; certain Continental
forces, approximately 550 men, under General
Howe; 250 Continental infantry and thirty ar-
tillerists with two field pieces, from South Caro-
lina, under the command of C. C. Pinckney; and
some South Carolina militia under Colonels Bull
and Williamson. None of the commanders would
take orders from any other; there was no spirit
of cooperation; malaria broke out; stores and
transportation were miserably inadequate. The
expedition was a fiasco and was abandoned. By
the end of the year the British had overrun south
Georgia and taken Savannah. Houstoun was
elected governor a second time in 1784. During
his second administration an act was passed
chartering the University of Georgia and setting
apart lands for its endowment; and Houstoun
became a member of the first board of trustees
of the institution. His other public services were
as chief justice of Georgia, 1786; commissioner
to settle the boundary dispute with South Caro-
lina, 1787; justice for Chatham County, 1787;
mayor of Savannah, 1789 and 1790; judge of the
superior court of the eastern circuit, 1792.

Houstoun married a daughter of Jonathan
Bryan, one of the largest planters in Georgia.
He died at "White Bluff," near Savannah, in his
fifty-second year, leaving no children.

[C. C. Jones, Biog. Sketches of the Delegates from
Ga. to the Continental Cong. (1891) and The Hist, of
Ga. (1883), vol. II; A. D. Candler, The Revolutionary
Records of the^ State of Ga. (3 vols., 1908); L. L.
Knight, Georgia's Landmarks, vols. I and II (1913-
14); George White, Hist. Colls, of Ga. (1855) ; W. B.
Stevens, A Hist, of Ga., vol. II (1859); A. D. Candler
and C. A. Evans, Georgia (1906), vol. II.]

R.P.B.

HOVE, ELLING (Man 25, i863-Dec. 17,
1927), Lutheran theologian, was born at North-
wood, Iowa, the son of Ole and Kari (Olson)
Hove. As a lad of fifteen he entered Luther Col-
lege, Decorah, Iowa, from which he received the
degree of A.B. in 1884. He then pursued studies
in Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and in 1887
received the degree of candidate of theology. Af-
ter short pastorates at Portland, Ore. (1887-89),
and Astoria, Ore. (1890-91), he was called to
the large and exacting pastorate of the First Lu-
theran Church, Decorah, Iowa. In 1894 he was
sent to Mankato, Minn., where he found more
time for study. He married in 1893, Didrikke

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