Douglass Houghton was born in Troy, New York, in 1809. He was the fourth child of Jacob and Mary Lydia (Douglas) Houghton. He was a descendant of John Houghton who came to America from England before 1650 and finally settled at Lancaster, Massachussets Jacob Houghton moved from Troy to Fredonia in 1812 and there established himself as a lawyer, soon becoming one of the county judges.
When he was born, Douglass was undersized and feeble, but he increased in health and strength as he grew to boyhood.
Education
His early training was gained at the then newly established Fredonia Academy where his record was that of a good student, high-spirited, and well meaning.
He graduated as a bachelor of arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y. in 1829
Career
He was recommended as a candidate for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y. , a few months later receiving through the influence of Amos Eaton an appointment as assistant professor in chemistry and natural history. In 1830 when Eaton was asked by Gov. Lewis Cass and members of the Michigan legislature to recommend to them a person to deliver a course of lectures on chemistry, botany, and geology at Detroit, he promptly named Houghton, somewhat to their astonishment, owing to his youth and still more youthful appearance. His success as a lecturer was immediate and in 1831 he was given an appointment as surgeon and botanist to an expedition under Henry R. Schoolcraft, organized for the purpose of discovering the sources of the Mississippi.
Before entering Rensselaer Institute, when but seventeen years of age, Houghton had studied medicine under a local physician and in the spring of 1831 he had qualified as a practitioner. After his return from the exploring expedition he practised for five years (1832 - 37) as physician and surgeon in Detroit. It is stated that he was also an adept in dentistry. Throughout this time, however, he carried on studies in the natural sciences, and in 1838 he was appointed professor of geology and mineralogy in the University of Michigan. This position he held until his death.
In 1842 and in 1843 he was elected mayor of Detroit. In 1837 he matured a plan for a geological survey of Michigan, which was favorably received by the legislature. An organization was formed with Houghton at its head, but its life was short owing to failure of appropriations in 1841. Houghton then conceived the idea of a thorough geological, mineralogical, topographical, and magnetic survey of the wild lands of the United States, contemporaneously and conjointly with the linear survey of the public domain already projected by the government. In advocacy of this plan he went to Washington where he finally convinced Congress of its feasibility, though not until he had given his personal guarantee to carry it out at the cost estimated. Fieldwork was begun in 1844. What might have been accomplished must remain conjectural owing to his death by drowning the year following, when he and four others, in an open boat, were overtaken by a storm on Lake Superior.
Achievements
He was a man of unusual power of perception, and of independent thought. His social and conversational powers were also exceptional and he had more than common capacity for friendship; "the little doctor" and "the boy geologist of Michigan" were terms applied to him. His local popularity is further shown by the frequent recurrence of his name as applied to lake and township.
Membership
He was an honorary member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Antiquarian Society of Copenhagen, and a member of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, the Boston Society of Natural History, and other societies of local importance.
Personality
Houghton was of slender build, quite boyish in appearance, and a trifle lame owing to a severe hip trouble which he suffered in boyhood. Because of burns occasioned by the accidental explosion of gunpowder in one of his youthful experiments his ears, nose, and mouth were slightly scarred.
Connections
In 1833 he had married Harriet Stevens of Fredonia, by whom he had two children, both girls.
