William Houston (politician)

William Churchill Houston (born around 1746 in Sumter County , Province of South Carolina , †  August 12, 1788 in Frankford , Pennsylvania ) was an American politician . Between 1779 and 1781 and again in 1784 and 1785 he was a delegate for New Jersey in the Continental Congress .

Career

William Houston received a classical education. In 1768 he graduated from Princeton College , later Princeton University . He was then a member of the faculty there between 1769 and 1783. In the 1770s he joined the revolutionary movement. During the Revolutionary War he was a member of the New Jersey Militia. In 1775 and 1776 he served as Deputy Secretary for the Continental Congress. In New Jersey he was a member of some revolutionary committees such as the Security Committee or the New Jersey Provincial Congress . Houston was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly between 1777 and 1779 . From 1779 to 1781 and again from 1784 to 1785 he represented New Jersey as a delegate in the Continental Congress.

After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1781, he began working in this profession in Trenton . Between 1782 and 1785 he also worked for the then tax authorities as Receiver of Continental Taxes . He also served as the Clerk of the Supreme Court of New Jersey between 1781 and 1788 . In 1786, Houston was a delegate to the Annapolis Convention , which discussed the trade barriers between the former colonies and now independent states. A year later he also attended the Philadelphia Convention , where the United States Constitution was drawn up. However, he could only exercise this mandate for a week, then he had to give up his work there for health reasons. He died on August 12, 1788 at Frankford, a modern suburb of Philadelphia , to tuberculosis .

Web links

• William Houston in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• William Houston in the database of Find a Grave (English)