came less clannish, married with other nationalities, sometimes espoused other faiths. Even their own church took on more dignity. James G. Leyburn has an interesting comment in his "The Scotch-Irish—A Social History "It has been shown that the Presbyterian Church during the later Colonial period tended decidedly to become a church of the respectable and responsible citizens, and to lose to other denominations those to whom equality afforded as a principle. The sedate Presbyterian of 1787 in America was not one to hobnob with everybody. The real equalitarians of the Colonial era were Methodists and Baptists." 6

In the chapters which follow, brief accounts are given of some of the Houston settlers in the American Colonies and their descendants during the period from 1718 to 1800. While the selection spans the chain of settlements from New England to Georgia, it is intended to be representative rather than complete. Many other families, equally deserving, go unmentioned for lack of information.

6 James G. Leyburn, The Scotch-Irish, a Social History (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, N. C., 1962).