of age, having been born in Northern Ireland in 1690 a year after the lifting of the siege of Derry. With him was his wife, Margaret Cunningham, as well as their four Sons and two daughters. With the family group was John’s widowed mother, who must have been still spry at her age of 80 as she lived to be 97. She and her late husband had lived through the ordeal of the Revolution of 1688. They with other Houstons joined in the rejoicing in the final victory in that war, but soon suffered disillusionment in the repressive policies of the British government.

The John Huston family, upon arriving in America, settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, about 100 miles inland from Philadelphia. Other Houstons came with them, or arrived be.fore and after, and settled in the same community in the Cumberland Valley. There John Huston, with his family, lived for 17 years, but the urge of the pioneer was still in his blood, leading him to join the stream of Scotch-Irish settlers pushing southward and westward into the western reaches of Virginia.

There fertile land could be bought for 25 cents an acre, and John Huston was sharp enough to recognize a real value. Trekking 200 miles southward, moving doubtless by wagon train across the Potomac and up the Shenandoah River, the family reached Augusta County. Huston and his older sons and relatives bought land and settled there in the rich Shenandoah Valley, beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. There a thriving community of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians grew up.

John Huston was a trusted and respected leader in the community and in the church which was promptly organized. He headed the list of subscribers for funds to erect a new stone church building and aided in building a fort for defense against the Indians. He became a local magistrate but probably served more as a counseler and peacemaker than as a stern administrator of justice.

He is said to have served in the French and Indian War and doubtless his four stalwart Sons who had followed him beyond the Blue Ridge were at his side. Each of these sons, John, Samuel, Robert and Matthew, bought land in the vicinity, so the Huston family became one of the largest holders of land in Augusta County. John’s designation as "Gentleman" was a title of social standing in the old country, but it was a word which fitted his way of life in the Colonies, as a family man, church.man and supporter of harmony and progress in the community.