Joseph Houghton 1833-1901) was a sole proprietor who is known for a surviving lathe that was discovered in 2012 on Seattle, WA, Craigslist. The lathe is stamped JOSEPH HOUGHTON BUILDER NEWARK N J. A description and photographs of the lathe are at Tony Griffith's Lathe web site.
Little was known about Houghton personally, and no advertising has been found. It is hoped that this article brings forth additional information about his working career. Houghton was born Sept. 1833 in New Jersey. Both of his parents were English immigrants and his father was a boot and shoe maker. In the 1850 U. S. Census, Joseph Houghton was working as a machinist, age 16, while living with his parents in Paterson, NJ. In the 1860 U. S. Census, he was living in Newark, age 26, working as machinist, and married to the former Sarah Shepherd, with sons Joseph and William. Houghton appeared in Newark city directories in 1860, 1861, and 1862, but he is not in the 1863, 1864, or succeeding Newark directories. Therefore, the one known lathe was likely manufactured before 1863.
Joseph Houghton in 1860 U. S. Census
The family was living in New York City in 1863, when their third son, Irving, was born. Joseph Houghton, machinist, appeared in New York City directories in 1867, '68, '70, and '72, but there is no other information that would verify that they are the same man. The next known residence was Union County, NJ, where they appeared in records in Elizabeth, NJ city directories in the mid-1870s. About this time, Houghton began an association with Singer Manufacturing Co. The sewing machine manufacturer built a plant in Elizabeth in 1863 which came to employ 10,000 people. Houghton was always listed as a machinist, but no employer was given, suggesting that he was a contractor rather than employee. In the 1880s, Houghton lived on Centre St., an appropriate address for a machinist. No 1870 and 1880 U. S. Census records have been found for Houghton, and most 1890 U. S. Census records were destroyed. Sarah Houghton died in 1881, and her husband married Maria Patrick the same year.
By the late 1890s, Houghton was listed as an employee at Singer Manufacturing Co., as were many of his neighbors. All three of his sons were machinists, at least two at Singer. The last residence record found for Joseph is the 1900 U. S. Census, when he was living at 58 Orchard St., Elizabeth, occupation "Master Mechanic."
Houghton died July 11, 1901, while visiting Mount Vernon, NY. His obituary in the New York Times read, Mr. Houghton was sixty-three years old and had been connected with the Singer Sewing Machine Company for over forty years. He was a first-class machinist and invented many improvements on the sewing machine. Mr. Houghton lived at 58 Orchard Street, Elizabeth, with his wife. He was twice married and leaves three sons by the first wife. We note that the age given conflicts with all other records found.
One patent has been found that may be him, 64,978, granted May 21, 1867 to Joseph Houghton of New York City, for what they called a cigar perforator.
In summary, the records suggest that Joseph Houghton was a talented machinist who built this lathe in his mid-20s, was probably self-employed, and built or designed machinery under contract to Singer. A number of machinists born in the first half of the 19th century became self-educated mechanical engineers, and Houghton was likely in this group.
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