Bios:  ESLI N. HOUK, 20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens
  
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      ESLI N. HOUK,
  
  [p. 441] State Health officer for Shenango Township, general farmer and
  respected citizen, is a worthy representative of an honorable old
  pioneer family of Lawrence County. He was born in Shenango Township,
  Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, February 5, 1842, and is a son of Jacob
  and Nancy (Cunningham) Houk.
  
  The great-grandfather was Philip Houk, who came to Western Pennsylvania
  from New Jersey and settled in Wayne Township, Lawrence County (as it is
  now) on the farm which is occupied by a descendant, William Houk. The
  records show that he purchased 150 acres of land from Ben Chew. The
  earliest date in connection with him is the record of the marriage of
  John Newton to one of his daughters, in 1792. His eight sons were named:
  Jacob, Jonathan, John, William, David, Benjamin, Samuel and Philip, and
  his two daughters both married, one John Newton and the other, James Frew.
  
  John Houk, grandfather of Esli N., was born in Wayne Township, Lawrence
  County, and he participated in the War of 1812, as did his brothers,
  Benjamin, William and David. After reaching mature years he engaged in
  agricultural pursuits in what is now Shenango Township, until the close
  of his life. He married Elizabeth Nichols and they had the following
  children: Jacob, William, Philip, John, Calvin, Clara, Mary and Eliza.
  
  Jacob Houk, father of Esli N., was born in Shenango Township, Lawrence
  County, Pennsylvania, August 2, 1801. He learned the carpenter trade and
  followed the same until 1847, when he bought the farm which is now owned
  and occupied by his son, Esli N., and here he engaged in general farming
  during the remainder of his active life. His death occurred January 22,
  1888. He was firm in his convictions, both political and theological,
  through life supporting the Democratic party and living worthily as a
  member of the Center United Presbyterian Church. Jacob Houk was married
  twice, first to Martha Mayne. The two children of this marriage died
  young. His second marriage was to Nancy Cunningham, a daughter of
  Benjamin Cunningham, of Shenango Township. She was born May 12, 1806,
  and died in 1895. Esli N. was the only child of this marriage.
  
  Esli N. Houk grew to manhood on the homestead farm and obtained his
  education in boyhood, in the country schools, completing his training in
  the winter of 1863-64, after he returned from his first term of service
  as a soldier in the Civil War. He had served nine months as a member of
  Company A, One Hundred Thirty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer
  Infantry, and during this period had been ill and confined to a hospital
  at Frederick City. In August, 1864, Mr. Houk re-enlisted, entering the
  Fifth Heavy Artillery, in which he served until the close of the war. He
  is an honored veteran of the Grand Army of the Republic, Wampum Post,
  No. 381.
  
  Mr. Houk remained at home assisting his father until 1876, when he
  visited Kansas and remained there four years, following farming, but he
  returned to Shenango Township in 1880, and since then has been a
  continuous resident. He engages in general farming, but makes a
  specialty of dairying, keeping nine head of cows for this purpose and
  selling his milk to the creamery at Energy, Lawrence County.
  
  Mr. Houk married Sarah E. Hill, who is a daughter of Nathaniel and
  Huldah Hill of Shenango Township and they have one son, Eugene L. The
  latter married Laura Conner, who is a daughter of Smith Conner, and they
  have three daughters: Bessie, Ada and Ruth.
  
  In politics, Mr. Houk is an active citizen and has filled numerous
  offices of responsibility with the greatest efficiency. For six years,
  from 1899 to 1905, he was county auditor, has been also school director
  and township assessor and at present fills the office of registering
  assessor. He is identified with the Republican party. Mrs. Houk is a
  member of the Baptist Church. Time has treated them kindly and it would
  be difficult to find a man of his years who is more active of body or
  alert of mind than is Esli N. Houk, who is well and favorably known all
  over Lawrence County.
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and
  Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing
  Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
  
  Updated: 22 Oct 2001