An esteemed and highly respected resident of Edgerton, Williams County, Leland S. Houlton was for many years actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. A native of Indiana, he was born, February 11, 1887, in Franklin Township, Dekalb County, Indiana, a son of Lewis and Rhoda (Martin) Houlton. His grandfather, John Houlton, was in very truth a pioneer of that township, he having been the first white man to locate in Dekalb County, Indiana, while his son Samuel, a half brother of Lewis Houlton, was the first white child born in Franklin Township.
Leland S. Houlton was born and brought up on a portion of the original homestead which his paternal grandfather entered from the Government, and was educated in the rural schools of his native township. He still owns one hundred and nine acres of the old home farm, which is mostly under cultivation.
Mr. Houlton married Jessie Hathaway, a daughter of Dr. Calvin Hathaway, who was actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession in Edgerton for a full half century. Beginning the study of medicine in the College of Medicine at Ann Arbor, Michigan, Calvin Hathaway subsequently entered the Cincinnati, Ohio, College of Medicine, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He entered the United States Army service as surgeon in the Civil war in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and after the war located in Edgerton, Williams County, Ohio, and having won the well-deserved reputation of being one of the most skillful and able physicians in this part of the state, built up a large and highly remunerative practice. For four years Doctor Hathaway was a member of the United States Pension Board at Toledo, Ohio, and of the board at Bryan, Ohio, for twenty-six years. During the Civil war, the doctor served as a surgeon in the Union Army, gaining an experience in medicine and surgery that was of much value to him in his professional career. A man of good business ability and judgment, he accumulated considerable wealth.
Dr. Hathaway married Harriet E. Hutchenson, and of their union four children were born, as follows : Paul and Azalia both died in infancy: Lodema, a graduate of the Edgerton High School, and of Hillsdale College, died in Edgerton, Ohio, in March, 1898; and Jessie, now Mrs. Houlton. The doctor was a republican in politics, and a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Mrs. Houlton was educated in Edgerton, being graduated from its high school with the class of 1896, after which she taught school one term. For two years thereafter she held a responsible position in the Farmers National Bank of Bryan, and then returned to her home in Edgerton. At the present time Mrs. Houlton, who has inherited to a marked degree the business ability and tact of her father, is assistant cashier of the Farmers Commercial Bank at Edgerton, and one of its directors. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Houlton, Calvin H. Houlton, died in infancy.
Source: Bowersox, Charles A. ed. A standard history of Williams County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development , 2 vols. Publisher Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co. 1920.