Guy Swinburne Houghton, M. D., one of the leading physicians of Montgomery county, has been engaged in a general practice of medicine in Canajoharie since the latter part of 1919. He came to this community well prepared by education and experience to assume a responsible position in the profession which is so intimately connected with the welfare of the individual and public health and has won the recognition he so justly deserves. Born in Albany, New York, December 8, 1885, he is the son of George Henry and Catherine (Bowen) Houghton. Through his father he comes of English lineage, his grandparents having been born in England, whence they emigrated to the United States in the '50s. They made their home in Hecla Mills, New York, and there the grandmother lived until comparatively recently, passing away in 1909. She survived her husband, John Houghton, for a considerable period of time. George Henry Houghton was born in Hecla Mills in 1856 and grew up on his father's farm. Later he studied to be a physician and practiced medicine until his death, which occurred at Plattsburg, New York, in June, 1919. His wife, who came from a Scotch family, was born in Ilse la Morte, New York, and is now living in Westport, New York, at the age of fifty-six. She is the daughter of the Rev. John E. and Pulla (Moriata) Bowen, the former a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bowen passed away in Westport.
Guy Swinburne Houghton obtained his early education in Albany, where he was a pupil in the public schools and graduated from the Albany Military Academy in 1905. Four years later he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hobart College at Geneva, New York. His medical education was acquired in the College of Physicians and Surgeons connected with Columbia University of New York city, which conferred upon the young man the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1913. For two months after graduating from medical college Dr. Houghton served as an interne in the famous Bellevue Hospital of New York city, following which he went to Albany and opened an office for the practice of his chosen profession. In the New York capital he was assistant obstetrician in the Albany Medical College faculty and visiting physician to the Brady Maternity Hospital. After his first year in Albany he did obstetrical work exclusively. In 1916 Dr. Houghton left Albany to go to Westport, where he built up a good general practice. From the fall of 1917 to December, 1919, he was health officer for the town and village of Westport, resigning the office when he left Westport to come to Canajoharie. Dr. Houghton began his practice in this village in 1919 and has continued with marked success ever since, working along general medical lines. He is also connected with the staff of St. Mary's Hospital and the Amsterdam City Hospital of Amsterdam, Montgomery county, where his work and assistance have been well received by his colleagues.
In Canajoharie, on June 16, 1914, Dr. Houghton was married to one of the village's native daughters, Miss Marion Lucretia Betts, whose parents were the late Philip and Nettie (Blount) Betts. The Betts family originally came from Germany and settled in New York city, and there Philip Betts was born, June 3, 1845. As a lad of fifteen he came to Canajoharie, where he was well known for years as the proprietor of a meat market. He died November 30, 1921, at the age of seventy-six. Mrs. Betts was born in Orwell, Oswego county, December 13, 1854, and is living in Canajoharie, having nearly reached her alloted age of threescore years and ten. Her parents were Wilbur and Lucretia (Balch) Blount. Mrs. Houghton was born February 4, 1884, and reared in this village. Dr. and Mrs. Houghton have one son: Guy S. Houghton, Jr., born in Albany, in April, 1916.
During the World war Dr. Houghton was put on the Medical Reserve corps, but was not called to active duty. He was of great service in the work of the American Red Cross at Westport as first aid in the Atlantic division. While in Albany he belonged to the Albany County Medical Society and as a physician in Westport he held membership in the Essex County Medical Society, of which he was vice president. He is now serving on the law committee of the Montgomery County Medical Society, and belongs to the American Medical Association and the New York State Medical Society, having been a member of the latter ever since it was organized. In college days he was initiated into the Sigma Chi fraternity and since then has become identified with the Masonic order and the Red Men, belonging to Hamilton Lodge, No. 79, A. F. & A. M. of Canajoharie, and Toriagoras Tribe, No. 148, of Canajoharie. He is also affiliated with the Fort Rensselaer Club of this village. Politically Dr. Houghton ranks as a republican, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Dutch Reformed church of this village.