Submitted by Descendant: Jackson Lee LANDERS
John C. Houston was born on Big Talbot Island, Duval County, in August of 1813. He married Mary Virginia Hall in Pablo Beach on 22 September 1836, and they remained in Duval County until 1842 when they traveled south via steamboat to take advantage of the “Armed Occupation Act” and set up a homestead in what is now Enterprise, Florida. Several years later John moved his family east to Osteen and then later to what is now Eau Gallie. A daughter, Elizabeth, wrote that it took five days to make the journey with an ox team, mule team and several riding horses. Originally named Arlington, the homestead was later known as Eau Gallie.
In 1861 when the Civil War reached them, the Houston family ran a refuge and staging area for the Confederate blockade runners transporting goods from the Indian River to the St. John’s River. Later John served as a Brevard County commissioner during the Reconstruction from 1864 to 1874 and established the second post office in Eau Gallie in 1871.
On 22 November 1885 John C. Houston died in Eau Gallie and was buried in the Houston Cemetery, which is part of the Historic Compound in the Eau Gallie section of Melbourne, Florida. John and his family are regarded as early pioneers and were one of the first families to settle in Eau Gallie.
John C. Houston was first established as a Florida Pioneer in 2010