Early Life and Business Career
Alanson B. Houghton was born on October 10, 1863 in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. His father, Amory Houghton Jr, would be named president of Corning Glass Works, the company founded by his grandfather, Amory Houghton Sr, in 1851. In 1868, his family moved to Corning, New York. He attended the Corning Free Academy in Corning and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. Houghton graduated from Harvard University in 1886 and then pursued postgraduate courses in Europe. He attended graduate school in Göttingen, Berlin, and Paris until 1889.
Upon his return to Corning in 1889, Houghton began work for his family’s business, Corning Glass Works. He served as Vice President of the company from 1902 to 1910, and as the company’s president from 1910 to 1918. Under Houghton’s leadership, the company tripled in size to become one of the largest producers of glass products in the United States. The company manufactured 40% of incandescent light bulbs and 75% of the railway signal glass used in the U.S. Houghton’s interest in and promotion of education, particularly in western New York state, led to his being appointed a trustee of Hobart College in 1917.
He was a member of the Jekyll Island Club (aka The millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia along with J.P. Morgan and William Rockefeller among others.
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