Alice Houghton
"A Woman of the Century"
Born
Alice A. Ide

August 18, 1849
Montreal, Canada
DiedAugust 19, 1920
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Other namesAlice Brownlee
Occupationbroker
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1864; died 1897)​
  • Archibald Graham Brownlee
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1900; died 1912)​

Alice Houghton (née, Ide; after first marriage, Houghton; after second marriage, Brownlee; August 18, 1849 – August 19, 1920) was a Canadian-born American broker and clubwoman.[1][2] In her era, she had the distinction of being the only women in Spokane, Washington who was actively engaged as a real estate dealer.[3]

Early life and education

Alice A. Ide was born in Montreal, Canada, August 18, 1849. Her father was Frederick Ide, an architect. Alice was the fourth in a family of five daughters. In 1853, the family moved to Mondovi, Wisconsin,[1] and then to Durand, Wisconsin.[3]

In Durand,[3] she received a liberal education.[1]

Career

In 1864, in Durand,[3] she married Horace Eaton Houghton (1835–1897), an attorney of Mondovi,[1] who would later serve in the Washington State Senate.[3] They had two children,[1] Harry and Idell.[4]

In September 1884, after suffering financial losses, the Houghtons removed to Spokane Falls, Washington.[1] With her husband's health shattered,[5] in the spring of 1887, she commenced speculating in real estate in Spokane. The following year, she opened a real estate office.[3] It was in the days when everywhere in the Western United States, real estate was "booming", and Houghton achieved a remarkable success, at one time owning property valued at considerably more than a US$100,000.[5]

Alice Houghton (1893)

Her business talents led her into active business life, and she became the head of the successful real estate, insurance, and investment brokerage house, Mrs. Alice Houghton & Co., in 1888. Her management was practical and progressive, and her brokerage house was known throughout Washington. She was a prudent financier, her business methods were good, and her tact enabled her to compete with men in the arduous field of brokerage.[1] Then came the panic of 1893, and Houghton's wealth was wiped out almost in a day.[5]

For some time prior to the panic, she had been in Chicago, representing Washington as chair of its board of lady managers and superintendent of the woman's department of her State at the World's Columbian Exposition (1893). Here she had made many friends who had learned to appreciate her business talent,[5] while she took an active and conspicuous part in preparing various novel displays for the exposition,[1] her work as Lady Manager being characteristic of her usual progressive spirit.[3]

She at once found a place as manager of the emigration bureau conducted by the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads, the first woman who held such a position in the U.S. or any other country. At the same time, she turned her attention to mining, in which she had previously had some success. After a year and a half, she fitted up an office in Chicago and derived a good income from her mining investments while she devoted herself to the sale of farm lands, mines, and other properties in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.[5]

After Mr. Houghton's death in 1897, she made two trips into the Klondike, where again she was financially fortunate. Having once more achieved financial independence, she chose Denver, Colorado for her new home, not only for its many advantages as a residence city, but regarding it as the mining center of the West. She had interests at several points of Colorado, California, and in the Klondike, while she was instrumental in enlisting large sums of money for mining investment.[5]

Alice Brownlee (1902)
Brownlee residence, Denver, Colorado

On April 10, 1900, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she married Col. Archibald Graham Brownlee (1857-1912),[4] a wealthy miner of Denver.[6] Since this marriage, Houghton appeared somewhat less prominently in active business.[5] She was widowed again in 1912.[7]

Personal life

Houghton was also a clubwoman with large social connections. She was a charter member and first president (1892-93) of the Sorosis of Spokane.[1][8][9]

Alice A. Ide Houghton Brownlee died in Chicago, August 19, 1920.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "HOUGHTON, Mrs. Alice". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. p. 393. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ↑ Engle, Nancy Driscol (2017). Influential Women of Spokane: Building a Fair City. Arcadia Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-4671-1986-3. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Campbell, James B. (1894). Campbell's illustrated history of the World's Columbian Exposition : compiled as the exposition progressed from the official reports, and most profusely illustrated with copperplate engravings. Vol. 2. Chicago, Ill.: The author. p. 437. Retrieved 9 July 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. 1 2 3 "Alice A. Ide 19 August 1849 – 19 August 1920 • KL6T-C21". ident.familysearch.org. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stickney, Mary E. (January 1902). "Mining Women of Colorado". The Era: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of Literature and of General Interest. Vol. 9, no. 1. Henry T. Coates & Company. pp. 28–31. Retrieved 9 July 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ↑ "MARRIED IN MILWAUKEE. Colonel Brownlee Led Mrs. Alice Houghton to the Altar". Spokane Chronicle. 18 April 1900. p. 1. Retrieved 9 July 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "DEATHS". Chicago Tribune. 19 January 1912. p. 13. Retrieved 9 July 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Anniversary Tea Given By Sorosis". The Spokesman-Review. 24 January 1915. p. 18. Retrieved 9 July 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "WOMEN WOULD AID DELINQUENT TOTS". The Spokesman-Review. 10 February 1914. p. 5. Retrieved 9 July 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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