Margaret Bell Houston (also Margaret Bell Houston Kauffman, 1877 – June 22, 1966) was an American writer and suffragist who lived in Texas and New York.[1] Houston published over 20 novels, most of them set in Texas.[2] Her work was also published in Good Housekeeping and McCalls in serial format.[1]
Houston was born in Cedar Bayou, Texas, in 1877, to Sam Houston Jr. and his wife Lucy Anderson. Her paternal grandparents were Sam Houston and Margaret Lea Houston.[3] She began writing at age eight.[1] She was the sister of Dallas resident Harry Howard Houston (1883–1935).[4]
Houston attended St. Mary's College, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Columbia University.[5] She was first published in the newspapers, the Brenham Banner and the Dallas News.[1]
Houston moved to Dallas and married a businessman named Kauffman.[6] In 1913, she was the first president of the Dallas Equal Suffrage Association (DESA).[7] Under her tenure as president of DESA, the group grew to around 200 members.[6] She also started writing her first novel, Little Straw Wife (1914), during that time.[8]
Houston moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1953.[5] Cottonwoods Grow Tall (1958), written after her move to Florida received "critical praise as a work of literary merit".[9] Kirkus Reviews called it a "femininely accented story".[10]
Houston died in St. Petersburg on June 22, 1966.[11] Her body was transported back to Dallas to be buried at Restland Cemetery.[5]