Houstoun was a successful lawyer, and was appointed to the
Governor's Council by
James Wright. But in 1774, Houstoun was one of the founders of the nascent revolutionary government in Georgia. He joined with
Archibald Bulloch and others to form a
Committee of Correspondence in support of the residents of
Boston suffering the effects of the
Boston Port Act. The committee went on to create formal protests against other measures brought about by the
Intolerable Acts. That same year, John was a representative in the rebel
Provincial Congress of Georgia, and they named him as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. He declined, since fewer than half the counties were represented in the Provincial Congress. By 1775 this defect was remedied and he accepted that appointment. In Congress, he was a strong supporter of the movement toward independence, but resisted the non-importation agreements because of their negative effects on the southern colonies. He was reappointed to the national congress in 1776, but did not attend. He stayed at home to work with the
Committee of Safety to thwart the loyalist efforts of the popular preacher and loyalist,
John Zubly. Early in 1778, he was elected as the second revolutionary Governor of Georgia also being the first governor of Georgia to be born in Georgia. That same year, he took charge of the
Georgia militia in an abortive attempt to seize the British post of
St. Augustine,
Florida. His disagreements with the
Continental Army commander,
Robert Howe, contributed greatly to the failure of the expedition. When the British, in response, captured Savannah on December 29, Houstoun was forced into hiding.
Creek Indians raided plantations and carried slaves off from within a few miles of Savannah. The "daily depredations" of these raiding groups, Governor Houstoun wrote, "almost at our very Town-Gates, threaten us with certain ruin unless some remedy is applied." Houstoun lived in the
Houston–Johnson–Screven House, at 32
Abercorn Street, which was built around 1784. The home was demolished in 1920 to make way for the
Lucas Theatre. ==Later career==