John C. Houk

John Chiles Houk was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 2nd congressional district of Tennessee. He was born in Clinton, Tennessee in Anderson County on February 26, 1860. He attended the local schools, moved with his parents to Knoxville in 1871, and graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He was employed as a clerk in the Pensions Bureau at Washington, D.C. from 1881 to 1883. He studied law at Columbian (now George Washington) University in Washington, D.C. He was admitted to the bar in 1884, and he commenced practice in Knoxville.

He served as a secretary of the state Republican committee for four years. He was Assistant Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives in the Fifty-first Congress. He was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father, Leonidas C. Houk. He was re-elected to the Fifty-third Congress and served from December 7, 1891 to March 3, 1895. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1894.

He served in the Tennessee Senate from 1897 to 1899, from 1911 to 1913, and from 1917 to 1923. He resumed the practice of law in Knoxville, Tennessee. He died in Fountain City, Tennessee in Knox County on June 3, 1923. He was interred in Greenwood Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee.