 Alanson B. Houghton was born on October 10, 1863, in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.He was the son of Ellen Ann (Bigelow) and Amory Houghton, Jr. (1837–1909), who would later be President of the Corning Glass Works, the company founded by Alanson's grandfather Amory Houghton, Sr. in 1851.In 1868, his family moved to Corning, New York.