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Although he served in the Union and fought to defeat the Confederacy, Houk refused to hear cases of [[treason]] against Confederates as a circuit judge after the war on the grounds that Tennessee's status as a U.S. state ceased upon secession in 1861.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/> However, he backed the [[Radical Republican]] faction of the GOP and gave support to staunch abolitionist and civil rights advocate [[Ulysses S. Grant]] in the [[United States presidential election, 1868|1868]] and [[United States presidential election, 1872|1872]] presidential elections.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/>

Although he served in the Union and fought to defeat the Confederacy, Houk refused to hear cases of [[treason]] against Confederates as a circuit judge after the war on the grounds that Tennessee's status as a U.S. state ceased upon secession in 1861.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/> However, he backed the [[Radical Republican]] faction of the GOP and gave support to staunch abolitionist and civil rights advocate [[Ulysses S. Grant]] in the [[United States presidential election, 1868|1868]] and [[United States presidential election, 1872|1872]] presidential elections.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/>

Houk was a delegate to almost all [[Republican National Convention]]s in the post-war era and also belonged to the Southern Claims Commission.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/> He served for a term in the Tennessee state House of Representatives from 1873 to 1875, where he chaired a committee and sponsored statewide school law.

Houk was a delegate to almost all [[Republican National Convention]]s in the post-war era and also belonged to the Southern Claims Commission.<ref name=tennesseeencyclopedia/> He served for a term in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1873 to 1875, where he chaired a committee and sponsored statewide school law.

===U.S. House of Representatives===

===U.S. House of Representatives===