Haughton was born on July 11, 1876. Haughton attended Groton School, graduating in 1895, and then went on to Harvard College, graduating in 1899.
Haughton and his wife owned Gould Island in Rhode Island where Haughton trained the Harvard football team.[3] Apocryphal tales assert that before the 1908 Harvard–Yale Game, Haughton strangled a bulldog in the locker room to motivate his players.
Haughton became Columbia's football coach in spring 1923 as the school re-established a team that had been dissolved in 1905 following allegations that football had become too violent. To alleviate concerns that the game was still too violent, Haughton promised to instil discipline in his players, saying: "It will be my purpose to teach the men what they should learn in order to better prepare for life after the university. If I can do that, if I can contribute toward qualifying them for the finest type of citizenship, I will be satisfied."[8]
Haughton died at age 48 on October 27, 1924, after becoming ill on the Columbia football field. The cause of death was classified as acute indigestion.[9][10]
^"A Gould Island Chronology And Some Associated Historical Notes" By Captain Frank Snyder (USN Ret Naval War College Professor) Jamestown Historical Society "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on April 29, 2006. Retrieved January 4, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (PDF)(Accessed January 4, 2009)
^"G. W. Grant Buys Braves". The New York Times. January 31, 1919.
^Webb, Melville (November 2, 1917). "76th Division, National Army, Football Team at Camp Devens". The Boston Daily Globe.
^"Percy Haughton Appointed Major". The Boston Daily Globe. July 27, 1918.
^"Haughton Lost to Harvard Football". The Boston Daily Globe. April 3, 1919.