My Genealogy Hound

ORLO HORTON. Few families have been better known or more closely identified with the early history of southern Seneca County than that of the Hortons. In 1811 Joel Horton, a native of Wolcott, New Haven County, Conn., sought a new home in what was then the “far West.” Trumansburg, Tompkins County, was a thriving village, twenty years old, and it was there that he pitched his tent, and there he remained until 1815, when inducements were offered which took him three miles further north, into the embryo village of Covert (or Pratt’s Corners, as it was then known), Seneca County.

Mr. Horton purchased one hundred acres of wild land just on the outskirts of the settlement, and proceeded to cut, hew and carve from the virgin forest a home for himself and increasing family. His wife was Abigail Pratt, a sister of the late Col. Chauncey Pratt. These two men, Mr. Horton and Mr. Pratt, were associated, in business for many years, and were more intimately connected with the affairs of the township than any other family. On retiring from the farm that he had redeemed from the wilderness and caused to blossom as the rose, ripe in years and well remunerated for his years of toil, Mr. Horton took up his residence again in Trumansburg, where, after living several years surrounded by all that makes declining years comfortable and happy, he died in 1872, at the age of ninety years, honored and respected by all who knew him.

Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Horton, four sons and two daughters, one of whom. Orlo, the fourth son, is the subject of this sketch. He was born October 19, 1822. From his earliest youth he seemed to possess a passion for books, not merely to read and lay aside, but to take in and digest their contents. Being far from strong, his studious ways and quiet habits brought much care and anxiety to his loving mother, and his father, always indulgent, despaired of ever making a farmer of him, so allowed the young lad to follow the bent of his inclination to go to school summer and winter, a rare thing for boys in those days. He soon exhausted the resources of the district school and was sent to Lima Seminary to prepare for college. He entered Union College in the Class of ‘46, and on the eve of graduation was called home by the serious illness of his father. He never returned, but finished his course of study at home, at such times as could be spared from the duties incident to the management of the estate. He entered at once upon a life of business activity, which was only terminated by death. Farming in summer, teaching the village school in winter, he still found time to serve his native town as a public officer, serving as a Magistrate several years. He was at one time Principal of Trumansburg Academy, and also successfully managed several select schools at different times.

In early manhood the heart of Mr. Horton was fired with martial ardor; he made a close study of the art of war, not at first with any thought of becoming a practical soldier, but prompted by his natural thirst for knowledge. The reorganization of the state militia, however, gave him an opportunity to develop his cherished idea, and he joined the Fiftieth Regiment and rose through successive grades to the rank of Major. From a mere student, of military tactics as theories, he became a thoroughly practical and enthusiastic soldier. It was no plaything to him, and he would not allow it to be made one by individual, company or regiment. He was a strict disciplinarian, a most excellent drill-master, and, above all, scrupulously just, thereby winning the esteem of his superiors and the respect of his inferiors. Nothing but failing health prevented his entering into active service in the Civil War, but he rendered valuable aid in raising and training troops.

Personally Mr. Horton was slight and spare, but with an erect figure, easy and graceful in his movements. His keen sense of humor, and a spirit naturally somewhat contentious, often brought him in friendly contact with his neighbors and friends, and during the long winter evenings at the old store on the “Corners” many were the battles of words fought to the bitter end over some subject, social, religious or public. Mr. Horton was always the champion of the right, ready at all time to defend his position with all his power of speech and eloquence, of which he possessed not a little; but in all controversies, impetuous and vehement as might be his words, his opponents knew that his heart was right. He bore no malice, it was his manner.

Mr. Horton was a consistent, practical Christian, a valued, honored and respected member of the Presbyterian Church nearly his whole life. In politics no one had to be told that he was a Republican. The first sentence he spoke on public affairs betrayed his political affiliations; now-a-days he would be called a thorough partisan. He was, but conscientiously — he could see “no good come out of Nazareth.”

In his domestic relations no man could be happier than was Mr. Horton. Married January 25, 1855, to Miss Mary S. Easton, of Amsterdam, N. Y., he found in her a helpmate indeed. Four children were the result of this union, one of whom died in infancy. Anna F., the wife of Dr. Frank E. Caldwell, of Brooklyn, died in 1893. Joel and Julia still live on the homestead. Mrs. Horton and family always lived on the home farm, and when the father died. May 11, 1890, his last wish was that those he left behind should never be separated. So passed away a good man: generous, warm-hearted, impulsive, honorable, honest in every affair of life; more willing to give than to receive; loved to adulation by his family, respected by his neighbors, honored and trusted by business associates, his reward in the world to come is assured.

Mrs. Horton still occupies the homestead, having with her her son Joel, who manages the farm and the extensive orchards and vineyards on the estate; and her surviving daughter, Julia, is also with her. Mrs. Horton is spending her declining years in doing good to others; surrounded by loving children and grandchildren she can look backward without a regret. She is a good steward of the trust reposed in her by her departed husband.