Mr. Horton had been in failing health all winter and had been confined to bed for the past three weeks. Mr. Horton, who had been active in walking and gardening until recently, had often expressed an ambition to live to be 100.
Born in the first hotel built at Onondaga Hill, Nov. 22, 1843, Mr. Horton was the son of Purdy and Harriett Horton. When he was still a baby, his parents moved to Big Bend in the town of Clay, now known as Horseshoe island where they purchased 99 acres. The island came into existence later with the advent of the barge canal.
Operated Hotels
Mr. Horton was eager to enlist with the union forces in the civil war but his parents objected. After working on farms, he turned to the hotel business and for years operated the Halfway house between Liverpool and Cold Springs and a hotel at Belgium.
He married Hattie Patchett of Clay in 1870. Before entering the hotel business he and his wife purchased a boat and carried lumber and other articles up and down the Erie canal for a few years.
His memories reached back to the days when Syracuse was “a cedar swamp with lots of deer and bear running wild over it.”
In 1897, Mr. and Mrs. Horton moved to Newbridge where they lived until Mrs. Horton’s death in 1926. Since then he had made his home with his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Spring.
Leaves Four Sons
Surviving besides Mrs. Spring are another daughter, Mrs. Charless Knapp of Fulton; four sons, William Horton of Tonawanda and Charles, Frank and George Horton of Baldwinsville; seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
He is also survived by a brother, Frank Horton, 84, of Deer Park, Washington. This brother was located about a year ago but he and Mr. Horton did not meet, the two having last seen each other about 40 years ago.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Spring home. Rev. N. S. Aller, a retired clergyman, will officiate in accordance with the ____________________