William Neuman Horton
(1831-1887)

 

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Spouses/Children:
1. Emma Hartsock

William Neuman Horton

  • Born: 1831, Goshen, New York
  • Marriage (1): Emma Hartsock
  • Buried: 10 Mar 1887, Masonic Memorial Park; Tumwater, Washington
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bullet  General Notes:

1860 Olympia, Thurston county, OR
William N. Horton 1829 NY
E. H. age 24 OH [female]
J. H. 1853 OR [female]
J. E. H. 1856 WA [male]
L. H. 1858 WA [female]

1870 Olympia, Thurston county, OR
Wm N. Horton 1832 NY; engineer
Emma Horton 1837 OH
Inez Horton 1855 OR
James E. Horton 1857 WA
Lily Horton 1858 WA

July 1877 Olympia, Thurston county, OR
Wm, Emma and ch: Eugene 16; James 21; Lily 18

1878 Olympia, Thurston county, OR
Wm and Emma with James now 22 and Lily age 19

1880 Olympia, thurston county, WA
W.N. HORTON Self M Male W 49 NY Manufactures Horton Water Pipe NY NY
Emma HORTON Wife M Female W 45 OH Keeps House PA OH
Eugene HORTON Son S Male W 17 WA At Home NY OH


William N. and Emma Horton
A native of the state of New York, was a '94er, attracted to the gold fields of California. Like several other disappointed prospectors, he moved north, first to Oregon in 1852 and then to Puget Sound in 1855. One of his first ventures in this area was as the engineer on the steamboat, "Traveler," brought to the Puget Sound by its owner, Capt. John G. Parker

Horton eventually purchased the boat from Parker and it carried mail to points north. On one such venture in the late 1850s the boat floundered off Foul Weather Bluff. Fortunately, Horton was not aboard at the time. Despite this setback he continued to be involved with steamboats.

In 1869 he purchased property from Clanrick Crosby to start the Olympia Water Company in Tumwater. He started a water system that grew into the basic water system of Olympia. A year later he purchased more property and built the Washington Water Pipe Manufacturing and Water Company at the Tumwater lower falls. His factory stood next to the old Simmons Grist Mill. Horton's specialty was wooden pipe, made by hollowing out a log and linked with the use of wire. He supplied pipe to several different communities. An example of his pipe is at Talcott's in Olympia.

Horton lost the factory to foreclosure in 1882. In 1884 he opened another pipe factory, the Puget Sound Pipe Works, in Olympia not far from his house. After his death in 1887, his obituary summed up his life. "Without pretense to any extraordinary virtues, without assumption of any special credit for his life labors, he leaves the world with the acknowledgment of all that the community in whch his lot was cast has been benefited by his presence."

William Horton's wife was Emma Hartsock whom he married in 1853. She was the daughter of Lacey pioneer, Gallatin Hartsock. When the Hartsocks crossed the Oregon Trail in 1852, an Indian chief was so taken with Emma, he tried to buy her with a basket. Her father refused to sell. After the Hortons moved to the Puget Sound in 1855, Gallatin Hartsock had a house built for his daughter and son-in-law at the comer of what is now East Bay Drive and State Street. Here they raised 2 sons and 2 daughters.
Emma Horton outlived her husband by over 30 years. She remained in their house, which she surrounded with a magnificient garden. When State Street was paved in 1928 she could not pay the Local Improvent District (LID) assessment and had to sell the house. She moved to a smaller house just around the corner. She died 6 months later.

Thurston county Pioneers
filed by Emma Hartstock Horton his wife in 1918
William Neuman Horton born 1831 Goshen NY the s/o Peter Horton born Goshen NY and Eliza Colum b. Goshen NY; both parents bur Goshen NY. Marrie Emma Hartsock 1853.
Arrival in Washington: Started from NY by water 1849; arrived San Francisco 1849; located in thruston Co 1854; operation during pioneer days: engineering boat; Episcoplian
Children in order of birth:
Nettie Horton Rogers b. 1854; married
James E. Horton 1855; married
Lillian Horton Mason 1858; married
Eugene S. Horton 1861; married


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William married Emma Hartsock, daughter of Gallatin Hartsock and Elizabeth Miller. (Emma Hartsock was born in 1836 in Ohio, died on 20 Dec 1928 in Washington and was buried in Masonic Memorial Park; Tumwater, Washington.)




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