Amador
County
Biographies
FREDERICK ARNOLD HORTON
Frederick
A. Horton, who was the proprietor of the Commercial Hotel at Ione and is a
member of one of the leading families of this section of the valley, members of
which have done their full share in the development of their respective
localities, was born on a ranch near Ione, July 23, 1876, a son of John Quincy
and Mary Ann (Graham) Horton, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of
Illinois. They came across the plains with
ox teams and covered wagons and, though in the same company, were strangers
when they started, but during the long journey they met and were married. On arriving in California they located in San
Bernardino County, where they resided for two years, during which time they
experienced a very uncommon condition, losing all of their crops because of a
very hot season. They then came to
Amador County and settled in the Jackson Valley, where the father preempted a
large tract of government land, on which he farmed and ran cattle during the
remainder of his active business life.
His death occurred in 1917 and the mother lost her life through injuries
received when her horse ran away in 1893.
To them were born eight children, four of whom are living, and in the
family were two sets of twins. Fifteen
hundred acres of the original Horton land was taken by the East Bay Water
Company, but a portion of the old home place is still owned by F. A. Horton and
his brother, who are associated in the cattle business on this land.
Frederick
A. Horton received his early education in the district schools, after which he
took a commercial course in the Stockton Business College. He then went to San Francisco and for two
years was employed as a salesman there.
He then returned to the ranch, where he finds his time well
occupied. He also conducted the
Commercial Hotel, which was a famous hostelry during the early California
history and which was destroyed by fire July 12, 1930. He conducts a prosperous insurance business
at present.
Mr.
Horton was united in marriage to Miss Emma June Phifer, a native of Iowa, and
to them have been born five children, as follows: Roland Montgomery, who was formerly the owner
of the Commercial Hotel, and died in March, 1928, at the age of thirty years;
Allen Montrose, who is associated with his father in business; Edith Leona, who
is the wife of D. E. Prouty and the mother of a son, Daryl; Verna; and
Kathryn. Though a busy man, Mr. Horton
does not neglect his duties of citizenship and is deeply interested in those
things which relate to the welfare of his community. He is a genial and companionable gentleman
and is exceedingly well liked by all who come in contact with him.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 23-24. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies