The CASK, in which he packed a portion of his household goods, and brought over with him, is still in existence, and is owned by Gilbert W. Horton, of Bay View, Southold. It is doubly historic from the fact that when the British invaded Long Island it was filled with wheat and buried, thus securing the wheat from the foraging parties of the British army. It is made of solid oak—hoops and all—the hoops are square and about an inch and a quarter thick—only one hoop missing. It is used for a grain cask, and will hold about fifteen bushels. It was formerly called "uncle Barney's money barrel," as romance had it, that he brought it over full of gold and silver.
His WALKING STAFF is still preserved. It is made of the Yew tree wood, has a fine ivory head with the letters "J. H." and the figures "1617" in apparently golden specks indented into it, from which it would seem that it once belonged to his father, and that J. H. (Joseph Horton) were his initials. It is now owned by Silas R. Horton, of Goshen, N. Y.
Many other mementos of the old Puritan are in existence, some of them in the Long Island Historical Rooms, Brooklyn, N. Y.
The HORTON NAME—First Settlers in this Country.
The word Horton in the Anglo-Saxon language means an enclosure, or garden of vegetables. It is said to be derived from ort and tun, ort, meaning plant, and tun, enclosed. The name is evidently of Latin origin, and has been known in England ever since the conquest of Cæsar.
The Hortons in England, and their descendants in America, have generally been cultivators of the soil. They have been found almost universally in the middle class of society, and it is not known that any royal blood has ever coursed in their veins. They are, and always have been, producers rather than consumers, and for industry, integrity, and piety, they will lose nothing in a comparison with the renowned families of either the new or the old world.
The first of the family who emigrated to this country, of whom we have any authentic record, came over from England 1633 to 1638. Thomas, Jeremiah, and Barnabas, were among the early emigrants, and old tradition says they were brothers. Thomas came over in the "Mary and John," in 1633, settled permanently in Springfield, Mass. Jeremiah also settled in Massachusetts. There was a John Horton in New York, in 1645, but no one has been found claiming descent from him. He probably returned to England.
It is not known from what place in England either Thomas or Jeremiah came, nor is there any certain evidence that they were brothers of Barnabas, but the three coming over about the same time would favor the tradition that they were brothers.
The Head Quarters of Cæsar's army was near the present Leicester, the principal town of that county, and the Horton name has been known there to the remotest period of any authentic records. This fact, together with the name itself, favors the idea that the family was of Roman origin. The name in olden time was frequently written Orton, and it is highly probable, that the Ortons and Hortons were originally from the same family, and perhaps also the Nortons.