Children, 1, 2, 3, and 4 born in Augusta, Oneida Co., N. Y.; 5, 6, and 7 born in Oakland, Jefferson Co., Wis.; 8 born at Ft. Atkinson, Wis.:
1. Philena Theressa, born 28 Sept., 1837. 2. Henry Alonzo, born 2 Sept., 1839. 3. Oscar Newton, born 16 Oct., 1841. 4. John Day, born 25 Sept., 1843. 5. Charles Francis, born 2 Sept., 1845. 6. Horton Erastus, born 25 Nov., 1848. 7. San E., born 29 Sept., 1852. 8. Manley Clayton, born 25 Sept., 1858.
Mrs. Francisco now resides in San Diego, Cal. Her son, Charles Francis, married Mary Evelyn Harvey, a niece of Gov. Harvey, of Wisconsin.
III. Alonzo Erastus, son of [Erastus Horton and Tryphena Burleigh], born at Union, Ct., 24 Oct., 1813; married in Jefferson, Wis., 22 Dec., 1841, by Charles Rockwell, Esq., to Sally Millington Wright, eldest daughter of William Cobb Wright and Sylvia Shelden, and born in Russia, Herkimer Co., N. Y., 11 May, 1822. She died in Jefferson, Wis., 29 Dec., 1846, leaving no issue. He married 2. at Keyport, N. J., 29 July, 1861, by N. J. Beedle, Esq., to Sarah Wilson Babe, daughter of Joseph Babe and Margaret Wilson, and born at Sing Sing, N. Y., 3 Sept., 1824. They have no children.
We are indebted to Mr. J. A. Shepherd, of San Diego, for the following interesting sketch of the life of Mr. A. E. Horton:
ALONZO E. HORTON.
To a person acquainted with this gentleman our introduction would sound unfamiliar. "Here is A. E. Horton, of San Diego," is all that he would allow to be said before he would be acquainted with a room-full of strangers. His motto is "action," and he has practiced it long and faithfully. He would leave ceremony in the lurch to talk business, and never think apology necessary; and we can think of no better rule to follow in writing what we know of him.
His parents commenced their westward march in 1815, from Union, Ct., when Alonzo was two years old. Their home for the next four years was in Stockbridge, Madison Co., N. Y. Then a residence of two years in New Haven, Oswego County, where the first school lessons were taken under the direction of Miss Patty Woodward. When he was eleven years old the family reached the shore of Lake Ontario, in the town of Scriba, and moved into their new log-house.
Then followed a year of muscular as well as mental discipline to the lad Alonzo. His father was suddenly bereft of sight by a severe inflammatory attack upon his eyes. School was two miles away, and to and fro our student made his morning and evening tramps in pursuit of knowledge. But he was the eldest boy of the household, and to him after study came toil. His evenings were spent in basket-making, which assisted largely in providing for the wants of the family. Thus for about a year he bravely essayed to lift the burden from his father's shoulders. From that time until he was half through his twenty-first year, he was first assistant wood-chopper on the home-lot, where they filled Oswego orders for hewed timber.
He commenced business for himself by purchasing the remaining six months of his minority, agreeing to pay $50 to his father for that purpose. In eight months from that time he had been a grocery clerk at $12 a month; a lake sailor before the mast; and the last half of the time owner and captain of the "Wild Goose," a small vessel he had purchased, and put into the wheat trade between Oswego and Canada. His marine speculation proved quite a profitable one for those days; he sold out and closed business, paid all his obligations, and had $300 in his pocket. During the winter of 1834-'35 he learned the trade of a cooper, and his specialty for a time was flour-barrels. Then the city of Oswego elected him constable, by the largest majority given to any man on the Whig ticket. The young officer was too kind-hearted to make his office pay, and he lost all he made in trade by failing to enforce payment from poor debtors according to law. Out of office he invested $7 in a contract for land, and in a month made $336 on the venture. Young Horton had another strong point, which was often brought into play in the inevitable wrestling-matches incident to town-meetings of long ago. His 130 pounds was a most animated and unmanageable load for his largest companions to handle, and at "square hold" he was the acknowledged champion of the township. Yet he was pronounced a consumptive by Dr. Van Schaick, with the advice "Go West—it may do you good; but I think it probable you will not live more than six months." He took the doctor's prescription, and went West.