GEORGE LAFAYETTE "FAYETTE" VAN HORN, son of John C. Van Horne, was born on April 16, 1850, in West Port, Jackson County, Missouri, and died on December 5, 1926, in Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas.
George Lafayette Van Horn married Margaret "Maggie" Ann Coker, daughter of Mister Coker and Miss Hurst, in 1879.
Children of George Lafayette Van Horn and Margaret Ann Coker were:
1. Clarence Van Horn (twin - died as an infant)
2. Raymond Van Horn (twin - died as an infant)
3. Roy Van Horn
4. Jess "Jessie" Van Horn, b. February 18, 1883, d. March 13, 1963
5. Fred Van Horn, b. June 8, 1888, d. June 30, 1960
6. George S. Van Horn, b. January 1891
7. James William Van Horn, b. September 18, 1893, d. January 9, 1968
8. Mamie (Mayme) Alice (Alleen) Van Horn, b. May 27, 1898, d. August 6, 1980
OBITUARY --(From "Western Spirit", Paola, Kansas, December 10, 1926, Page 1, Column 5):
George L. Van Horn, for a long time a resident of the Osawatomie Community, died at the home of his son, Roy, at Van Buren, Arkansas, December 5, 1926, in his 77th year. He had been sick about a month.
Born April 16, 1850, at Westport, Missouri, he came to Miami County at an early age. In 1879, he was married to Miss Margaret Ann Coker at St. Joseph, Missouri. Seven children were born to them, and he is survived by four sons and one daughter. The daughter, Mrs. Harry T. Spear, is a resident of Paola. Roy Van Horn lives in Van Buren, Arkansas. James, Jess and Fred live in Osawatomie. Also, there are two brothers, Joseph Van Horn of Kansas City, Missouri, and Jack Van Horn of Osawatomie.
The Van Horns took a leading part in the settlement of this country. They were industrious and upright and George was one of the trustworthy citizens.
INFORMATION ON WESTPORT, MISSOURI:
Letter to Mrs. Millicent Ann Schreiber, 38 Heather Way, Ventura,Calif. 93004
From: The Westport Historical Society
Chartered 1950
Box 10076, Westport Station, Kansas City, Missouri 64111
RE: Van Horn Genealogy
Dear Mrs. Schreiber:
Your good letter of recent date received requesting information concerning Westport and the Van Horns.
To answer your first question about Westport -- Westport and Kansas City, Mo. were two separate communities in the last century. The former was located about mid-Kansas City (present location), north of the Country Club Plaza shopping center. It centered itself on Westport Road and Pennsylvania Avenue and extended (in the beginning) for about a block in four directions.
It was established by John Calvin McCoy in the 1830s. McCoy bought three lots in what was then (1834) known as John Campbell's "West Port" on August 31st of that year. With his Negro servant he began clearing the trees there building for himself a one-story log cabin on the northeast corner of Westport Road and Pennsylvania Avenue.
The location was an ideal one. It was high on a hill with a fresh water stream about two hundred yards adjacent. It was also on the route of the Santa Fe-California-Oregon trail (one of the same in Kansas City . . . only when it reaches the Kansas border and beyond does it veer off onto its respective routes); also a two-day wagon ride from the nearest point of civilization, Independence, Missouri.
McCoy operated a trading post in his log cabin; was a bachelor; lived in the front part of the building; cooked in the rear of the building. Later added a second story to the building and married Virginia Chick, daughter of another early Westport-Kansas City pioneer.
McCoy supplied the wagon trains heading West then . . . He filed his town plat in February, 1835 in Independence, the county seat . . . and thus Westport was born.
Westport (originally written as two words -- "West Port" -- meaning "the port to the West" . . . later, as time passed it became the one word we know it as today) grew eventually to about 2,000 souls . . . was mostly pro-Southern during the Civil War . . . was the scene of "the Battle of Westport fought in October, 1864" and was absorbed by a growing to the south "City of Kansas" (later Kansas City, Mo.) in 1897.
MORE ABOUT GEORGE LAFAYETTE VAN HORN:
* Nicknamed "Fayette"
* On September 11, 1865, William Petrie was named his guardian
* Buried in Elmdale Cemetery, Osawatomie, Miami County, Kansas
* Record at Elmdale Cemetery, Osawatomie, KS, shows a Geo. Van Horn bought a lot 8-1925
* June 18 - 1900 shows George Lafayette was a stonemason
6-18-1900 OSAWATOMIE CITY - MIAMI COUNTY, KANSAS (census)
VAN HORN, George 4-1851, 49, MO, OHIO, MO, Married 21 years, Stone Mason, Unemployed 6 months
* * * A QMS Deezyne * * *