Robert T. Van Horn

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Robert Thompson Van Horn (May 19, 1824 – January 3, 1916) was an American lawyer, the owner and publisher of The Kansas City Enterprise, the 6th mayor of Kansas City, Missouri during parts of the Civil War, a member of the Missouri General Assembly, and a representative of Missouri's 5th, 6th, and 8th congressional districts.

Robert T. Van Horn
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri
In office
February 27, 1896 – March 3, 1897
Preceded byJohn Charles Tarsney
Succeeded byWilliam S. Cowherd
Constituency5th district
In office
March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883
Preceded bySamuel Locke Sawyer
Succeeded byJohn Joseph O’Neill
Constituency8th district
In office
March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1871
Preceded byAustin Augustus King
Succeeded byAbram Comingo
Constituency6th district
6th Mayor of Kansas City
In office
1863–1865
Preceded byWilliam Bonnifield
Succeeded byPatrick Shannon
In office
1861–1862
Preceded byGeorge M.B. Maughs
Succeeded byMilton J. Payne
Member of the Missouri State Senate
In office
1862–1863
Personal details
Born
Robert Thompson Van Horn

May 19, 1824
East Mahoning Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJanuary 3, 1916(1916-01-03) (aged 91)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Signature
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
RankLieutenant Colonel
UnitTwenty-fifth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Early years

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Van Horn was born on May 19, 1824, in East Mahoning Township, Pennsylvania, to Henry and Elizabeth (Thompson) Van Horn. He attended a common school and apprenticed to a printer. In 1844, he moved to Pomeroy, Ohio, where he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in about 1850 and began his practice in town.[1]

Kansas City and Civil War

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Van Horn moved to Kansas City in 1855. In 1856, Van Horn purchased the newspaper The Enterprise and renamed it The Kansas City Journal,[2] which published daily from 1858 until its closing in 1942.

In 1857, he became member of the city's board of the aldermen. He became the postmaster of Kansas City the same year and held the position until 1861.[1]

In 1861, Van Horn was elected to his first one year term as the 6th Mayor of Kansas City, the first Republican to hold the title. He would then be re-elected in 1863 and again in 1864.[1]

During the American Civil War, Van Horn enlisted in the Union Army and served as a lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry.[1]

Political career

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In 1862, Van Horn was elected as a member of the Missouri State Senate, a title he held until 1864. He represented Missouri's 6th congressional district in the Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forty-first Congresses from 1865 to 1871. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1870.[1]

Van Horn served as the chairman of the Republican State central committee from 1874 to 1876. From 1875 to 1881, he was the collector of internal revenue for the sixth district of Missouri.[1] In 1882, Van Horn was one of the original incorporators of the Kansas City Club.[3]

Van Horn was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1864, 1868, 1872, 1876, 1880, and 1884. He was also a member of the Republican National Committee in 1872 and 1884.[1]

Van Horn was elected to represent Missouri's 8th congressional district in the Forty-seventh Congress from 1881 to 1883. He then successfully contested the election of John C. Tarsney for representative of Missouri's 5th congressional district in the Fifty-fourth Congress and served from 1896 to 1897. He sought re-election in 1896, but he was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination.[1]

Later years and death

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Van Horn retired from editorship of The Kansas City Journal in 1897. He died on his estate, "Honeywood", at Evanston Station, in Independence, Missouri on January 3, 1916, and was interred in Mount Washington Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri.[1]

Van Horn High School was built on the site of Honeywood, in 1955.[2] Truman Road was originally called Van Horn Road in his honor.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Biographical Directory of the United States Senate
  2. ^ a b "Van Horn: He was a man of many trades" by Amanda Curtwright, The Examiner April 19–20, 2001
  3. ^ Jerry T. Duggan, A History of the Kansas City Club: 1882-1982 (The Kansas City Club: 1982)
  • A biography of Van Horn appears in Kansas City, Missouri: its history and its people 1808-1908 by Carrie Westlake Whitney, 1908.
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
1861–1862
Succeeded by
Preceded by Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
1863–1864
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 6th congressional district

1865–1871
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 8th congressional district

1881–1883
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 5th congressional district

1896–1897
Succeeded by