HAVE BEEN HAPPILY
MARRIED FOR 60 YEARS.
COL. R. T. VAN HORN AND WIFE
TO OBSERVE ANNIVERSARY.
From 2 Until 5 o'Clock Next Wednes-
day They Will Be at Home
to Their Legion of
Friends.
An informal reception on Wednesday afternoon, December 2, from 2 to 5 o'clock will be given by Colonel R. T. and Mrs. Van Horn at Honeywood, their country home in Evanston park, on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage. Ten years ago Colonel and Mrs. Van Horn celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding. Then there were present many persons who were residents of Kansas City when the Van Horns came here in 1855. There were only about 500 persons living here at that time.
Colonel and Mrs. Van Horn were married December 2, 1848 in Pomeroy, Meigs county, O. Mrs. Van Horn was Miss Adela Honeywood Cooley of Pomeroy. Four sons were born of the union, but only one, Robert T. Van Horn is living at the present time. They have two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The ancestors of Colonel Van Horn were from Holland and emigrated to New Jersey about 260 years ago. His great-grandfather, Henry Van Horn, was a captain in the Revolutionary war. Colonel Van Horn's father was born in Pennsylvania and his mother in Ireland. East Mahoning, Pa., was the birth place of Colonel Van Horn. He was born May 9, 1824. After studying law in Meigs county, O., he practiced for a short while and then engaged in newspaper work in Pomeroy, O., where he edited and published a weekly newspaper. Being burned out and not having his plant insured Colonel Van Horn went to St. Louis and worked on a steamboat for his brother. A Kansas City lawyer induced him to come to Kansas City and buy a weekly paper called the Enterprise. He came here in July, 1855, and made arrangements to purchase the paper, paying $250 for it. He brought his wife here in October of the same year and began editing his new paper which he named the Journal of Commerce, now the Kansas City Journal. They lived on Walnut street near Eleventh street until 1887.
As the pioneer newspaper man of Kansas City, Colonel Van Horn has always been known to have worked for a better and larger Kansas City. The people have many times honored Colonel Van Horn with public offices within their gift. At one time he was mayor, and served terms in the state senate and in congress. It was through his efforts that the Hannibal and Milwaukee bridges were secured. At the outbreak of the civil war he raised a Missouri regiment for the Union army. Colonel Van Horn has been named as one of the four great editors in the history of the United States.
Since his retirement from active life he has been living very quietly with his wife at their country home. The reception to be given on the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage is to be very informal at home. They have not issued any invitations or cards but their friends are to be notified only through the newspapers.
