Representative Roswell Gilbert Horr

Roswell Gilbert Horr (November 26, 1830 – December 19, 1896) was a Republican politician and three-term United States Representative from Michigan. He was born in Waitsfield, Washington County, Vermont, on November 26, 1830. In 1834 he moved with his parents to Lorain County, Ohio, where he attended the public schools. Growing up in the Western Reserve region of Ohio, he was educated in the local common schools before pursuing higher education.

Horr enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, one of the early coeducational institutions in the United States, and graduated in 1857. Immediately upon completing his studies, he entered public service in Lorain County, being elected clerk of the court of common pleas in 1857. He was reelected to that office in 1860 and served until 1862. During this period he studied law, and in 1862 he was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice of law in Elyria, Ohio, combining his legal training with his experience in county administration.

In 1866 Horr left Ohio and moved to southeastern Missouri, where he engaged in mining for six years. This period marked a departure from his legal and clerical work and reflected the broader post–Civil War expansion into resource development in the West and border states. In 1872 he relocated to East Saginaw, Michigan, a rapidly growing lumber and industrial center. There he became active in local affairs and the Republican Party, building the political base that would lead to his election to Congress.

Horr was elected as a Republican from Michigan’s 8th congressional district to the Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, and Forty-eighth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1885. During his three consecutive terms, he represented a district centered in the Saginaw Valley at a time of significant economic development in Michigan, though the specific details of his committee assignments and legislative initiatives are not extensively documented in contemporary summaries. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1884 to the Forty-ninth Congress. That same year he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, reflecting his continued prominence within the party. He was again an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1886 to the Fiftieth Congress, after which his active electoral career came to a close.

In 1890 Horr moved to New York City, where he joined the staff of the New York Tribune, one of the leading Republican-leaning newspapers of the era. He served as an associate editor, contributing to the paper’s political and economic commentary. His work in journalism extended his influence beyond elective office, allowing him to participate in national debates on public policy and party affairs during the closing years of the nineteenth century.

Roswell G. Horr died in Plainfield, New Jersey, on December 19, 1896. He was interred in Greenwood Cemetery in Wellington, Lorain County, Ohio, returning in death to the county where he had been educated, begun his public service, and launched his professional career.