Robert Thompson VAN HORN, Congress, MO (1824-1916)

VAN HORN, Robert Thompson, a Representative from Missouri; born in East Mahoning, Indiana County, Pa., May 19, 1824; attended the common schools; apprenticed to a printer; moved to Ohio in 1844 and settled in Pomeroy; studied law; was admitted to the bar about 1850 and commenced practice in Pomeroy, Ohio; moved to Kansas City, Mo., in 1855; member of the board of aldermen in 1857; postmaster of Kansas City 1857-1861; established and edited the Kansas City Journal; elected mayor of Kansas City in 1861 and again in 1864; enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War and served as lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry; member of the State senate 1862-1864; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forty-first Congresses (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1871); was not a candidate for renomination in 1870; chairman of the Republican State central committee 1874-1876; collector of internal revenue for the sixth district of Missouri 1875-1881; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1864, 1868, 1872, 1876, 1880, and 1884; member of the Republican National Committee in 1872 and 1884; elected as a Republican to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1883); successfully contested the election of John C. Tarsney to the Fifty-fourth Congress and served from February 27, 1896, to March 3, 1897; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1896; retired from editorship of the Kansas City Journal in 1897; died on his estate, “Honeywood,” at Evanston Station, near Kansas City, Mo., January 3, 1916; interment in Mount Washington Cemetery, Kansas City, Mo.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present