Roswell G. Horr
Roswell Gilbert Horr (1830-1896) was born on November 26, 1830, in Waitsfield, Vermont. His parents were Roswell and Caroline Horr. The younger Roswell G. Horr and his twin brother Rollin A. Horr, were the eldest of their eight siblings. When Roswell was the age of four, the Horr family purchased a farm and moved to Avon, Ohio. Then, when Roswell was the age of ten, his father would pass away, and this meant that Roswell and his eight brothers would be responsible for working the farm. Roswell Horr would also attend a local country school during this time, and he would ultimately become a teacher. By 1851, Horr had saved enough money to attend Oberlin College, whilst continuing his teaching profession. He would then switch to Antioch College to finish off his college education and would graduate in 1857. Horr would then be elected as Clerk of the Lorain County district court in Ohio in 1858, and in 1864, Horr would be admitted to the bar. The following year, Horr would move near to St. Louis, Missouri, where he established a mining business. He would remain there until 1871, when he moved to East Saginaw, Michigan, where he became a cashier at the city’s Second National Bank. He would eventually become president of the bank.
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In 1878, Horr would be elected to the House of Representatives on a Republican ticket. He would serve in Congress for three terms but would be defeated when he recontested a fourth term. In terms of his contribution to American Protectionist thought, Horr can be viewed as a popularizer. In November of 1890, Horr would move to Plainsfield, where he became a journalist for The New York Tribune, which was established earlier by Horace Greeley. This is where the bulk of Horr’s protectionist editorials would appear. A selection of these editorials would be later compiled and published in book format in 1891 and 1894. The 1891 publication would appear under the title Big Issues of An Off Year: Ex-Congressmen Horr’s Comments on Current Issues, and the 1894 publication was published under the title A Tribune Textbook for 1894: The Tariff, Principles of Government, and the Silver Question Discussed. Horr would continue to give speeches and lectures on economic questions throughout this period. One particular talk which attracted a lot of attention was his 1894 debate with William H. Havery on financial questions. After the debate the transcripts of the debate were compiled and published in 1895 as The Great Debate on The Financial Question, which ran over 500 pages. Horr would continue writing for the Tribune until his death on December 18, 1896.