Background

According to the Cambridge Dictionary of English Place Names, the surname Horton was originally a place-name. It derived from two Old English words: horu meaning dirt or filth and tūn meaning a settlement, farm, enclosure,or garden. Thus, horton was generally used to describe some type of “farmon muddy soil. One reliable source reported that the Horton surname can bef ound in 22 of the 39 historic counties of England. It’s likely that hundreds of biologically unrelated men named Horton traveled to the English colonies of North America from the early 1600s to 1775.

The Horton Surname Project initially focused on proving or disproving a biological link among four men with the same surname who immigrated to 17^th-century New England and New Netherlands. Were two men brothers as claimed by family stories—Thomas Horton of Springfield, MA and Barnabas Horton of Southold, NY? This New England focus quickly spread to include lineages from southern states,where Horton descendants faced similar questions—Were Hugh Horton, Amos Horton,and Isaac Horton, all of Virginia, related? Since 2003, the Horton Surname Project has provided scientific confirmation of dozens of familial relationships where documentary evidence was circumstantial or nonexistent. Many participants have had to contend with more questions than answers as their test results revealed non-paternal events (surnames other than Horton) orin correct family assignments dating from colonial times.

A 2018 article written by administrator, Jeff Horton, and published in American Ancestors,magazine of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, summarized some of the genetic discoveries of the Horton Surname Project. It can be read online at www.barnabashorton.com,under the “Resources” tab, Item 5.   

To date, the Horton Surname Project has scientifically linked the following three colonial immigrants to their ancestral homes in England, a no small feat:

1)   Group9: Hugh Horton [Sr.] of Virginia to Huddersfield, Yorkshire;

2)   Group8: Barnabas Horton of Southold to Mowsley, Leicestershire;

3)   Group8A: Thomas Horton of Milton to King's Norton,Worcestershire (today's Birmingham, Warwickshire)

Keep in mind that these discoveries did not just magically happen overnight. They were the result of extensive research by individuals who shared their findings with the Horton Surname Project. Administrators act in a coordinating function only.They are not responsible for researching every participant’s lineage,although they may confirm or disagree with family assignments in a submitted family tree. And when they promote contributions to the Horton Surname Project’s general fund, they are not under any obligation to allocate those funds to test a particular donor’s line at random. Rather, they have the discretion to subsidize tests of living descendants whose results are likely to shed light on targeted, vexing, and long-unresolved relationships.