First found in Yorkshire where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Horton or a variant listed above: Robert Horton settled in Virginia in 1648; Isaac Horton settled in Virginia in 1636; Barth Horton settled in Virginia in 1638; Robert Horton settled in the Barbados in 1670.

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