YOUR SILENT NEIGHBORS, Arthur J. Horn, Baseball Player, Woodworker  
by David K. Leff
Town Poet Laureate and Deputy Town Historian

Son of an immigrant Collins Company workman, Arthur J. Horn (1907-1946) was born in Burlington and lived in the Collinsville area his entire life.   He attended Burlington’s Fourth District School, and was involved in sports from his early teens.  After leaving school, he worked at W. H. Hartigan, an industrial woodworking firm in Burlington (that is still in business). 

Horn was a “widely known and universally respected athlete,” according to the Farmington Valley Herald.  He pitched for Collinsville’s baseball team for 20 years, from the time it was first organized.  He was a star bowler and played for the Burlington and Collinsville teams in the Farmington Valley Bowling League.  

A member of the Improved Order of Red Men, (I.O.R.M.), a fish and game club, and St. Patrick’s Church, he was “noted for kindliness and fine sportsmanship.” 

Stricken while pitching for Collinsville on the last day of June, he grew steadily worse, and the next day was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford.  While at first there was some hope for recovery, in October his health declined and he died in a coma. 

Horn had married Catherine Jackson of Collinsville five years earlier, and passed away on their anniversary.  The couple had no children. 

Friends from the Farmington Valley and around the state came to pay respects at the Vincent Funeral Home in Collinsville over a period of four days.  The funeral was held at Vincent’s, with a requiem high Mass at St. Patrick’s Church.  “The Church was packed to overflowing, and the beautiful floral tributes banked the whole interior.” 

Arthur J. Horn is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Collinsville. 

“Your Silent Neighbors” introduces readers to people out of Canton’s past.  Readers are encouraged to visit these gravesites and pay their respects to the people who have helped make our community what it is today.