Horton, Omah Scott, 1884-1972

Omah Scott was born May 31, 1884 in Hickory Hill, Missouri. She grew to adulthood on her family's farm, and completed the eighth grade at a local rural school. Scott worked as a long distance telephone operator in Jefferson City, Missouri after leaving school. Omah Scott married Fred D. Horton in 1907 and had three sons: LeRoy (born in 1908), Francis (1914), and Fredric (1918).

In the fall of 1918 the Horton family moved to Wellington, Kansas, where Fred had taken a position as City Engineer and Superintendent of Public Utilities. In 1919, Fred boarded a train in Wellington to go to a meeting in Kansas City. He disappeared en route and was never heard from again. Omah tried to support her children in any way possible. She sold baked goods and produce, and also began to publish poetry under the name of Scott Horton.

When May Williams Ward moved to Wellington in 1933, the two poets began a close friendship that lasted until Omah Scott Horton's death on October 16, 1972. Omah Scott Horton's poetry appeared in several major magazines and newspapers. She also published a collection of poetry entitled "Even the Leaves" in 1957.