Chancey George Horton was born in 1903 in Valley Center, Kansas to parents George Arthur, a farmer, and Annie Laurie Horton. He was one of 6 children: Mary Constance, the oldest, was born in 1901, followed by Chancey in 1903, Julia Sibyl in 1905, Myrtle Helene in 1911, Lawrence Calvin in 1914, and finally Bill in 1919. They all grew up together on the family farm in Grant, Kansas.
Chancey lived a short but full life. The Valley Center Index, the local newspaper, reveals the many days he spent visiting friends and attending parties. He was athletic, participating in football, basketball, and other sports. He was a debater and an orator in school, a "representative in reading," and in his senior year, won the scholarship for the Valley Center High School class of 1922. Upon graduating high school, he entered Normal Training with the goal of becoming a teacher.
His obituary notes that around 1922, Chancey attended a revival held by pastor and composer Rev. William M. Runyan and was converted. He joined the Methodist church and became the president of the Epworth League at Valley Center (a Methodist association for young adults), as well as a Sunday School teacher. After graduating from Normal Training, Chancey found work as a teacher near the town of Jetmore, where he met and became engaged to another teacher, Alta Hendrickson. He went on to teach in Park, Kansas until he grew ill in spring 1924. A note in the Valley Center Index from March of that year mentions that a Mrs. Hammers is teaching in his place as he recovers from an illness. Chancey passed away at home on April 21st, 1924, at the age of 20.
Alta Hendrickson, his fiancee, never married but continued to teach and eventually became a county superintendent.
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