John Horn, Jr.

John Horn Jr. (1843–1920) was an English-American boatbuilder who received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1874 for saving more than 100 people from drowning.

Biography John Horn Jr. was born in Sidmouth, England on September 7, 1843. About 1855, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where his father opened a restaurant.

Horn worked at his father's business, and later built, sold, and rented small boats. He also served as an alderman of Detroit.

Horn later claimed that the medal was stolen from his house in October 1901, and he was unable to recover it. In previous instances, the Secretary of the Treasury had issued duplicate medals "at the expense of the applicants," upon the submission of absolute proof that showed "the originals had been irrecoverably lost or destroyed." Since such proof was absent in Horn's case, the congressional approval was necessary before a duplicate medal could be issued."

He died at his home in Detroit on April 12, 1920. At the time of his death he was credited with having saved 135 people from drowning.