Claude Lawrence Horton was born in Boone (Watauga County), North Carolina, on March 15, 1888. Horton moved to North Wilkesboro (Wilkes County) sometime after 1910 and began his career as a bricklayer. He was drafted in March 1918 and served overseas in a construction battalion from June to December 1918, during World War I. Horton moved to Winston-Salem (Forsyth County) in 1925, where he died on October 27, 1956.