Joseph Horner moved to Grand Rapids, Mich. from England in 1873 at the age of 12 with his parents Rev. John and Emma Horner. In 1873 he returned to England where he was employed by the Northeastern Railroad, first as a telegraph operator and later as a ticket agent and then manager of freight. He returned to the United States in 1880 and for a short time was employed by the Berkey and Gay Furniture Co. He was then an associate with the Old First National Bank of Grand Rapids as a bookkeeper and as a manager of the clearinghouse. He also installed the first bookkeeping system in the Michigan Trust Co. of which he was the director. In 1892 Mr. Horner purchased the South Grand Rapids Ice and Coal Co. In 1894 the South Grand Rapids Ice and Coal Co. merged with Consumers Ice Co. and Joseph served as president and manager until 1930, when the business was sold to the City Ice & Fuel Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Horner was in charge of the Michigan properties of the latter company until his retirement in 1937 and remained on the board of directors after his retirement. During his time in the ice industry the yearly capacity of the Consumers Ice co. was 8,000 tons of natural ice and at the end of his tenure Consumers Ice Co. capacity had grown to 80,000 tons of artificial ice. He was the president of the Schuller Ice Co., of Toledo Ohio, the Great Lakes Chemical Corporation and of the Manistee, Mich. Iron Works.

He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, Commandery (K. T.) and Shrine, Rotary club, Grand Rapids Assn. of Commerce, Cascade Hills Country Club, YMCA, Citizens History Association, and First Methodist church. His hobbies were outdoor sports, especially golf, fishing, boating, and hunting. He owned a private lake known as "Twin Wood" located in Newaygo County, Mich. where he maintained a summer residence.

On Aug 12, 1884, Joseph Horner married Sara Elizabeth Knowlson who was born in Albany, N.Y. They had seven children together and their eldest, Abram Horner, was president and general manager of the Knowlson Fuel & Materials co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Joseph Jr. was the manager of the "Green Bay (Wis.) Gazette. Their next children Robert, Walter, and William died when they were children. Catherine married A. C. Hamilton of Grand Rapids, Mich. Their last child, Julia, married Charles Greenway of Kalamazoo, Mich. She had four children before passing away, Charles, James, Thomas, and William.