DAYTON, George B.

DAYTON, HILL, STEWART

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 1/20/2003 at 12:11:35

GEORGE B. DAYTON

Since 1870 this gentleman has been one of the most efficient and trusted employes of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, and during the greater part of this time has been a resident of Clinton. A native of New York, he was born in Montgomery, Orange county, January 13, 1843, and is a son of Merritt W. and Emily (Hill) Dayton, who were also born there, and were representatives of very old New York and New England families. The father died in 1853 at Allen’s’ Grove, Scott county, Iowa, the same year that he came west. The mother is still living at the advanced age of ninety-four years, and makes her home at Eldridge Junction, about seven miles from the place where they first located on their arrival in this state. In the family were nine children, four of whom are living, namely: Sarah, wife of Andrew Bell, of Eldridge, Scott county; George B., our subject; Ira M., a veteran of the Civil war and a resident of Des Moines; and Charles E., a conductor on the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, and a resident of Belle Fourche, South Dakota.

The subject of this sketch was a lad of ten years when he accompanied the family on their removal to Iowa. The farm on which they located was all wild prairie land, and he assisted his mother in the management and operation of the same until the Civil war broke out. Feeling that his country needed his services, he laid aside all personal interests and enlisted at Davenport, April 24, 1861, in Company C, Second Iowa Infantry, under Captain Brewster. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and participated in the battles of Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing and Corinth, besides several minor engagements. When his term of enlistment expired Mr. Dayton was mustered out, April 24, 1864, and returned to the old home farm in Scott county, remaining with his mother until he entered upon his railroad career in 1870.

Mr. Dayton was married in 1869 to Miss Sarah S. Stewart, of Donahue, Scott county, who was born in Rochester, New York. Her father, William Stewart, came to this country from England, and was one of the very early settlers of Scott county, Iowa. Our subject and his wife have three children: William M., who is now in the employ of the Homestake Company, at Leeds, South Dakota; John J., who is with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company; and George M., who is a student in the high school of Clinton.

Removing to Clinton in 1870, Mr. Dayton entered the train service of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway as brakeman prior to the days of air brakes, and was first connected with the Eastern Iowa division. In the summer of 1873 he was promoted to freight conductor, and ten years later entered the regular passenger service, though he had run extras before this time. His run is now on Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5, and the “Overland Limited” and the “Colorado Special.” He has never been suspended for a single day, and it is safe to say that no man in the employ of the company has been more faithful to his duties or commands more universal respect than George B. Dayton. He has made his home in Clinton since 1870, with the exception of ten years spent at Belle Plaine, Iowa, when running a train in the freight service.

Politically Mr. Dayton always affiliates with the Republican party, and is a stanch advocate of its principles. In his fraternal relations he is a member of the Order of Railway Conductors, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Union Veteran Union and the blue lodge, chapter and commandery of the Masonic Order, together with the Eastern Star Chapter, to which his wife also belongs. He is a genial, courteous gentleman, who makes many friends, and is held in high regard by all with whom he comes in contact, either in business or social life.
Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.