Dayton, Lenox

DAYTON, MALLORY, COLEMAN, WILSON

Posted By: mjv (email)
Date: 10/9/2020 at 15:11:32

Lenox Dayton. Three-quarters of a century is a long time to live, and fewer men of the new generation than of the old will reach that age. We live faster than did the pioneers who blocked out and built up the West, and like a clock that is wound up to run a given time, if we go faster than was intended we will run down soon than the Maker calculated. That is what the present generation is doing, but there does not seem to be any help for it. The men like the subject of this sketch, who go slow but sure, using as much conservatism as possible in their business affairs and husbanding their strength for the latter end of life, are those who grow to a ripe old age. For forty-seven years Mr. Dayton has been a resident of Iowa, coming here when what is now a blooming prairie State was one vast, unbroken country, whose inhabitants were few and far in between. He has seen the State grow from a frontier post of civilization to be one of the foremost and proudest in the Union, not only in material matters, but in intelligence and progressiveness, and he has the satisfaction of knowing that he has borne a hand in this work of transformation. Mr. Dayton has lived a life filled with good deeds and compensating achievements. He has reared a family of which any father might be proud, and in this contribution to the world lies his chiefest joy in his seventy-fifth year.

Lenox Dayton was born on the 12th of November, 1812, in the State of Maryland, near the Virginia line. He is the son of John and Ellen (Mallory) Dayton, also natives of Maryland, and is the oldest of six children born to his parents. His father died when he was quite small, and at the age of twelve almost the entire support of the family devolved upon him, yet with his arduous labor required of him in that undertaking, he managed to attend the common school long enough to secure a fair education, which has availed him much in after life. His work, while growing to manhood, alternated between farming and blacksmithing, which latter had been his father’s calling.

Mr. Day ton was married in Maryland, in 1835, to Annie Coleman, a native of Alleghany County, Md., and daughter of Alto and Rachel (Wilson) Coleman, who were natives of Virginia. To them were born six children, who are recorded as follows: Thomas C.M. and Patrick H., of Cedar Township; Hiram T. and Jefferson M.P., of Seventy-Six Township, and Mary E., the wife J.M. Craven, of Jasper County, Mo. Mr. Dayton and his wife came to Washington County in the year 1840, and entered 320 acres of land on section 30, Cedar Township. At that time there were yet many Indians in this section of Iowa, and they were so troublesome that they added much to the dangers and hardships of pioneer life. The land then entered, under the careful manipulation of Mr. Dayton, became a splendid farm, upon which be continued to live until 1886, when he lost his residence by fire, and he and his estimable wife moved to the home of their son, Thomas C.M., where they are now welcome and honored guests. These venerable people are unostentatious Christians, Mr. Dayton being a member of the New-Light Church and his wife a member of the Baptist Church. While not taking a very active part in politics for the last few years, Mr. Dayton has not relinquished one jot or tittle of his enthusiasm as a Republican, of which political faith he has been since that party was organized.

Thomas C.M. Dayton, a son of Lenox Dayton, was born in Alleghany County, Md., on the 2nd of January, 1836, and was reared to manhood on the farm of his parents. He received a good common-school education in Illinois. At the age of eighteen years he was first married on the 11th of September, 1854, and by this marriage there were seven children born; James M., who accidently hung himself at the age of fourteen years; Leonard died at the age of two years; Louis resides at home; Miranda B., wife of Franklin Crambly, a farmer of Los Angeles, Cal.; Celia, wife of Henry Patterson, of Seventy-Six Township; Mary E. and Pearley at home. The first wife died on the 29th of March, 1874, at the age of thirty-one years. Mr. Dayton was again married, on the 8th October, 1875, to Rachel Sewell, a native of Knox County, Ill., and a daughter of Alexander Sewell. The children of this marriage were Emerson and Jesse, who were twins. This wife died on the 20th of May, 1885, at the age of twenty-seven years. On the 25th of September, 1861, Mr. Dayton enlisted in Co. I, 13th Iowa Vol. Inf., where he served as a private until 1863; during the time he was in the service he participated in the following-named engagements: Corinth, Shiloh, and all the skirmishes and minor engagements connected with those campaigns, after which he was honorably discharged on account of disabilities incurred in the line of duty. After his discharge from the army he returned home and engaged in farming, which he has followed since. On the 29th of March, 1886, he sold his property in Iowa and went to Colorado, from which place he returned on the 29th of September of the same year.

Patrick H. Dayton, a son of Lenox Dayton, was born on the homestead on section 30, Cedar Township, where he now owns 100 acres of land, and is extensively engaged in general farming and stock-raising. In February, 1864, he was married to Martha Fishburn, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Henry Fishburn, who was a native of Ohio. They are the parents of a family of six children, whose names are – Jefferson, Arilla, James, Webster, Bessie and Ora. Mr. Dayton enlisted in the war for the Union in May, 1861, in Co. H, 7th Iowa Vol. Inf., in which he served for twenty-two months, and was discharged on account of disabilities incurred. He returned home and engaged in farming until February, 1864, when he again entered the army, this time enlisting in the 45th Iowa Infantry, being assigned to Company B, in which he served until the close of the war. During his term of service he participated in the engagements at Belmont, Mo., Ft. Donelson, Pittsburg Landing in 1862, and the first and second battles at Corinth. In 1859 he made a trip to California, going by way of the New York and the Isthmus of Panama, and returned in the winter of 1860 on the steamer “Star of the West,” which was the last trip that vessel made before it was fired into at Ft. Sumter. During his short stay in California he engaged in mining, but with only moderate success. He has lived in Washington County continuously since his return from California, excepting while in the army and on a trip to Missouri and Kansas. In 1886 the residence of Mr. Dayton was totally destroyed by fire, and temporarily the family took up residence in a building near the farm. Politically, Mr. Dayton is an enthusiastic Republican, and contributes his best efforts for the success of that party. The Dayton family, parents and children, are among the best known and most reputable in Washington County.

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington County, Iowa (1887). Excerpt from Biographical Sketch of Lenox Dayton, pages 627-629.