CHAPTER FIVE

THOMAS DALTON COMES TO AMERICA FROM WALES

A tall ship of the era of Thomas Dalton

20 - THOMAS DALTON, the first son of James Dalton, was born November 25, 1731 in Pembrey, South Wales. His spouse was Mary of Ireland. Thomas Dalton was the first of our Dalton line to come to American. This date was probably from 1757 to 1760.

The below is the text of the christening of Thomas Dalton from the Bishops Transcripts records of the St Illtyd Parish Church of Pembrey, for the St David’s Diocese of Carmarthenshire.

"Thomas terre-fil Jacobi Dalton de Lettyvychan septemo dir memsis Mai."

This transcript reads:
Thomas, illegitimate son of James Dalton of the adobi of Llettyrvychan, 7 May 1732.

Llettyrvychan is the Welsh name for the place of Adobe in which Thomas Dalton was born.

Source:
This information is copied from film on Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, #105195 in the LDS Family History Library in SLC Utah.”

I have the copy of this in my files for anyone wishing to view it.

"Llether-y_chen, Pembrey" Now a farm called Llettyrychen, on high ground north of Dyfatty; the local pronunciation is sometimes "Llandrichen”. In the 16th century it was the home of the gentry family of Vaughan, descended from Jenkin ap Howel Fychan of Glamorgan. In the following century it changed ownership, and was let to farmers. The Mansels owned it for sometime, and in 1690 Sir Edward Mansel of Mudlescwrn, Bt., leased “Llether ichen” to John Bonvill, yeoman, for 31 years at a yearly rent of 11 pounds, and 2 capons or ls6d on New Year's Day, a man for 2 days to help with the owner's com harvest, 2 men and 2 horses for I day to harvest com, and a heriot of a best beast. Fenton noted - 'Lethy'r ychan belongs to Mr Mansell of Britton Ferry, formerly to Sir Edward Mansel of Mudieconi, Bt., in Kidweli Parish ... Near Lletty'r ychan there is a Field called Park y Dimpath, entrenched about, and having a vault underneath, “sed de hoe quaere melius”.

More on Llether Y chen (Fach and Fawr)
The first mention of these farms, is from 1690 when Sir Edward Mansell of Mudlescwm owned them, and leased the property to John Bonvill a Yeoman (farmer) for a period of 31 years. They can be found North of Dyfatty in Burry Port on higher ground and close to Goodig. In the 1861 & 1871 Census returns Llether Ychen Fawr was a farm of 260 acres and farmed by William Thomas employing 10 men. LIether Ychen Fach was 40 acres and farmed by Thomas Thomas.

John Bonvill maybe the father of Mary Bonvill, who married our James Dalton.

Information:
The below disclaimer is a repeat of what I wrote in the first Volume of “From Knight’s to Dreamers – The Journey of our Utah Dalton Family”

The start – Probably from somewhere in the province of Normandy, France to Dalton in South Lancashire and onto Witney, Oxfordshire in England, then to Pembrey, South Wales, and then to the East Coast of America. Our Dalton family lived in the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nauvoo, ILL. and finally went West to the Great State of Utah!

This history was compiled from many genealogical sources and histories, family records and bibles, written articles and genealogy research by Dalton Family members and other interested people. The Internet played a large part in this book because you can access millions of files from around the world. But you also find much inaccurate data, so please use the Internet only as a guide to your research.

Also many thanks to our cousin, Leslie Dalton Crunk in Oregon for supplying information from her own Dalton history books and sending them to us for review. I have taken the liberty of adding some of Leslie’s work to some of the later chapters in our Dalton history. She also helped me edit some chapters.

Other major sources were:
The LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City Utah.

The Harold B. Lee Library on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo Utah.

The Carmarthenshire Family Historical Society of Wales.

Articles from the Dalton Genealogical Society Journal.

The “John Dalton Book of Genealogy” by Mark A. Dalton

Mrs. Edith Leanings “Dalton Book”

The History of THOMAS DALTON – 1731 – to unknown.

Compiled by His Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandson; Rodney Garth Dalton

The following story is the continuing research by many members of the Dalton family in America who are tying to find the true history that John Luther Dalton tells us about Thomas Dalton, son of James Dalton and Mary Bonvill. We do know that Thomas was christened on May 7th, 1732 and that John Luther Dalton tells us that a “Thomas Dalton”

Now this is what I think is some of the history of this Thomas Dalton and it’s a large continuing effort to get to the facts. It’s only my opinion and the reader should realize that some of the following story has yet to be proven. Lets hope over time we can connect the “Thomas Dalton” that come to America about 1760 and that he is the same “Thomas Dalton” who had children born in America, namely; John Dalton, born 1763, James, born 1765, Charles, born 1767 and Polly, born 1769. Also we must prove that the “Thomas Dalton” Mark A. Dalton names in the “John Dalton Book of Genealogy” as being in the American Revolutionary War is our Thomas Dalton.

Note: Since I wrote the above statement in the fall of 1999, it has been proven that Thomas Dalton, born in Pembrey Wales is in fact my ancestor. In May of 2003, I had a DNA test taken. At the same time, Michael Dalton, the founder and President of the Dalton Genealogical Society on England also took a DNA test. I then went to Wales & England in June of the same year to attend the annual DGS meeting. We traveled to the grave site of James Dalton, 1650, born in Pembrey Wales. Both myself and Michael Dalton are descendants of this James Dalton. In July we received word there was a 100% match of our DNA. This proved our connection with the Dalton family in Pembrey and to Walter Dalton who come from England.

I have a theory about our Thomas Dalton being shipped to America as a indentured servant and is being added to this Dalton family history. Of all the information I searched for about our Thomas Dalton that’s close to the time frame of when he was supposed of come to America, 1757-1760, I only found a “Thomas Dalton” mentioned in books about convicts or indentured servants. I have searched in hundreds of personal users pedigree files, records, film, and books in libraries and on the Internet for the “Thomas Dalton” surname and the following information is only my personal opinion and proof must be found on this point.

If any other Dalton Family member would like to contact me with further information

about our Thomas Dalton, please do so at: Rodney Dalton – 1111 No. 2000 W. #95, Farr West, Utah - 84404.

Thomas Dalton was born on Nov. 25, 1731 in Pembrey, Wales, son of James Dalton and Mary Bonvill. He was baptized May 7th, 1732 in the St. Illtyd Parish Church of Pembrey in the County of Carmarthenshire.

In 1700, Pembrey, or Pen-bre Parish was situated in the hundred of Kidwelly, County of Carmarthenshire, South Wales, 5 miles from Kidwelly village, and is divided into four hamlets, Pembrey, Burry Port, Pwll (Pool) and Trimsaran. In Pembrey itself there were about twenty houses. The name of this place, literally the head of a hill or promontory, is derived from its situation at the extremity of a mountainous ridge, beyond which extends into the Bay of Carmarthen.

We finally have information that our Thomas Dalton was born illegitimate in 1732. This information was discovered by Pauline and Richard James of the Carmarthenshire Family History Society in Llanelli, South Wales, in the Parish Registers of Carmarthenshire County.

It has been rumored that our Thomas Dalton was born illegitimate, since Helen Snelgrove of Orem, Utah visited South Wales in 1995 and was shown a record of this fact of our Thomas by the Vicar of the Church in Pembrey. This record is written in Latin.

Notes: From research by Arthur Whittaker:
“Thomas Dalton was born in 1731 in Wales. I received information and documentation from Helen Snelgrove that Thomas Dalton was born illegitimate in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire Wales. He was the son of James Dalton. Helen visited the Parish in Pembrey and obtained the copy of the birth certificate which, she gave me a copy in 1997. She states that the parish minister showed her a translated transcript of this entry. Maybe this is why he immigrated to America. If it was we can all be thankful for this event. My how such things change the events of many generations for the good and the bad.

We must now assume by knowing of this new record, that Thomas Dalton was given the name of Dalton by his father and not his real mother’s name because of the embarrassment of being born out of wedlock. Usually the mother gives the child her name and they are not heard of again, except by the father. In Thomas’s case he was named Dalton and lived with the Dalton family, unknown by others that his mother was not Mary Bonvill. We will never know for sure, until we find the actual marriage record of James and Mary Dalton and view the date of this marriage. But we do know that we are lucky he was named Dalton, or our roots in America would be lost.

Did everyone know that Thomas was not Mary Bonvill’s child, or did his parents hide this fact, and did Thomas know that he was illegitimate and did this fact trouble him in his young life? Logic tells us first that Thomas was born illegitimate into an upper class family. The Bonvill’s were a very old family established in So. Wales since the 1300’s, while the Dalton’s were in-comers from England only a hundred years previously. However, they were landowners and all well educated. This means that Thomas, even though he was born out of wedlock, would be well educated and literate. However as an illegitimate son, he would have no rights at all to inherit even part of his father’s estates.

The page below shows how John Luther Dalton recorded the pedigree of his Dalton family. Note No. 188 shows Thomas Dalton. We want to thank John Luther for this pedigree of our Dalton family because we have proven without a doubt that we are in fact direct ancestors of this Thomas Dalton.

Before we go any further with the history of our Thomas Dalton, lets look at the following information from the "John Dalton Book of Genealogy" by Mark A. Dalton: 1964. (This book is the Dalton Family bible) Some of the information in this book is from the genealogy collected by John Luther Dalton while he was on a mission to England, from April 1863 until 1866. He also went back to England for more genealogical research in 1888. He searched histories, deeds, wills, cemetery records, etc.

Quote from page 20 of the John Dalton Book:
“The Genealogy Record of John Luther Dalton:

Thomas Dalton, our emigrant from England to America. He married Polly.

John Dalton, their son, was born Jan. 2, 1763 at Conico or Carico Jiggs, Northumberland, County, Virginia”

Listed on page 27 of the John Dalton Book:
Thomas Dalton, born, Pembrey, Carmarthan, Wales, our emigrant to America. He married Mary from Ireland.

Children of Thomas Dalton, christened 7 May 1732, and his wife Mary:

1- John Dalton, born 1763, Conico Jiggs or Connaco Chique, Northumberland County, Virginia.

2- James Dalton, born 1765.

3- Charles Dalton, born 1767.

4- Polly Dalton, born 1769.

Listed on page 29 of the John Dalton Book; Chapter 11: A reconstruction of the family of John Dalton in America.

“Read the history of indenture laws for labor for immigrants to the Colonies of Maryland and Virginia.”

Thomas Dalton, who was christened on 7 May 1732, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire. Wales, or England. He was our immigrant to America. He married Betsy or Polly from Ireland.

They had the following children:

1- John Dalton, born in a village, CONOCOCHEAQUE, MARYLAND, near the Conococheaque River.

2- James Dalton, born 1765.

3- Charles Dalton.

4- Polly Dalton - see 1790 census of Pennsylvania - Polly Dalton married George Odewalt.

Listed on page 12 of the John Dalton Book, Chapter 5:
"Dear Dr. Dalton, I have had one of our doctoral candidates do quite a bit or research on Conococheaque for you. He has come up with his decision that the town is in Maryland rather than Virginia. As you no doubt know the boundaries have been so uncertain that perhaps someone thought the town was in Virginia at one time even though the Potomac River has long been a dividing line"

In the genealogy that John Luther Dalton discovered, it tells us that Thomas Dalton came to America about 1760. There are two locations in present day America that have the same spelling or close to the spelling that is listed in the John Dalton Book.

The first location spelling is close to the name on page 27, listed in the book.

"Conico Jiggs or Connaco Chique, Northumberland, County, Virginia"

1- CHINCOTEAQUE, Accomach, County, Virginia, which is located just below the East Coast of Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean side. The county below Accomach is named Northampton. The town of Chincoteaque is shown on all maps in Feb. of 1999.

The second location spelling is the same as the name listed on page 29 of the book.

"John Dalton, born 1763 in a village, Conococheaque, Maryland.”

2- CONOCOCHEAQUE, Frederick County, Maryland., which is located near Hagerstown, Maryland, just below the Pennsylvania border, is also shown on maps in Feb. of 1999.”

At it’s height, Conococheaque covered an area from the Potomac River on the south to as far north to at least Chambersburg in Pennsylvania. On the east it extended to the ridge of mountains following the current county lines between Washington and Frederick Counties, with a extension into Pennsylvania. On the west it extended to the narrowest strip of Maryland where Hancock is situated and northward into Pennsylvania along that ridge of mountains. Between 1736 and 1782, in what is now Greencastle, Pennsylvania was the village of Conico-Cheaque. At no time did this name apply to parts of Virginia.

In Pennsylvania it included today’s Franklin County. Some sources believe it also included Bedford and Fulton Counties. All were part of the old Cumberland County. Conococheaque comes from the Delaware Indian language, meaning “long way indeed”

(Source: From research by Helen Snelgrove and Pat Nix in 1994 in Maryland and Pennsylvania.)

So which town is the right one? Unless further records are found supporting the right place that Thomas Dalton lived and had children, then we can only guess! In part 2 of this history, we have good records showing the possibility of how, when and why he came to America.

The John Dalton book lists a couple of different names, but only Conococheaque Maryland and its surrounding area ties into the area we think Thomas Dalton settled in.

Sometime after Thomas landed in American he met and married (Polly/Betsy) Freeland from Ireland, as the “John Dalton Book” tells us. (There is no proof that her last name was Freeland.)

We do know that their first child born in America was John Dalton, who was born on Jan. 2nd, 1763, in Conococheaque, Frederick County, Maryland.

Conococheaque, Maryland was the very first village settled in this area of northern Maryland around 1729 and was also part of the area where in March of 1732 the Proprietor of the Providence of Maryland desired to attract settlers to the northern and western Maryland. Conococheaque was named for the Conococheaque Creek which twists back and forth and runs down from the Pennsylvania border down into the Potomac River This area is just 6 miles west of Hagerstown and the main area is where the present day creek and Hi-way 40 cross.

Here is part of the Proprietors Proclamation:
“First, any person having a family to come to the land within three years of the proclamation and actually settle on the land could have two hundred acres without payment for three years.”

Large tracts of land were speedily secured by relatively few of the wealthier citizens of Maryland, including the finest parts of the Valleys of the Monocacy and the Antietam. Daniel Dulaney took a patent for “Monocacy Manor” a tract of 8983 acres. Charles Carrell took “Carrell’s Monor” in what in now the Buckeytown district. Patrick Dulaney took a tract upon a partition of which Frederick City was built. While the early land grants were English-speaking people from Maryland, the first German settlement in Frederick County was as early as 1729 in the village of Monocacy. Monocacy was situated at or near the present village of Creagerstown. Monocacy was also the name of the famous road that went from Wright’s Ferry in Pennsylvania to the Maryland line, then to the Potomac, and then on into Virginia.

There were many Irish settlers with land it this area at the same time. This group was called the “Irish” by the locals and the history books, however they were actually Scots/Irish who were known as the Ulster Scots.

During the critical Indian up-raising period in Maryland (late 1750’s and early 1760’s) known, as the Seven Years War, the Conococheaque and Elizabeth town hundreds became the closest area of refuge for those who lived near the uprisings. Hagerstown, only a few miles from Conococheaque, where Thomas Dalton had his homestead, is on the “Old Wagon Road”, which was the main road through the top of Maryland and into Ohio and on to the West.

(Source: “A History of Washington County and The History of Frederick County” by Thomas J. C. Williams.

Now isn’t all this history interesting. It tells us in the “John Dalton Book” that Thomas Dalton married Polly/Betsy from Ireland, and Thomas’s son John later married Elizabeth Cooker who was German! Also these early land grants were leased, subleased and sold - some in very small plots to many people. Thomas must have leased or bought his land where he raised his growing family. Further research is needed to find his land records.

Let’s continue with Thomas Dalton’s life.

From the “John Dalton Book of Genealogy” Page 13 Chapter 6.
“There is a general tradition in our Dalton families that Thomas Dalton was a soldier In the American Revolutionary War”

The following record of the names and surnames of persons who voluntarily took and subscribed the Oaths or Affirmations of Allegiance and Fidelity, before the Justices of Bucks, with certificates annexed to their respective Registers of the same and, transmitted by them into the Office for the Recording of Deeds at Newtown, in and for said County in order to be recorded.

A “Thomas Dalton” signed this Oath of Allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania on May 30th, 1777 in Newtown, Bucks County Penn. This record is found in allegiance book # 1: "Oaths of Allegiance for Bucks County Pa".

Source: Book # 974.821 N2b. LDS FHL in SLC.

This could be our Thomas Dalton. Thomas’s son John had joined the Bucks Co. Pennsylvania Militia in August of 1775 and so it is possibly that Thomas took the “Oath of Allegiance”. I believe this is our Thomas Dalton. (RD)

Explanation of the "Oath of Allegiance" In the Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Vol. 3 is this historical note:
As early as May 1776, the Continental Congress declared that it was "irreconcilable to reason and good conscience, that the American people should take oaths for the support of government under the crown of Great Britain," and it was "necessary that every kind of authority under the crown should be suppressed". The Declaration of Independence gave the old state Government a mortal blow and it soon expired without a sigh, thus ending forever the proprietary and royal authority in Pennsylvania.

The Legislature, by a general militia law, was passed a made full provision for the enrollment of all persons fit for military duty to sign a oath if allegiance. The preamble and oath are in these words: “WHEREAS” From sordid or mercenary motives, or other causes, inconstant with the happiness of a free and independent people, sundry persons have or may yet be induced to withhold their services and allegiance from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as a free and independent State, as declared by Congress. “AND WHEREAS”, Sundry other persons in their several capacities have,

at the risk of their lives and fortunes, or both, rendered great and eminent services in the defense and support of the said independence, and may yet continue to do the same, and as both these sorts of persons remain at this time mixed, and in some measure undistinguished from each other, and the disaffected, deriving, undeserved service from the faithful and well affected. ‘AND WHEREAS’, Allegiance and protection are reciprocal, and those who will not bear the former are naught to be entitled to the benefits of the latter. “THEREFORE IT IS ENACTED, ETC.”, That all white male inhabitants of the state, except of the counties of Bedford and Westmoreland, above the age of eighteen years, shall, before the 1st, day of August, take and subscribe before some Justice of the Peace and Oath in the following form:
I; THOMAS DALTON do swear or affirm that I renounce and refuse all allegiance to George the Third, King of Great Britain, his heirs and successors, and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a free and independent State and that I will not at any time do or cause to be done any matter or thing that will be prejudicial or injurious to the freedom and independence thereof, as declared by Congress, and also, that I will discover and make known to some one Justice of the Peace of said State all treason's of traitorous conspiracies which I now know or hereafter shall know to be formed against this or any of the United States of America.

Severe penalties were imposed by this law on all who neglected or refused to take the oath.

When and where Thomas joined the Army of the Revolution we don’t know as of now, but according to the “John Dalton Book” we next find a Thomas Dalton as a private in the American Revolutionary War. We can’t prove this is our Thomas Dalton as yet!

He enlisted on Apr. 1, 1777 in Captain Jacob Wright’s company in Colonel Philip Cortland’s Second New York Regiment.

Thomas Dalton was wounded in his right knee at Stillwater, Bemis Height’s N.Y. Sept. 1777. Thomas Dalton was transferred to the Corps of Invalids Regiment of the Continental Line, Third Regiment of N.Y. May 15 1780. Thomas’s pay was $6.60 per month.

Thomas Dalton was discharged by General George Washington, Sept. 1, 1782.

Thomas Dalton died somewhere in New York State maybe on March 10th 1791.

Source: From a book, “In Old New York”

Author: Michael J. O’Brien

Call Number: 9318

LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION ON RECORD AT THE OFFICE OF THE SURROGATE FOR NEW YORK COUNTY.

Name of Intestate To Whom Granted Date

Thomas Dalton Samuel Dodge March 10, 1791

Source:

Abstracts of wills, Vol. XIV, 1789-1796.

From the New York Historical Society Collections, this 1905 volume features abstracts of wills on file in the Surrogates Office, City of New York, from 6/12/1786 to 3/13/1796.

Page 355

Thomas Dalton, New York City, cooper -Samuel Dodge, same place, a friend of the deceased – March 10, 1791.

Page 551 – Military Records: New York in the Revolution War.

Appendix: Invalids who received Pensions from the State of New York.

The Legislature of New York passed on the 22nd of April 1786, an Act “making provisions for Officers, Soldiers and Seaman who have been disabled in the service of the U.S.” The payment of pensions to the soldiers of New York and other States began, according to: Ledger, Rev. Accounts,” March 1782.

Dalton, Thomas.

Here is a short history of The American Revolutionary War:
The American Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775 when British soldiers and American patriots clashed at Lexington, Mass., and at nearby Concord. The American Revolutionary War led to the birth of a new nation-the United States of America. The war lasted for eight years. On April 19, 1775, the first battle of the American Revolutionary War took place, when blood was shed at Lexington, Mass. At this battle, an outburst of shots was fired. It is not known who fired the shots or which side they came from, both sides blamed each other. The battle of Lexington was only the beginning of the war. There were many other battles that took place between the American Minutemen and the British Regulars. The two armies marched on to battle at Bunker Hill. On June 17 the Battle of Bunker Hill began, the British on one side the Americans on the other. Many were injured and some were killed, but in the end, the British army walked away with the victory.

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. On December 26, the day after Christmas, George Washington made a surprise attack on the British soldiers. This battle took place at Trenton and the war went on. The Americans were beginning to weigh down the British army, and on October 7, 1777, General Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga. This was considered the turning point in the war because France and Spain had entered against the British. Then on the 19th of December 1777 Washington's army retired to winter quarters at Valley Forge. This was a time of hardship and much endurance. On February 6, 1778, the United States and France signed an alliance. The Americans and the British signed a treaty in Paris on September 3, 1783. The Americans had won the Revolutionary War.

Here is more research that Mark A. Dalton, Author of the “John Dalton Book of Genealogy" found.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR - GENERAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATION, NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Thomas Dalton of the colony and state of New York:

Captain Jacob Wright's Company in Colonel Philip Cortlandt's Second New York Regiment: Thomas Dolton, private; enlisted April 1, 1777.

Thomas Dalton's Muster roll Record:
Sept. 6, 1777 - Camped near London’s Ferry.

September 1777 to January 1778, sick absent.

Muster Roll - Corporal - January 1778 to February 21, 1778.

Wounded at Albany February 1778 to March 1778.

Sick, absent March 1778 to April 4, 1778.

Sick, absent April to May 1778.

Sick, at Albany, May 1778.

Sick, absent July 22, 1778.

Sick at Fishkill Aug. 6 1778.

Sick at Fishkill September 4, 1778.

Sick at Fishkill September 10, 1778, White Plains.

Sick, hospital in the field October 7, 1778.

Sick at Fishkill Oct. Nov. Dec. 1778.

Rochester, Feb 1, 1779-sick in quarters Feb. to June 1779, Camp Jacob Plains.

Oct. to Nov. 22, 1779, Pompton: sick

Present, Nov. 1779 to Jan. 27, 1780-Camp Morriston.

Transferred to the Corps of Invalids May 15, 1780.

NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY, STATE ARCHIVES, V.1. Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Volume 15, Page 192. Part of the Sixth Company, Second Regiment N.Y. Line Col. Philip Van Corlandt:

Dalton, Thomas, Apr. 1, 1777; Corporal, January 1788.

Reduced January 1779.

Discharged, May 15, 1780 by General Washington.

PENNSYLVANIA ARCHIVES, SERIES FIVE - VOLUME 4 - Page 32 is the most informative: A roll of the non-commissioned officers and privates of the Invalid Regiment - Continental Line:

Thomas Dalton - Third New York Regiment - When commissioned, August 1st. 1780.

When left the Regiment 31 May 1781.

The Invalid Regiment - Captain Hill's Company 1 June 1781, 31 December 1781: Private Thomas Dalton - 3rd New York - June 1st, 1781

Discharged 31 December 1781.

NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY - PHOTOSTATS REVOLUTIONARY WAR MANUSCRIPTS, V. 15.

Feb. 20, 1783:

Captain Wright certifies that Thomas Dolton was shot and wounded in the right leg in an action of the Regiment against the enemy at Bemis Heights on the 19th, of September 1777 - There were no provisions made for the disabled soldiers after the war.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK COUNTY.

Feb. 22 1885. To Gerald Banker Esq. State Treasurer:
“Thomas Dolton with other disabled soldiers are living in the Almshouse. Request being made that part of their state pension be deducted for their support in the home. Sam Dodge, Keeper of Almshouse.”

NEW YORK CITY, COUNTY OF N.Y.

April 1788

“Peter Elting M.D. certifies that Thomas Dolton was wounded in the right knee which disables him in great measure from following the occupation as a cooper. In March 1789 another certificate was filed by Richard Platt, Esquire, who was appointed by the State of New York. Thomas Dalton Account was audited 19th, March 1789. Thomas Dalton signed his name with a X.” Note; This may not be our Thomas Dalton because he certainty could sign his name!

NEW YORK; THOMAS DALTON.

From Jim Wick, sundowner@sprintmail.com

From “Ancestries” web page about New York pensioners of Rev War. Country unknown.

Name: Thomas Dalton, Rank: Private

Annual allowance, $60. 00 Sums Received.

Description of service: Army of the Revolunteers;

When placed on the pension roll:

Commencement of pension:

Laws under which inscribed, increased or reduced or remarks:

Died January 2nd, 1791.

Of note is that some of our Dalton researches use this death date for our Thomas Dalton!

The fact is we just don’t know when and where he died.

War Department

Office of the Adjutant General

Old Records Branch

General Index - Revolutionary War - Reel # 14

General Index card number 541

Dalton, Thomas

Van Cortlandt’s Regiment New York

Revolutionary War

Private/private

War Department

Office of the Adjutant General

Old Records Branch

General Index - Revolutionary War - Reel # 14

General Index card number 542

Dalton, Thomas

2nd New York Regiment

Revolutionary War

Private/private

See also Invalid Corps

The following is quoted from our cousin Leslie Crunk’s book.
“Lastly we find a Thomas Dalton living in York Co. Pennsylvania. Thomas’ wife Polly is purportedly to have died in 1807, so it’s possible that this is our Thomas Dalton. Also note that York Co. just happens to be where George and Polly Dalton Odenwalt are also living”

George Odewalt is listed in the 1810 Pennsylvania Federal Population Schedule Census:

1810 - George Odewalt - York County, Pa. - Manchester Township

Source on the death of Polly Dalton is:
Temple Log book of John Luther Dalton, film #0673273, item 7-9, FHL SLC.

More about Thomas Dalton:
Of interest to us all is that there is also a Thomas Dolton listed in the 1810 Pennsylvania Census. There is much research that has to be done to see if this Thomas Dolton is ours. If it is our Thomas Dalton then he would have been 80 years old at this time.

1810 - DOLTON, THOMAS, York County PA -159 - Hellam Township - Federal Population Schedule.

So far this is all we know about our Thomas Dalton in America. Is this our Thomas Dalton, and how did he get to New York after taking the oath of Allegiance in Pennsylvania.

What happened to Thomas Dalton’s other three children; James, Charles and Polly, not much is known as of now. The only thing we do know about them is told in the (see the History of John Dalton Sr.)

There will be much more to add to his history as we continue to search for Thomas Dalton’s records.

Sources:
Pauline and Richard James of the Carmarthenshire Family History Society, Llanelli, South Wales.

John Luther Dalton

Mark A. Dalton

Helen Snelgrove.

Arthur Whittaker.

Dr. Lucy John Slater

Rodney Dalton’s personal Dalton Family History Files.

Leslie Dalton Crunk.

The records of the LDS FHL in SLC.

The biggest question is how and when did Thomas Dalton leave Wales. Did he go to England first before he shipped out to America or did he stay in Wales and work on one of his uncles & cousins ships that might have come to America with a shipment of coal? The Dalton family was agents to Lord Ashburnham, a owner of large coal mines and ships in the 1700’s. Read the following information and then decide if it is possible that our Thomas Dalton could have been a convict or an indentured servant. This thought is probably a long stretch, but it could be a possibility.

There have been a few Thomas Dalton's listed in “Ships lists” that were transported to America in the middle 1700's.

The following is a history of the English Plantations in America:
In 1597 an act of Parliament was passed authorizing the banishment of dangerous criminals from the Kingdom. The penalty for returning to this country was the death sentence. This act was amended by the order of 1615 and again in 1716 authorizing the removal of criminals to America. Many people that had been found guilty of criminal offenses and who was given the death sentence were granted reprieves and were sent to Virginia and then later to Maryland. In most cases a condemned prisoner could request that he be transported as an alternate to hanging. Merchants were paid to transport these convicts and on arrival in America each prisoner was sold to the highest bidder.

In 1716 the going rate for each felon transported was 2 pounds. By 1726 the rate had risen to 5 pound per head. The merchants made a handsome income from the sale of these convicts on their arrival. Up to 10 pounds a head was paid in the plantations with a added bonus of returning with cargoes of Tobacco for sale in England. Transportation of criminals continued to the American Colonies until the War of independence in 1776.

Also: American plantations and Colonies before 1776.
The English settlers in the American Colonies owned large plantations and had trouble finding enough workers to harvest their crops, mainly cotton and tobacco. The English government came up with a plan to supply these settlers. They sent their undesirables, vagrants and convicts to these plantations. In place of a fine or prison term they sent entire families on ships to America. This was called indentured servitude.

Soon after the settling of Jamestown, there was a tremendous demand for labor, skilled and unskilled in the America Colonies. Many early Virginians were English convicts who arrived in this country as transported prisoners. The Transportation Act of 1718 was used by the circuit courts in England to select prisoners to be reprieved from jail on condition of their accepting a term of transportation to the Colonies.

Nearly 400 convict ships carrying 50,000 men, women and children left England bound for the American Colonies where their human cargo was sold or indentured as servants to work off their passage for a term of years. The 400 convict ships identified as having crossed the Atlantic from the ports of London, Bristol and Liverpool between 1716 and 1776. A dozen or so were destined for the West Indies or the Carolinas before 1730.

Thereafter Maryland and Virginia were the invariable destinations. Many ordinary individuals, who for numerous reasons wished to emigrate to the colonies, were quite unable to pay for their passage, and so a scheme gradually evolved where the emigrant could receive a free passage for the colonies provided that he was willing to be sold into bondage for a few years upon arrival. At the end of his time he received a reward in the shape of land. Indentured servants, as they were called, suffered from great hardships. It has been estimated that one half to two thirds of all white emigrants were indentured servants, or convicts. When the prospective servant offered his service he was issued an indenture which he carried with him as proof of his terms, and was suppose to register himself as soon as he arrived in the Colonies. Very few copies of the hundreds of thousands of indentures issued that were kept in the office where he registered in English were saved. Also many hundreds of men failed to register after they landed at their port in America. These men were called runaways and were hunted by the authorities.

“Forced Emigration: Transportation to America”
The practice of transporting convicts who would otherwise have been executed, dates back to a least 1597. By 1660 transportation was the accepted form of punishment following a royal. An act of 1718 established transportation to English colonies in America as the standard sentence for many less serious offenses. Transportation was for a period of years, usually seven or fourteen years or for life. After conviction, felons remained in prison until their transportation. Convicts to be transported were handed over to agents who could dispose of their services to local landowners. Ship- masters certified receipt of the convicts and obtained landing certificates on arrival in America from the governor or chief customs house officer. These landing Certificates were returned to the courts as evidence that the sentence had been carried out. By 1718 most convicts had been taken to Virginia and Maryland and this continued until 1775.

Source: The Corporation of London Records Office. Research Guide 3.

I think that our Thomas Dalton was shipped to America as a convict, in Sept. of 1757, (as you will see in the notes in the last section of this history) to do service for one of the English Plantation owners. He probably sailed around the Southern tip of Virginia and up the Chesapeake Bay to a port somewhere near Baltimore, Maryland. Annapolis Maryland was at this time the number one port receiving transported criminals from England. One of the largest English plantations in Maryland (see history below) belonged to Lord Baltimore. After de-barking from the ship, Thomas was bid on by one of the many plantation owners. He was then taken in a wagon for the long and hard journey west to the plantation to serve out his sentence.

We don’t know how long that Thomas Dalton served on his sentence, but many convicts were pardoned early, and quite a few escaped. (See runaways above)

Note: The Calvert’s ruled with the force of kings as the Lords Baltimore (there were six) from 1637, when the English King granted Cecilius Calvert dominion over Maryland until 1775. All the land was owned by the Calvert’s and granted, which meant in effect leased, by their authority as owners to individual proprietors in blocks of 1,000 acres or more to form Manors and Estates, in return for rent paid to the Calvert’s. The Calvert lands were mainly in the northwestern section of Maryland in the present day Calvert County. One reference said that one of the Calvert’s manors in Maryland was of 10,000 acres and upon being forfeit to the United States after the Revolution, was parceled out to the War veterans as bounty land in payment of service.

Here is an excerpt from a history about English convicts:
The pride of many of the colonists naturally revolted against the English assumption that colonies were penal settlements. In colonial newspapers of the day, appeared such notices as: “Friday last, arrived the “Thames” frigate with 130 of His Majesty’s passengers, who were at home so expert and knowing in some arts that they were obliged to travel for the term of 7 years.”

In Maryland during the period of 1756-1759, government, merchants and ships masters had been actively engaged in transporting convicts from England for more than a century. Contractors, both government and private, through years of experience were well acquainted with the system; After entering into bonds and agreements with appointed officials they conveyed the condemned to New World agents who disposed of their labor by normal business methods of advertisement and sale.

The following are records found about a Thomas Dalton. He would have been about 25 years old when these events happened to him.

Thomas Dalton may have been a convict or an indentured servant because of the following information.

Three Thomas Dalton's are listed on a ships list from a C-D. " The Complete book of Emigrants and the Complete book of Emigrants in Bondage 1606-1776" by Peter Wilson Coldham. Also the book "Emigrants in Chains" by the same Author.

Also: from the Dalton News Letter, by Helen Lu. There is a list of English convicts in Colonial America.

"Thomas Dalton, sentenced in October and transported in December of 1754.

Source: "English Convicts in America", in by Peter Coldham.

Helen Lu was a Dalton family researcher for many years and published a newsletter about the Dalton family in America.

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Ref: t17541204-6:
Thomas Dalton, Charles Ainsworth, theft : shoplifting, 4th December, 1754.

Trial Summary:

Crime: theft : shoplifting,

Punishment Type: transportation,

(Punishment details may be provided at the end of the trial.)

Verdict: Guilty, Not Guilty,

Other trials on 04 Dec 1754

Name search for: Thomas Dalton, Charles Ainsworth ,

Crime Location: Rosemary-lane

Original Text:
Thomas Dalton and Charles Ainsworth were indicted for stealing five cloth coats, value 40 s. five linsey-woolsey waistcoats, and 5 hats, the goods of Robert Temple, in the shop of the said Robert, Oct. 3.

Isabella Temple. I am wife to Robert the prosecutor; we live in Rosemary-lane, and have two shops, one over-against that where we live. On the 13th of October, our apprentice went over to the shop, and returned, and said the things were tumbled about, and he believed we had been robbed; I ran over, and found one side of the shop was stripped of a great many goods old and new.

Q. What sort of goods did you miss?

I. Temple. A great many coats.

Q. Did you lose five?

I. Temple. A good many fives.

Q. Did you lose any waistcoats?

I. Temple. Six waistcoats made of linsey-woolsey, and a great many hats.

Jos. Cox. I live in Cable-street, Dalton the prisoner brought this cloath coat ( producing one ripped to pieces ) to me to be dyed on the 24th of October. I, hearing Mr. Temple had been robbed, carried part of it to him to know if he knew it; there he shewed me the waistcoat to it made of the same cloath, upon which Dalton was taken up, he said, he would not tell how he came by it, till he had spoke with his mother; after which, he said he found it in Rosemary-lane, and who could hurt him; and said after that before the justice, the other prisoner was with him at the time.

Q. to the prosecutrix. Look at this coat; do you know it?

I. Temple. I am very positive it is my coat, and was in the shop, Oct. 12. My husband is ill, or he had been here. (The waistcoat produced in court, and compared.)

Robert Briscoe . I was along with the prisoner when he was before the justice. I don't remember I heard him say he found the coat till after he wanted to speak with his mother; after which, he said he'd tell us more of his mind. We let his mother and he go up into a corner of the room together for six or seven minutes; then she said, who can hang my son, for he found it. I was along with Mr. Temple's young man when we found this waistcoat in Ainsworth's garret; it was hanging up to dry; it was just dyed black.

Q. to Cox. Do you know any thing of this waistcoat?

Cox. I do not, it was not dyed at my house.

Q. to prosecutrix. Do you know it?

Prosecutrix. I verily believe it to be mine, but can't swear to it, the colour being altered.

George Selvey . I am a taylor, and work for Mr. Temple, and made the coat and waistcoat that are fellows, for Mr. Temple's own wearing.

Dalton's Defence.

Going along Rosemary-lane between ten and eleven at night, I kick'd against something, I picked it up, and found it to be a coat. I thought it was not worth advertising, so I carried it to be dyed blue-grey for mourning, my father being dead.

Dalton guilty of single felony, Ainsworth acquitted .

Other records about a Thomas Dalton:
Thomas Dalton: Reprieved for Transportation for highway robbery, Lent, 1750. Ordered to Goal until summer 1750. Assizes, Hertfordshire.

Thomas Dalton: Sentenced to Transportation, October-December 1754, Middlesex.

Thomas Dalton: Sentenced to Transportation, summer 1756. Reprieved for Transportation. 14 years.

Lent. Transported Sept. 1757. "Thetis", Surrey.

Now this last item is of importance to us, because in Peter Coldham's book it lists the Ship "Thetis" with Captain James Edwards at the helm, sailing to America in Sept. of 1757!

Voyage of Thetis: Notes of WDC. Departing England April 1760 ship Thetis, Capt. Matt Craymer for America. Peter Wilson Coldham, The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage 1614-1775. Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Coldham notes p. xii that the British Treasury has listed all the 180-odd convict ships sent to America 1716-1775, many complete with names of passengers. "A voluminous correspondence was conducted between Assize judges, clerks of Assize, and the central bureaucracy in London which often duplicated and amplified the Assize records themselves. ..many contracts for the transportation of felons, gaolers' accounts, bonds and lists relating to transportation are to be found in County Record Offices". Old Bailey Sessions Papers kept in London Guildhall Library.

Notes on the Ship "Thetis" from an e-mail query - “Am seeking any information on the arrival of the ship Thetis from England in late spring or summer 1759. The passenger in question is Joseph BLAES/BLAISE/BLAZE, etc., a young palatine assigned by Middlesex Court to that voyage "to America." No info found on him under that name for 18 years after that, when he turns up in the MD militia.”

Also from: "Transportation to America, 1615-1775"

The ship "Thetis" sailed from the port of London, which is called the "Surrey Docks" in September of 1757. Its weight was 200 tons, and was owned by J. Stewart. There was 118 Convicts on board. It arrived in America on December 12th, 1757.

Campbell soon went to Virginia and upriver to Loudon on the ship Thetis. This may have been his first voyage on a convict ship, and it was presumably made to enable him to gain first-hand knowledge of conditions in the American colonies. On 30 March, 1758, with his partner John Stewart, his brother-in-law John Campbell of Saltspring, and a Jamaican planter, Alex McKenzie, Duncan went to Portsmouth. On 1 April (the turn of the financial year of the day) he boarded Elizabeth Capt. McTaggart for Loudon and Virginia. It was, anyway, Duncan's first voyage to America in respect of his partnership with John Stewart. He went out again on Thetis again in 1759.

Departing England in April 1759 was the convict ship Thetis Capt. Matt Craymer for America. (Coldham's Listings).

List of convicts sentenced to transportation (PRO, T 1/378)
Home Circuit - Lent - A

Quarter Sessions of Surrey; Thomas Dalton 14 years
"These are to certify that Mr. John Steward of London, Merchant haft contracted for the transportation of the above felons and that the bonds, contracts and other instruments for their transportation are in my custody.

Dated the 21st day of July, 1757."

Anyone of these Thomas Dalton's could be ours. The years of 1754 and 1757 are close to 1760 that is listed for our Thomas Dalton in the "John Dalton Book of Genealogy".

Also: From a book, " Ships Passengers to America" by Peter W. Coldham. It lists 97 Dalton's on Ship Lists, including: Thomas Dalton, age, n/a, To America, Year of 1755

Other Sources that list Thomas Dalton:
From "Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1538-1940"

Dalton, Thomas, Place, America, Year: 1750

Primary Individual: Dalton, Thomas

Source Code: 1217.4

Source Name: COLDHAM, PETER WILSON. "Bonded Passengers to America" 9 vols.

3. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983. Vol. 4. Home Counties,

1655-1775: Surrey, Hertfordshire, Kent, Essex, and Sussex. 231p.

Source Page # 89

Dalton, Thomas, Place, America, Year: 1754

Primary Individual: Dalton, Thomas

Source Code: 1217.2

Source Name: COLDHAM, PETER WILSON. "Bonded Passengers to America." 9 vols.

3. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983. Vol. 2. Middlesex, 1617-1775.

334p.

Source Page # 71

Dalton, Thomas, Place, America, Year: 1755

Primary Individual: Dalton, Thomas

Source Code: 1222

Source Name: COLDHAM, PETER WILSON, compiler and editor. " English Convicts in Colonial America". Volume 1: Middlesex 1617-1775.

Source: The county of Middlesex encloses the city of London, so these were largely London departures, transportation bonds, etc. The final eight pages list transport ships to American colonies, 1716-1775, bearing Middlesex convicts only. There is an excellent introduction to transportation of convicts in Middlesex Sessions Records, 4 volumes; Goal Delivery Reports, 1620-1672; Books and Sessions Rolls. Also see nos. 1217.2-1217.3, Coldham.

Source Page # 71

Dalton, Thomas: Place, America, Year: 1757

Primary Individual: Dalton, Thomas

Source Code: 1217.4

Source Name: COLDHAM, PETER WILSON. Bonded Passengers to America. 9 vols. in

3. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983. Vol. 4. Home Counties,

1655-1775: Surrey, Hertfordshire, Kent, Essex, and Sussex.

Source Page # 20

Note: I have Letters to the Public Records Office in England for these Court records of the Thomas Dalton listed above. Let’s hope they prove this Thomas is ours!

Thomas Dalton: Reprieved for Transportation for highway robbery, Lent, 1750. Ordered to Goal until summer 1750. Assizes; Hertfordshire.

Thomas Dalton: Sentenced to Transportation, October-December 1754, Middlesex.

Thomas Dalton: Sentenced to Transportation, summer 1756. Reprieved for Transportation. 14 years.

Lent. Transported Sept. 1757. Thetis Surrey.

Note: He was given double the usual sentence of 7 years. In England at the time, if you committed a serious crime against the Crown or the Church, you were either put to death or reprieved for transportation for 14 years. For minor crimes, 7 years.

Now this last item is of importance to us, because in Peter Coldham’s book it lists the Ship “Thetis” with Captain James Edmonds at the helm, sailing to America in Sept. of 1757!

The “Thetis” is the name of a ship.

Goal is the English word for jail.

Lent is a Christian Holiday.

Surrey is also the name of the Surrey Docks of London.

Assizes is a inquest or court.

Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Surrey are Counties in England.

Reprieved is temporary suspension of a death sentence.

Transportation is being shipped to one of the Colonies.

More: From “Transportation to America - 1615-1775”

The ship “Thetis” sailed from the port of London, on the River Thames, called the “Surrey Docks” in September of 1757. Its weight was of 200 tons, and was contracted for this voyage by John Stewart. There were 118 Convicts on board. It arrived in Maryland on December 12th, 1757.

List of convicts sentenced to transportation (PRO, T 1/378)

Home Circuit Lent Assizes, 1757

Quarter Sessions: Surrey

#16- Thomas Dalton

“These are to certify that Mr. John Stewart of London, merchant, has contracted for the transportation of the above felons and that the bonds, contracts and other instruments for the transportation are in my custody.

Dated the 21st day of July, 1757-

Signed; Jerome Knapp, Clerk of the Assizes for said County”.

“I do humbly certify that the within named twenty two convicts are those contained for and shipped on board the Thetis of which ship I am Master by order of John Stewart of London, merchant, that they may be mmediately and effectually transported to some of his Majesty's Colonies or Plantations in America. Given under my hand at Gravesend

29th September 1757”

Jas. Edmonds

Note: I have a copy of this document in my possession. (RD)

Anyone of these Thomas Dalton's could be ours. I believe the one listed for the year 1757 is our Thomas. The years of 1754 and 1757 are close to 1760 that is listed for our Thomas Dalton in the "John Dalton Book of Genealogy".

Also: From a book, " Ships Passengers to America" by Peter W. Coldham.

It lists 97 Dalton's on Ship Lists, including: Thomas Dalton, To America, Year of 1755.

Also: From Passengers and Immigration List Index: 1999 Supplement; by Carl Boyer.

“Dalton, Thomas; America, 1750 #1220.11, page 207”

“Dalton, Thomas; America, 1754 #1220.11, page 207”

“Dalton, Thomas; America, 1757 #1220.11, page 207”

Taken from the following book: “The King’s Passengers to Maryland and Virginia” by Peter Wilson Coldham. Page 149;
Felons transported from London in February 1755 by the “Greyhound, Capt. Alexander Steward, arriving in Maryland in April 1755

Middlesex:
“Thomas Dalton” (There were 75 other convicts on board this ship.)

This Thomas Dalton could also be our Thomas. This is the only record that mentions him

As landing in Maryland.

Dalton, Thomas - Place: America

Year: 1757

Primary Individual: Thomas Dalton

In Peter Wilson Coldham’s book, “Bonded Passengers to America, Vol. 4 Home Counties-1655-1775: Surrey, Hertfordshire, Kent, Essex, and Sussex.”

Page #20

Other source’s;
“Runaways servants, convicts and apprentices, advertised in the Pennsylvania Gazette- 1728-1796” by Dr. Farley Grubb.

Pauline & Richard James of the Carmarthenshire Family History Society Llanelli, Wales.

John Luther Dalton.

Mark A. Dalton.

Helen Snelgrove.

Arthur Whittaker.

Rodney Dalton’s personal Dalton Family History Files.

The LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City Utah.

Note: I have letters to the Public Records Office in England for these Court records of the Thomas Dalton listed above, and also to the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Maryland. We have searched every ship’s list and book that the world authorities of “Passenger’s to America” authors have wrote, including looking at film at the SLC FHL in SLC, Utah. There are no other Thomas Dalton’s in the time frame that John Luther Dalton set down for us except the above records on him. Lets hope they prove this Thomas to be ours!

On August 5th, 1999 I received the following letter from the London

Metropolitan Archives of the Corporation of London:

"I can confirm that we have searched within the Middlesex Sessions Records for the indictment of Thomas Dalton as you requested. We were able to locate an indictment for Thomas Dalton within the July 1754 session. I enclose a full transcript”.

Yours sincerely

Geoff Pick - Manager, Reader Services Division.

Middlesex Sessions of the Peace - July 1754:
"The Jurors for our Lord the King upon their oath present that Thomas Dalton late of the parish of Saint Botolph Without Aldgate in the County of Middlesex, Labourer on the tenth day of June in the Seventh year of our Sovereign Lord George the second King of Great Britain ER with force of arms at the parish aforesaid in the county aforesaid. Seventeen Pidgeons of the price of 10 pence of the goods and chattels of James Steward then and there being found feloniously did steal take and carry away against the peace of our said Lord the King and his Crown and Dignity."

Sent to me was a copy of this original sheet showing the name of Thomas Dalton.

Note: We can’t prove this is our Thomas Dalton, but it makes for interesting reading.

From a letter I received on August 9th, 1999 from the London Metropolitan Archives.
“Concerning further details about Thomas Dalton. I can confirm that we hold Gaol Delivery Sessions rolls for the session of October 6th, at which Thomas Dalton was Sentenced. However, the documents in question are very fragile and unable to be consulted by members of the public or staff. A further source of information may be found In the printed volumes of Old Bailey Sessions papers however, at the Guildhall Library.”

So as you have read in the above history on Thomas Dalton, each reader must decide for themselves if in fact our Thomas Dalton come to America as a convict! Or he may have just come on another unknown ship and landed at an unknown place and then started his new life in America. We may never know!

There will be much more to add to Thomas Dalton’s history as we continue to search for his records.

The Utah Dalton Family Shield