Isham Dalton Biography
Prepared by: Louis Dolton, July 15, 2006
Isham Dalton was born about 1764 in Albemarle County, Virginia. There are at least two years identified as the year of his birth. His wife was Elizabeth (Walton) Dalton who was born in 1775 and died in Indiana sometime after 15 December 1846. Her place of birth is given as either Scotland or Albemarle County, Virginia.
If you look at extant family trees, then you will see several men listed as the father of Isham Dalton. There’s a record in the ancestral file of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that indicates his father was Captain David Dalton, born 1740, Albemarle, Virginia. Another record in the same source identifies Isham’s father as Richard Dalton, born about 1752, in Albemarle, Virginia. Another family tree claims that Isham’s father was William Dalton the son of Samuel Dalton and Anne Dandridge Redd. All the children of these men are well documented and Isham Dalton is not among them. There is no primary documentation (birth certificates, property records, wills, census records, Bibles, etc.) to support linking Isham to any of these men.
Isham Dalton/Dolton has long been misdirected into the family of David and Susannah (Davis) Dalton. There is a piece of evidence (the 1787 Albemarle Co. VA tax list) which clearly tells us that Isham was the son of William. William had been in Albemarle for a long time, and by 1787 he was well over 40 years old with a son who was 21 or older. That year, 1787, the commonwealth government of Virginia required men to list, by name, any adult son living with them or being supported by them. Thus, Isham was listed by William. The same Isham married Elizabeth Walton seven years later, in 1794.
We find that tax records confirm the friendship of these two families, the Dolton’s and the Walton’s. For instance, in 1790, the tax collector visited William Dolton Senior (Isham's Dad), Richmond Walton, and Thompson Walton on the same day: March 18th. The next year, on May 17th, the collector went to neighboring homes of William Senior, Isom (sic.) Dolton, Isom Walton, and Richmond Walton. By now, Isham must certainly have met Miss Elizabeth Walton, whom he courted prior to marriage.
After marriage, Isham and Elizabeth lived in Albemarle County until their last tax record in 1803. I'm not sure if Isham traveled with his Walton in-laws to Madison County, KY, or if he went with other friends; but he first paid taxes in 1805 in Madison County so he did not tarry long moving from one place to the other. Isham may have gone to Madison County with his Albemarle friend Joseph Watson (sic), a theory proposed but not yet proven.
The story doesn't end here, though. Isham's dad left Albemarle and went to Greenbrier Co. W.V. in 1796. This migration was recorded by a British mercantile agent; missing WV tax records do not provide confirmation. The hazy picture seems to be that William Senior moved to Augusta County, VA, first, possibly to be near a son who was his namesake. That son, William, married Mary Renick later in 1806, after he had moved from Augusta Co. to Greenbrier Co. about 1800.
Isham and Elizabeth had fourteen children. They were Francis H. Dalton, Lucy Isabelle Dalton, David W. Dalton, Cloyd Dalton, Meary C “Polly” Dalton, Catherine P. Dalton, Elizabeth Hart Dalton, Christina Dalton, Nancy Lunica Dalton, Cyrena Dalton, Sally W. Dalton, William A. Dalton, and Elijah Dalton. Since their birth years are given as the same year Catherine and Elizabeth may have been twins and Christina and Cyrena may have been twins. There is a six year gap between the birth of the Elizabeth and the birth of Nancy. There was also a change of location. All the children born before Nancy were born in Virginia. After the birth of Elizabeth all the children are born in Madison County, Kentucky.
There are many possibilities that might explain this six year gap. It might help if we knew when Elizabeth died. It’s possible that Isham had a second wife. But, if Elizabeth and Catherine were twins and Christina and Cyrena were twins, this would seem to indicate the same mother as the tendency to bear twins runs in families and is dependant on the mother rather than the father. Perhaps Isham and Elizabeth had some miscarriages in those years or perhaps they just didn’t hit for five years. Another possibility is that Isham went ahead of the family to Kentucky to get things set up and Isham and Elizabeth were parted for five years.
Isham relocated from Virginia to Kentucky not long after 1800. The family probably traveled the Cumberland Trail and passed through the Cumberland Gap to get to Kentucky. They settled one hundred acres of land on Drowning Creek just a few miles from the Cumberland Trail. There was never a deed registering the purchase of this land. They probably just settled and said this is our land. But, there is a record of the land being sold by the family after they moved to Indiana.
In 1805 Isham was listed for the first time on the tax lists in Kentucky. Madison County is in the Eastern half of Kentucky. Madison County is in an area of the state referred to as “The Knobs” because of the large geographical features which look like door-knobs. The area is on a plateau and the knobs are the result of erosion. However, there was good farming land there and Isham was a farmer. The invention of the iron plow was still thirty-two years away. The iron plow was not built until 1837 by John Deere at Grand Detour, Illinois.
Madison County holds the city of Boonsboro established in 1775 by Daniel Boon. Kentucky became a state in 1792. When the Dalton’s arrived the area was still rough, but the Indian troubles and attacks of the 1780’s and 1790’s had been over for some time.
The last time Isham appears on the tax lists in Madison County, Kentucky, was in 1821. So it is not surprising to find an 1822 deed, filed in Madison County, listing the heirs of Isham. So Isham died in 1821 or 1822 at the age of about fifty-five and left a large family bereft of his support. We don’t know whether he died of disease or injury, but no other deaths are recorded at this time so it appears to only have affected him.
Many folks were always looking for something better and that certainly seems to describe the Dalton’s and kindred families. They sought a better place, better land, more water, and easier living. Several years after Isham’s death, Pedro Epperson, who had married Elizabeth Dalton after their meeting in Madison County, saw a broadside touting the plentiful land and easy living in Indiana. He convinced much of the rest of the family they should move there. In 1828 Nancy and Elias, along with her mother and his parents, moved north from Madison County, Kentucky, to Montgomery County, Indiana. Richmond was thirteen years old at the time they moved.
Isham’s sons, Francis and David Dalton, stayed in Madison County. On October 22, 1833, Elizabeth (Dalton) Bailes and William Dolton used a power of attorney given to them by other members of the family to sell Francis Dalton, the tract of land, "on which Isham Dalton lived and died." This statement is written in the deed. Isham Dalton died in Madison County, Kentucky, not Louisville, Kentucky, as many records indicate.
Sources:
- “Madison County KY Daltons,” edited by Melanie Crain
- "The Story of David Epperson and His Family," by Edna Epperson Brinkman, published in 1933.
- “The Search for Isham Dalton and his Wife, Elizabeth Thompson Walton,” a research journal by Ardris Londene
- US Census Records
Isham’s Family Group Sheet
Isham Dalton was born about 1764 in Albemarle County, Virginia, and died 1822 Madison County, Kentucky. His wife Elizabeth Thompson Walton was born in1775 and died sometime after 15 December 1846. They were married 20 January 1794 in Albemarle County, Virginia.
- Mary C. Dalton, born in 1794 in Virginia d. 1851 m. 1817 Madison County, Kentucky, married Jeremiah Todd
- Frances Hart Dalton b. May 21,1795 Albermarle County, Virginia, 1863, DeKalb County, Missouri, m. Nov.02,1823 Madison County Kentucky, married Emeline (Biddy) Coyle.
- Lucy Isabell Dalton, born in 1795-6 in Virginia and died in 1871, DeKalb County, Missouri, m. 1812 Madison County, Kentucky, married Jesse Todd on December 10, 1812 (brother to Jeremiah).
- David W. Dalton b. 1797-9, Virginia. In 1819 he married Ruth Harper in Estill County, Kentucky. Then in 1841 he married Margaret Cloyd.
- Sally Dalton, born about 1800 Virginia. She married William Franklin Daugherty in July 29, 1821 or 1822 in Madison County, Kentucky.
- Catherine Dalton b. 1803 Virginia, d. 1880 Jackson County, Kentucky, m. 1818 Madison County, Kentucky, she married James Lainhart
- Elizabeth Hart Dalton (must be a twin) b. 1803 Virginia, d. 1892 Henry County, Illinois, m. 1824 Madison County, Kentucky, she married Pedro Epperson
- Nancy Lunica Dalton b. 1809 Madison County, Kentucky, d. 1876, Mills County, Iowa, married December 10, 1824, Madison County, Kentucky, to Elias Epperson (brother to Pedro)
- William Dalton b. 1811, Madison County, Kentucky, d. 1864 Brown County, IL m. 1833 Montgomery County, Indiana, he married Malinda Hymer
- Richmond Dalton was born 1813 in Madison County, Kentucky, (The Epperson book gives Louisville, Kentucky, as place of birth. His obituary and probate record shows his place of birth as Madison County, Kentucky.)
- Cyrena (var. Serena) Dalton b. 1815 Madison County, Kentucky, d. 1880, Macoupin County, Illinois, m. 1834 Montgomery County, Indiana, William Baldwin
- Christina Dalton b. 1815 (twin of Cyrena, supposedly died at age 14, unverified)
- Elijah Dalton b. 1817 Madison County, Kentucky, d. 1885 St. Joseph, Missouri, m. 1836 Montgomery County, Indiana, Sarah Nix
