Introduction

Welcome to the December 2008 issue of “Daltons in History”. During November 2008 your officers and committee have continued to work hard on DGS matters, and you will find updates on everything below. But first….

I send my greetings and good wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all our readers. I hope that each of you will have an enjoyable and peaceful time over the holiday period and that you will be able to share this time with your families and your close friends. The world is a particularly turbulent place at this time, both politically and economically, and we are all witness to the troubles that surround us. I always find it comforting to be part of that wider Dalton family that the DGS is able to bring together across the globe and I feel we can all draw strength from the fellowship that we are able to enjoy with each other, whether this be by meeting at one of our events, or by interacting with each other from afar. Hopefully our DGS community, with its diverse interests, brings a wider perspective on the world and an ability to exchange and share information and experiences, which in their turn give us a little more understanding of the world in which we live. I firmly believe that the study of family history opens doors to the study of many other aspects of our history, our origins and the way we live today. Each new discovery of a detail of family history potentially opens a door to another field of study, and this is very much part of the excitement of our hobby. Long may doors continue to open for us all!

The DGS in America

During November 2008, our new Assistant American Secretary, Karen Preston has continued introducing herself to the American membership. Many of you will by now have had contact with her and I know that she is determined to get to know you all as quickly as she can. In addition to all this, and with the able assistance of her husband David, Karen has masterminded two new initiatives which we launch on the website this month.

The first is the transfer of the Dalton Data Bank (DDB) into our own webspace. For the past seven years, since its launch in 2001, the DDB has been hosted commercially with various attendant constraints on its further development. Now, thanks to David and Karen, the DGS has complete control over the DDB and we can plan the next steps that we wish to take in order to improve it even further. More about these plans in due course – for the time being, the link from our home page takes you to the new home of the DDB, and you will find it has a fresher look and is free of those annoying pop ups and advertisements.

The second initiative is the launch of the Dalton Forum. This replaces the guest book facility which has been a feature of the DGS website since it was first set up back in 1998. Again we wanted a facility over which we have complete control and David Preston has implemented the new Dalton Forum, accessed from our home page via its new link, which replaces “Submit an Enquiry”. Through the Dalton Forum, all visitors to the DGS website will be able to submit comments and enquiries, and we anticipate that lively discussions will ensue on a wide range of Dalton related topics. Please take a look at it, register and try it out. We look forward to your participation and to your comments.

Below you will find further details of the new DDB and Dalton Forum, along with other information from Karen in her “Notes from the American Secretary”.

The Dalton International DNA Project (DIDP)

Family Tree DNA have just announced a further special promotion, entitling individuals to join DIDP at the same reduced prices that applied up to 30 September 2008. The promotion runs until 31 December 2008 and means that the Y-DNA 37 marker test now costs just US$119.00. So, anyone who is interested in joining the project needs to act quickly – treat yourself now to a testing kit as a Christmas present to yourself. The quickest way to arrange this is to email me at michaelndalton@aol.com, and I will provide you with a special weblink, which enables you to place your order with Family Tree DNA directly online. As always, if you are not sure about the details or need further information, just email me and I will respond by return.

We have already increased substantially the number of testees in our database, and the results from some 15 new participants, are now coming through from Family Tree DNA. So far we have one match identified with an existing genetic family. We anticipate having most of these results available by Christmas. In view of these imminent additions to the DIDP database, the publication of Issue 3 of DIDP Progress Report will now be in early 2009, in order that they can all be included. In the meantime, I am working with our consultant, Chris Pomery, to agree the scope and format for his third report, and we are promised a landmark document when it is published. We have also been reviewing the interpretation of more recently received results and providing feedback to individual participants.

Now with 125 Y-DNA project participants, DIDP is one of the largest and most respected projects of its type internationally, but we still need to expand it further, particularly with individuals who have documented ancestral lines that take them back to known English or Irish Dalton origins. The strength of the database as a family history research tool lies in its size, and its continued growth is of paramount importance to us all.

For further information please look at the “Dalton DNA Project” section of the website, and do please contact me by email if you would like to join the project, or if you have any questions which you wish to raise.

Future DGS Events

The major event for 2009 is our Annual Gathering taking place in Orange, New South Wales, Australia over the weekend of Fri/Sat/Sun 13th/14th/15th March 2009. Full details are now available on this website under ”Forthcoming Gatherings”, and this month they are published here in ”Daltons in History” as well. They will also be included with Volume 49 of the DGS Journal (December 2008). Maureen Collins and Helen Smith have worked very hard with their team out in Australia to put everything in place for what, I know, will be a superb event. I for one am much looking forward to it, and to meeting delegates from Australia, from New Zealand and from around the world. We have had an excellent response so far during the initial registration phase, and we now look forward to members confirming their bookings and paying their deposits. Please do this as soon as possible and be assured of your place at what promises to be another memorable Dalton weekend.

Later in 2009 – on Saturday 22nd August – we will hold the DGS Annual General Meeting here in England (please note that this a change of date from the one announced here last month). It will be a one day event, incorporating a visit with a Dalton connection and it will be in Lancashire. Details are currently being finalised, and we will announce them here on the website in the January 2009 edition of “Daltons in History” and they will also be included with Volume 49 of the DGS Journal (December 2008).

2010 marks the 40th Anniversary of the founding of the Dalton Genealogical Society and we will hold a special Gathering and Annual General Meeting here in Surrey, England over the weekend of Fri/Sat/Sun 30th/31st July/1st August 2010. Detailed planning is now under way and further details will be announced early next year.

For 2011 and beyond we have a number of suggestions already. If you have any particular thoughts about where you might like to meet, or a particular Dalton theme you think we should incorporate, please let us know.

The DGS Journal

John Dalton, Editor of the DGS Journal, is now putting the finishing touches to Volume 49 for December 2008 and this will be published and distributed shortly. DGS members should allow time for their copies to arrive in the mail, bearing in mind the holiday season.

Back issues of the DGS Journal continue to be available. On this website you can access the DGS Journal Index from the homepage. Here you will find a full synopsis of the contents of the Journal of the Dalton Genealogical Society commencing with Volume 1 published back in 1970 through to Volume 41 published in December 2004. Lists of contents are available for Volumes 42 to 48 and the full synopses will be available shortly. Copies of all back numbers are available for purchase and these can be obtained from DGS member, Mrs Pat Robinson (address: Mallards, 3 High Street, The Green, Barrington, Cambridge CB2 5QX, UK email: gandprobinson@waitrose.com.) Details of prices, including postage and packing, will be found with the index.

Conclusion

Enjoy this month’s issue of “Daltons in History”, your regular monthly update on everything that is happening in the world of Dalton family history. We will be back again in the New Year at the beginning of January.

Thank you for your attention and best wishes to you all.

Yours very sincerely

Michael Neale Dalton
Chairman and Honorary Life President of the Dalton Genealogical Society

The Annual Gathering of the DGS for 2009 is being held in Orange, NSW, Australia. The City of Orange was founded in 1846 and gold was discovered there in 1851. Orange has many sites of historical interest and the Dalton family is prominently included. The meeting will be held at Duntryleague, a grand residence built by James Dalton the younger in 1876, and the Dinner at Heritage House.

The Dalton Genealogical Society extends an invitation to all DGS members and their families to attend the 2009 Gathering of the Society from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th March 2009. A particular welcome will be extended to all those descended from the Daltons of Orange family, wherever they may now live, and the theme of the weekend will be the origins and the history of this family. The weekend will include visits to a number of places with Dalton connections, together with talks about Australian Daltons of both English and Irish descent and the opportunity to explore Orange and the surrounding area. The Annual DGS Dinner will take place on the Saturday evening.

Full details of the programme for the weekend, costs and booking arrangements are as follows. If you require any further information or have any queries, please contact either Maureen Collins DGS Australia/New Zealand Secretary and 2009 Orange Gathering Coordinator email: mmcollins@ozemail.com.au, or Helen Smith DGS Orange Gathering Organiser email: h-smith70@bigpond.com or Wendy Fleming DGS Australia Internet Secretary email: wendy.fleming@optusnet.com.au and they will be pleased to assist.

Getting to Orange

By Air: Regional Express (REX) has several direct flights to and from Sydney daily (Tel 131713 or www.regionalexpress.com.au). For further information on air transport see Airservices Australia.

By Road: Orange is 3.5 hours drive west of Sydney along the Great Western Highway. From Canberra it is a 3 hour drive passing through Yass, Cowra and Canowindra. If you don’t know how to pronounce the latter, ask an Aussie.

By Rail: Countrylink has daily trains to Orange from Sydney and Dubbo (Tel: 132232/63619500 or www.countrylink.nsw.gov.au)

By Bus: Selwood Coaches (tel: 02 63627953 or email: info@selwoods.com.au

It is anticipated that many delegates will want to combine their stay in Orange with visits to other parts of New South Wales. There are a number of travel options. You can fly either to Sydney or Canberra, both of which offer good international connections.

If you need advice, guidance or assistance with your travel plans, please contact either Maureen, Helen or Wendy who will do their best to help.

A note about the venue

Duntryleague Guesthouse, Woodward Road, former home of the Dalton family of Orange, is the venue for the Saturday morning and lunchtime gathering and a barbeque will be held in the Clubhouse there on Sunday evening.

Dinner on Saturday night will be held at Heritage House which adjoins and is run by the Central Caleula Motel, 60 Summer Street.

Annual Gathering for 2009
Friday 13th March to Sunday 15th March 2009
Orange, New South Wales, Australia

PROGRAMME FOR THE WEEKEND

Friday 13th March 2009

from 2 pm
Delegates check in and register at Central Caleula Motor Inn reception in the usual manner. Access to bedrooms will be arranged as early as possible.
afternoon

Enjoy a visit to Cook Park.

evening
Dinner will be available in the Union Bank Restaurant.

Saturday 14th March 2009

morning

Gather at Duntryleague Guesthouse, Woodward Road, Orange for a programme of great interest to all Dalton families.

Buffet lunch.

afternoon

A guided walk around the city centre is being arranged.

evening
The Annual DGS Dinner at Heritage House followed by entertainment.

Sunday 15th March 2009

daytime

A morning trip to Mount Canobolas and lunch at Borodell Vineyard and Restaurant are planned.

evening

A traditional Australian barbeque will be held at Duntryleague Clubhouse.

Monday 16th March 2009

No arrangements have been made but it will be possible for delegates to stay over in Orange on the Monday night if they wish as long as prior arrangements have been made with your accommodation or gathering organiser.

 

REGISTRATION FORM

The form is given below and may be downloaded as an Adobe Acrobat (registrationform.pdf) or Word (registrationform.doc) document for printing, completion and return as per the accompanying notes.

REGISTRATION FORM NOTES

The Registration Form follows. Please note the points below:

  • It is important to make your requirements absolutely clear, particularly those for your accommodation – number of nights and type of room.
  • The Society has already made certain commitments in order to be able to offer the programme for the weekend. We need to know numbers attending as early as we can in order to finalise the arrangements for the visits on the Saturday afternoon and the tour on the Sunday. If you wish to attend, it would therefore be extremely helpful if you are able to return your registration form and deposit before 20 January 2009.
  • We will endeavour to maintain availability of motel accommodation for as long as we can, but it is unlikely that we will be able to take any more bookings after 28 February 2009.
  • We will keep you informed about take up and booking options on the DGS website at www.daltongensoc.com. Just follow the link to Forthcoming Gatherings and click on the Orange event. Month by month the website will also carry further information about Orange, the speakers who will address us on the Saturday morning and the places we will be visiting on the Saturday afternoon and Sunday. We will also feature articles about Australian Dalton family history.
  • Your deposit payment of Aust$100 will be passed to the Central Caleula Motor Inn and it will be deducted from your final account, for which you will be responsible personally. In addition you are asked to pay in advance a further deposit of Aust$50 per person towards the cost of the Saturday morning conference and buffet lunch, the Saturday evening dinner, the Sunday evening at Duntryleague and the visits and tour.
  • As soon as final costings are available for the various elements of the programme, you will be advised of these and asked to confirm the elements in which you wish to participate. The balance due will be payable in Australian dollars when you are in Orange.
  • The Society will return deposits to delegates who subsequently are unable to attend, subject to the deduction of any unrecoverable costs incurred.
  • If you wish to extend your stay either before or after the three nights (Fri/Sat/Sun), please indicate your requirements clearly on the form and we will make the reservation for you, subject to availability of rooms.

Prices for accommodation are as follows:

Central Caleula Motor Inn (tel: 02 63627699 or www.caleula.com.au) - $127 per night for a double/twin room and $109 per night for a single

Indicative prices for events and visits are as follows:

Conference & Buffet Lunch on Saturday

$30 per person

Annual DGS Dinner on Saturday (3 courses excl. drinks)

$55 per person

Sunday Tour including lunch

$52 per person

Sunday evening at Duntryleague Golf Clubhouse

$15 per person

As soon as final details and costs are known, they will be advised to all those who have made reservations.

Notes for overseas members

Members in the UK, United States or elsewhere overseas, please send your remittance in Australian dollars by cheque or money order made payable to “Dalton Genealogical Society” together with a copy of this registration form to the Australian Secretary:

Maureen Collins, 1/11 Moruben Road, Mosman, Sydney NSW 2088, Australia

For guidance, overseas members should contact their local Secretary or Michael Dalton on email: michaelndalton@aol.com

REGISTRATION FORM

for THE DALTON GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY GATHERING
ORANGE, NSW, AUSTRALIA 2009

Name ……………………………………………………………………………..

Address ……………………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………..

Tel No ………………………… Email ………………………………………..

I/we wish to attend the Orange Gathering from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th March 2009.

Please give the names of additional members of your party and indicate clearly the rooms that you wish to book (double, twin or single), together with the nights that you wish to stay

……………………………………………………………………………….………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

I/we wish to extend my/our visit and to book ….. no. of extra nights before
and ….. no. of extra nights after for ….. person(s)

Please indicate any special room requirements and any special needs:-

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

A deposit of $100.00 per room (regardless of type of room and length of stay) is payable to the Dalton Genealogical Society and should be forwarded as soon as possible to:

Maureen Collins, DGS 2009 Gathering Co-ordinator
1/11 Moruben Road, Mosman, Sydney NSW 2088, Australia

******* please now turn over and fill in form overleaf and sign declaration *******

Additional elements of the weekend programme

Please fill in to indicate your expected participation in the following events and the numbers in your party:-

Date

Event

Est.
cost per
head in
Aust $

Tick to
indicate
participation

No
in
party

 

 

Saturday
14th March

Conference including tea/coffee & biscuits and buffet lunch

30.00

 

 

 

Saturday
14th March

DGS Annual Dinner

55.00

 

 

 

Sunday
15th March

Lunch

52.00

 

 

 

Sunday
15th March

Barbeque at Duntryleague

15.00

 

 

 

 

TOTAL DEPOSIT FOR EVENTS @ $50 per person

 

PLUS deposit of $100 per room at Central Caleula Motor Inn

 

 

TOTAL DEPOSIT COST enclosed

 

Declaration

I have read the enclosed details and ticked the boxes as requested, and enclose my cheque for the total indicated above and made payable to ‘Dalton Genealogical Society’.

I understand the terms outlined above relating to the return of deposit monies paid to the Society.

In the event of any changes to my booking or cancellation, I undertake to notify the DGS 2009 Gathering Co-ordinator, Maureen Collins, at the earliest opportunity.


Signed : ……………………………………………………………………. Date……………………….

Transcribed from the New South Wales Police Gazette by Gerry Dalton, on Monday 24 November 2008

New South Wales Police Gazette, 22 September 1897, page 326

“Sydney - Stolen, between the hours of 7 a.m. the 18th and 9 a.m. the 14th instant, from Howard Smith & Sons wharf, King Street, the property of George Henry Dalton, carpenter, care of Mrs. H. Adams, King Street, Wollonngabba, East Brisbane, Queensland, - a large wood box, painted chocolate colour, piece moulding on one end not painted, containing a quantity of carpenters tools, “G.H.Dalton stamped on most of them; a quantity of clothes almost new to fit a very short man “Birch and Co. Johannesburg” on tabs of coat, boots, shirt, undershirt, socks, ties and sundries; and a new opossum skin rug lined with light green material “Adelaide” stamped on corner of lining. Total value £60. Identifiable.”

New South Wales Police Gazette, 20th October 1897, page 357
“Vide Police Gazette, 1897, page 326

The box and contents stolen, the property of George Henry Dalton, has been found on Howard Smith and Sons Wharf, Fremantle, Western Australia.”

New South Wales Police Gazette, 15th February 1899, Page 62.

“Newcastle - William Tofield of the “Carrington Hotel”, High Street West Maitland and William Dalton, of Newcastle Street, East Maitland, report that about 2.15 a.m. on the 29th ultimo they were assaulted near Honeysuckle Point Railway Station by three men hereunder described, who searched their pockets for money but found none. Descriptions:- 1st man, about 25 years of age, small fair moustache; wearing a black necktie, dark suit and black soft felt hat. 2nd man about 27 years of age, about 5 feet nine inches high, slight dark moustache; wore dark clothes, and soft black felt hat. 3rd a youth about 16 years of age; dressed in dark clothes.”

From Howard Dalton, Pickering, North Yorkshire

The following is an extract from a book of the same name by the Author O. Wildman. Pages: 286. Pub. Date: (c1919) 2004.
ISBN: 1920978348.

Dalton, Stanley William. Lance-Corporal, No. 8397. Born and educated at Ipswich, and is the son of James William Dalton and Annie Dalton, of “The Palma,” Denmark Hill, Ipswich. Enlisted 4th September, 1915, and embarked 22nd January, 1916, for Egypt, where he was from March to September, 1916. Left for England, and was on hospital duties from October, 1916, to January, 1917. Was despatched to France January, 1917, and went into action at Yarra Bank, Bullecourt, Zonnebeke, Ypres, Villiers Bretonneaux, Marquais, and Hervilly. Left France January, 1919, and returned to Australia 12th September, 1919.

Dalton, Niven Howie. Sapper, No. 21,732, Field Engineers. Born at Innisfail (Johnson River), and was educated at Nudgee. He is the son of Alexander McPherson Dalton and the late Mary Dalton, Innisfail. Enlisted at Wyndham (N-Western Australia), September, 1917, and went into Blackboy Hill Camp, Perth, for training. Attached to the Engineers. He was sent to Moore Park, Sydney, for further training, and in March, 1918, he left for England, per S.S. “Runic,” via Panama, and arrived April, 1918. Went into Brightlingsea Camp, where he remained until September, 1918, when he went to France, and was there when the Armistice was signed.

Dalton, Herbert Howie. Lieutenant, Scottish Yeomanry. Born at Kames (Argyllshire), and was educated at Knutsford (Cheshire). The son of the late Joseph Dalton and Jeannie Howie Dalton, of Glasgow, Scotland. Prior to enlisting he was a clerk in Glasgow. Enlisted as a Private in the Scottish Yeomanry in 1914. Went through various Institutional Schools, and gasined his Commission. Was on Observation duty during the battles in Flanders and France, at Armentieres, and wounded in October, 1918; sent to a convalescent home in France.

by William Michael Dalton (Mike), Portland, Oregon

Part of my agenda for the trip to Birr, County Offaly, Ireland for the 2008 DGS Gathering was to locate the final resting places of some Daltons, particularly at older burial grounds. The reality is that many of these locales have faded inscriptions or none at all. There may be a record of death or burial, but the actual site of internment may be lost to memory or abandoned to nature. On the ground, walking around within graveyards is an important segment of genealogical research.

This research should be shared with those before us and those who are yet to come; privately and publically. In Portland, Oregon I have done volunteer work with a genealogical group to record inscriptions within a cemetery that first opened in 1888. There are a few Daltons (not mine) there.

From about 1700 on, the sites of old church ruins (Catholic and non-Catholic) have been used for burials. Some of the burials may be literally within the walls or beneath the floor of a church. This custom dates back more than 2,000 years in Christian and Prechristian Western Civilization. Families who have plots there, have preexisting burial rights. As the older burial grounds filled up, newer graveyards have been opened. Newer ones have key dates and names to trace back in research.

In my own trek along the Shannon River in North County Kerry, I came across Dalton burials at: Kilconly, Killehenny, and Doon; all of which are rural sites near the Town of Ballybunnion. There are also Daltons buried in a newer graveyard behind the Catholic church in Ballybunnion.

My own Daltons of Glenlea, Ballyheigue are at Killury by Causeway, Ballyheigue (old) and Ballyheigue (new). Ballyheigue (old) dates back before 1900; its history is unclear at present. The history of the Killury site dates back before the year 1,000 AD.

On the DGS tour of the Clonmacnoise National Monument, several Dalton burial plots were located in the newer graveyard adjacent to it. The sites of Daltons, on the abbey grounds, were not found.


Kathleen Dalton is the Cecil F P Bancroft Instructor of History and Social Science and Co-director of the Brace Centre for Gender Studies at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, USA. She is also an External Fellow at the International History Institute at Boston University and the author of “Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life”.

DGS Chairman Michael Dalton receives the quarterly online journal of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History “History Now – American History Online”. Issue 17 published in September 2008 looks at Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era and includes an article by Kathleen Dalton entitled “Theodore Roosevelt: The Making of a Progressive Reformer”. Below are edited extracts from the article. The full text may be found at http://www.historynow.org/09_2008/historian3.html.

These extracts demonstrate the contribution that Kathleen Dalton is making to understanding American history and they summarise the remarkable achievements of Theodore Roosevelt, who set an example which still has much relevance today.

Theodore Roosevelt’s interesting life often tempts biographers to write about him with the history left out. His story offers plenty of drama. He was born in 1858 to a wealthy family in New York and his father, Theodore Senior, put pressure on his son to throw off his childhood asthma by embracing exercise. In his teens, young Theodore rose to his father’s challenge and strengthened his body by exercising and going hunting. He remained a forever-restless seeker after adventure and knowledge, a man who embraced many identities in his life: hunter, cowboy, writer, scientist, historian, explorer, reformer, politician, and, finally, president.

Roosevelt, or T.R. as he was known, invented the modern presidency. A man full of contradictions, he fought bravely in the Spanish-American War, but also proved himself a presidential peacemaker who averted wars by the skilful use of diplomacy and so won the Nobel Peace Prize. In retrospect, T.R. stands out as a unique American wonder, like Niagara Falls. But his story is larger than a one-of-a-kind personal journey from weakness to strength and accomplishment.

In fact, the broad scope of T.R.’s large life gives us clues about the grand historical dramas and conflicts of the era between the Civil War and World War I. In the decades after 1865 the US economy boomed. Wealthy Americans who invested wisely in factories and railroads grew richer than ever, while industrial workers and new immigrants struggled to survive, flocking to crowded cities where they competed for difficult jobs. American cities were plagued by dirt, chaos, and crime as their streets were ripped up to make way for new sites of manufacturing and trade. By 1890 the census showed that 9% of the population controlled 71% of the wealth, and by 1900, about three quarters of the American people qualified as poor. No wonder that populists, labor leaders, and socialists of many ideological stripes railed against the trusts and the problem of inequality.

As a boy in New York, T.R. grew up among the wealthiest and most exclusive segment of society. Despite his advantages he found urban life in the Gilded Age repellent and confining. Four years after he graduated from Harvard in 1880, T.R. went west searching for a new life free of the constraints of the industrializing east. He bought two ranches in the Dakota Territory and lived the life of a cowboy. His restlessness and his time as a cowpuncher belong to a historical moment after the Civil War when urban life felt hopelessly blighted and the tide of westward migration provoked the Sioux Wars and the killing of many Plains natives. On his Dakota ranches, T.R.’s cattle froze to death and he failed to turn a profit, but he wrote articles and then books for eastern audiences about the hazards and romance of his ranch life. In Hunting Trips of a Ranchman (1885), Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail (1888), Thomas Hart Benton (1887), The Wilderness Hunter (1893), and The Winning of the West (1889-1896), T.R. argued that the essence of being an American was having a fierce frontier spirit. He sought to kindle across class and regional lines a strong spirit of national renewal. By the 1890s, Roosevelt found literary celebrity among a vast readership of eastern urbanites longing for visions of escape and adventure.

When Roosevelt returned to New York in 1886, it was in the role of urban reformer at a time when corrupt party bosses won elections in part to give their followers jobs and collect political assessments from officeholders. T.R. believed that party hacks should not get government jobs; instead he wanted hiring to be based on civil service exams to raise the level of literacy and competence of government workers. Because of T.R.’s role in the emerging Civil Service reform movement President Benjamin Harrison appointed him a federal Civil Service Commissioner in 1889. In this role, he and other reformers expanded the number of jobs filled by exam rather than by party loyalty.

Shocked by reports that party bosses and the police were in cahoots with saloons and prostitution rings, New York City reformers formed new alliances in the early 1890s. Though women could not yet vote in New York, they joined reform groups such as the Woman’s Municipal League of New York and various good government groups to elect William Lafayette Strong, a reform mayor, in 1894. Mayor Strong brought T.R. back to New York as a police commissioner, where he worked to clean up the police department. T.R. soon pushed the Police Chief out of the department after discovering that he had accepted bribes at the same time he charged brothels and saloons protection money. T.R. also expanded and professionalised the police by giving his cops telephones, bicycles, fingerprinting, and photographic rogues’ galleries. In addition to his belief in law and order, T.R. wrote articles advocating laws to regulate housing to make it safer and more affordable, and called for rapid transit and parks for city-dwellers.

After serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and lobbying for American expansion and the Spanish-American War, T.R. ran for Governor of New York in 1899. Heeding the serious challenge that Democrat William Jennings Bryan had made to William McKinley in 1896 by railing against trusts, monopolies, and railroads, T.R. as governor won the passage of new factory-inspection and tenement house laws. T.R. believed that he had not gone far enough as a reformer, but his gubernatorial career was cut short in 1900 when New York’s Republican boss, Boss Platt pushed T.R. out of New York by arranging for him to become President McKinley’s Vice Presidential running mate. Then the vice presidency was seen as a dead end job rather than a political stepping stone. The McKinley-Roosevelt ticket won the election, but in 1901, an anarchist assassinated President McKinley and T.R. ascended to the presidency.

As President, Theodore Roosevelt had to deal with the dominant conservative wing of his party and a Congress hostile to reform. He took the reins of the presidency without much more of a plan than to emulate Abraham Lincoln’s wisdom and his ability to unite the nation. But legislation required the cooperation of Congress—and it was not readily won. T.R.’s legislative victories were modest but historic—a railroad regulation bill, a Meat Inspection Act, and a Pure Food and Drug Act which established federal responsibility for inspecting products to protect consumers. Roosevelt had better success using his presidency as a “bully pulpit,” popularising reform ideas among voters. He convinced a generation of Americans that government should be responsive to injustice. When he grew impatient with the executive-legislative give-and-take, he took bold executive action that did not require legislative cooperation. Most notably, he instructed his Justice Department to prosecute the Northern Securities holding company, charging it with monopolistic practices. He won the case when it came before the Supreme Court, earning the moniker of trust buster. He also made labor history. Although previous strikes had usually prompted presidents to side with management by sending federal troops to suppress strikers, in the Anthracite Coal Strike T.R. pressed management to negotiate with labor. He also used executive orders to protect forests, wildlife, the Grand Canyon, and other natural wonders and historic sites, thereby cementing his reputation as America’s greatest conservationist president.

T.R.’s evolution as a reformer did not end when he left the presidency in 1909, for he had been swept up in a tidal wave of progressive reform ideas. Influenced by a large network of women reformers, including settlement house founder Jane Addams, the Consumer League’s feisty Florence Kelley, and activists in the Women’s Trade Union League, T.R. endorsed state minimum wage laws and mother’s pensions (later Aid to Families with Dependent Children). When he ran for president in 1912 on the third party Bull Moose ticket he endorsed woman suffrage and the modern welfare state, i.e. unemployment, health, and old age insurance. Though he never returned to the White House, T.R. made his mark as an environmental and urban reformer, a man who reflected his times and their debates, but also a man who tried to face the future by promoting new causes. T.R.’s story then is not just a private tale of growth and change. Roosevelt the reformer remains one of the most fascinating personalities in American history.

From Howard Dalton, Pickering, North Yorkshire

Here are few bits I found in Australia:

CHARTERS TOWERS [ Queensland - Gold Country ]

James Dalton died 15/5/1891 aged 56 buried in the Pioneer Cemetery. His father was James Dalton and mother was Ann McGilvery and they were probably not married in Australia.

Anastasia Dalton died 3/11/1876 aged 2, buried in the Pioneer Cemetery.

CABARLAH [ Queensland ]

Michael Dalton died 2/9/1887 aged 28

MCKAY [ Queensland ]

Also three more deaths without details of age or place.

Harry James Dalton died 26/2/1902 son of John Thomas Dalton and Henrietta Roots
James Dalton died 22/10/1895 son of John Dalton and Mary OLeary
Robert James Dalton died 16/9/1899 son of Peter Dalton and Phoebe Alma Steel

John Dalton died 18/11/1929 aged 74.

Railway Estate State School, South Townsville, Queensland

1918 - Florence and Maud Dalton were pupils there, but only for that year. Unfortunately no ages are given.

Request for Family Data - Irish Gravestone Transcriptions

Do you have cemetery headstone transcriptions for any of the Irish Daltons in your family tree? Mike Dalton in Portland, Oregon is asking that members who may have visited cemeteries in Ireland and transcribed Dalton headstones, to please submit that information to him. Mike plans to build a new database for the Dalton Data Bank that will contain the Irish Cemetery information. This will be a great resource for anyone researching ancestors in Ireland. Please email Mike at mikedirp@teleport.com.

In November 2008, we launched a new feature for the DGS website, the Dalton Forum. A handful of members were recruited to try the Forum and provide their comments. The feedback has been very positive. We are now ready to announce the Forum to all members.

This feature is intended to help members communicate and share information on their Dalton lines and Dalton research.

Please go to: http://daltonamericas.org/messageboard/

You may read any posted messages without registering, but to post messages or to respond to a message, you will need to register. This is much like other message boards on the Internet. On the home page, just below the log-in block, you will see several dark blue tabs, click on 'Register '. Fill in the form by choosing a username and password and your email address. You will then receive an email back to the email address you registered with, with an activation link. After you click on that link your registration will be complete. You will then be able to post messages or reply to other member's posts. The registration requirement will eliminate spam or inappropriate postings.

There is a 'Help ' tab, if you need clarification on any features of the Forum. Please let me know if you have any difficulties with registration, or reading and posting messages. Email me at karen@golden-hills.com

When you visit the Dalton Forum, you will see that there are already several postings. As with any forum or message board, it will be most useful to the members if we get a good response and people actively use it.

David has been working to relocate the Dalton Data Bank to a web hosting service without advertisements and pop-ups http://www.daltondatabank.org

He has also added menu-driven links in a menu bar at the top of the page to make navigation easier. The existing navigation links have been retained, as they are currently implemented; you can use either.

I am also pleased to announce that the Dalton Data Bank now includes several recent updates to the data for the Republic of Ireland. This largely through the research efforts of member Mike Dalton in Portland, Oregon. Mike has contributed many new entries, and has also been reviewing the content, to provide corrections to the data that was previously posted.

The Home page of the Dalton Data Bank now contains information of 'Most Recently Updated ' pages to make members and other visitors aware of new contributions, without the need to actually search the pages for their area of interest.

We hope that members will visit both the Dalton Forum and the new Dalton Data Bank sites and give us their thoughts on these new services.

With Very Best Wishes for the coming Holiday Season!


Karen Dalton Preston
Assistant Secretary for North America

Thank you to all who have contributed to the December 2008 issue of “Daltons in History”.

In the November 2008 issue of "Daltons in History" Maureen Collins, the Australian Secretary, contributed a small article, from a friend of hers, re John Dalton, Atomic scientist. A fuller article has been published previously in "Daltons in History" by Millicent Craig, the American Secretary (Volume 2, 1999 - issues 6 and 7).

Some of you may like to consider contributing a short description of any Dalton-related travels you may have undertaken anywhere in the world - the Birr comments may give you some inspiration. Also members who are travelling to do research, visit a Dalton-connected site, or have made a connection to a distant cousin through the DGS. might be interested in letting other members know what they are doing through "Daltons in History". Photos from the travels would be nice, too. It would also be a way of helping members get to know each other a little better, and might help members who are widely dispersed geographically to feel a bit more connected.

Please continue to send to me any ideas for future articles and also keep looking for any information to include in the Dalton Strays section.

Mel and I would like to wish all members of the D.G.S. at home and overseas a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Contributions for the January 2009 issue need to be with me no later than 20th December 2008. (e-mail: dairneirwin@ntlworld.com).