compiled by Millicent V. Craig

An Open Response - Links to the first Irish Dalton. Since there have been a number of similar queries that have arrived on your editor's desk in the U. S. and on the desk of our researcher in England, this general reply covers all.

Unless you can make an ancestral connection from the States to Ireland, it is almost impossible to make a connection to the alleged first Walter Dalton/De Aliton in Ireland. There are at least 25 generations between Walter and the Daltons born in the US toward the end of the 18th Century and the beginning of the 19th Century. You first must establish the Irish County of origin of your emigrant ancestor, and even then it is quite difficult to trace the family line in Ireland because of the absence of records. The titled, professionals and landowners left a document trail but these were not generally the categories of Daltons who emigrated. We can point you in the direction of records that could be useful, but the County of emigration must be first established. Be aware that a second line of Daltons existed in Ireland and was headed by Roger Dalton of Yorkshire, England who settled in Waterford. (Next month - one way to bridge the gap).

Queries

Matthew John Dalton is now living in Cologne, Germany. He writes that he was born in Madrid, New York and grew up in the St. Lawrence River Valley between Ogdensburg and Massena. Response: We immediately recognized that he was part of the family of DGS member Daveda Bundy whose Madrid ancestor settled in Utah. Matthew sent a chart of his immediate family that will be published later. If you are a member of the large Irish family from Madrid you may contact Matthew. E-mail: mdalton59@aol.com

Jeannette Blankenship of Oregon is looking for information about Suzanne Clarissa Dalton born about 1795 and married to Thomas Fullilove Bennet. Her parents were William Dalton and Winnifred Foster. Any additional information about the family - pictures, journals, etc. would be welcome. E-mail: soquala@cdsnet.net

Doc Hurt of Roanoke, VA seeks information on the Daltons in Pittsylvania County, VA and Campbell County, VA. His grandfathr and grandmother were buried in Pittsylvanis County. They were William Edward "Ed" Dalton and Leila Thomas Dalton. When his mother moved to Campbell County in the early 1930's she lived with an uncle named Ed Dalton. He may have been his grandmother's brother. Doc welcomes any information that you may have on this family. E-mail: dochurt@worldnet.att.net

Joseph Dalton is from Irvine, Ayrshire Scotland. His father Robert Alexander Dalton had five brothers - Joseph, John, James, George, William. They lived at Irvine Harbour.
Response: A search of the 1881 Census of Great Britain showed that only two Daltons in Scotland were associated with Irvine Harbour. The given names were similar to the names above and also contained a daughter, Euphemia. Joseph had just started searching for his family after the recent death of his mother. The name, Euphemia, he states is also the given name of his sister and he feels certain now that pending further investigation, these are his long lost ancestors. E-mail; jospeh@dalton82.freeserve.co.uk

Linda Mosley is descended from Samuel Dalton Sr., b. about 1699 in Rockingham County, VA and who was married to Anne Redd in 1730. Linda is new to genealogy and if any of the many descendents of Samuel and Anne have been able to scale the brick wall and obtain documentation of Samuel's ancestry, please be in touch with Linda. E-mail - gayle201@shighway.com

Susan Young of Victoria, Texas is looking for research on the Dalton family that moved to and lived in Texas. She would like to know from whence they came. E-mail: youngsusan1@cs.com
Merryl Wells of Luton, England seeks information on Mary Ann Wells who was born in London and was married to a C. Dalton by 1871 when her mother died. She was mentioned in the will as Mary Ann Dalton. She may have gone to Africa as her siblings did or may have stayed in London in the East End. E-mail: merryl.wells@one-name.org

Vern Broadfield is looking for the parents of Samuel Dalton, born June 30, 1792 in Pittsylvania, VA and died Sept 18, 1863. He married Saludy Mustain on 27 July 1809 in Pittsylvania. If you have information contact Vern. E-mail: Vern39@cs.com

Maria del Rosario Suarez Doriga of Argentina has responded to the web site series "Argentinian Daltons". Maria found her ancestors in the articles and has supplied additional family data in the hopes that some one will recognize the family and make a connection to her Daltons in County Westmeath, Ireland. Maria has sent a correction to the printed data. Santiago Dalton, son of Christopher Dalton and Ellen Molloy married Luisa Bracken, and Christopher Dalton, brother of Santiago married Jeromina S. (Santiago was Maria's mother's grandfather). Children of Santiago Dalton and Luisa Bracken were born in Venado Tuerto, Province of Santa Fe.
1. Santiago Dalton married Amalia Gonzalez and had children Luis and Hector Dalton. Hector married Sara Giraldo and had two children, Teresita and Mabel.
2. Maria Elena Dalton married Carlos Castoldi and had three children; Carlos, Alfredo and Alicia Castoldi.
3. Cristobal Dalton married Molly Dunne and had three children; Carlos, Marta and Susana Dalton.
4. Juan Dalton married Ema Lusenhoff and had three children; Norberto, Nancy and Alfredo Dalton.
5. Catalina Dalton married Ricardo Lamarca and had one child, Emilio Lamarca 6. Alfredo Dalton married Elvira Cagide (no issue).
7. Luisa Dalton married Mr. Dumphy and had four children; Maria Ines, Josefina, Roberto and Jose Dumphy.
8. Alberto Dalton married Maria Elena Piedras and had three children; Alberto (1935-1998), Susana b. 1941, and Maria Elena Dalton b. in 1945 (and Maria's mother) and married Carlos Suarez Doriga. They had two children; Carlos Suarez Doriga b. 1974 and Maria (the writer) born in 1980.

We are deeply grateful to Maria for adding to the Argentinian Dalton data bank and hope that this ancestral information is recognized by other Westmeath Daltons. Maria's E-mail: thedaltonfox@mail.com

Jay Perez of Mexico seeks information on Guillermo Dalton, reportedly from the Los Angeles area who practiced medicine around the mining camps of Sinaloa and Durango. Guillermo had three children by a Mexican woman, Celsas. They were Conception, Virginia and Guillermo, Jr.
Guillermo Jr. left to visit relatives in Los Angeles and was not heard from again. Does anyone recognize a Dr. William (Guillermo) Dalton from Los Angeles?
E-mail:carmin8@hotmail.com

Compiled by Michael Cayley

Holy Trinity, Goodmansgate, York 1573-1812

Births/Baptisms
10/6/1601 Thomas Sawton, son of (blank) Dawton, gentleman, baptised
16/10/1759 William Dalton, son of Richard Dalton of Delpike, bricklayer, and Mary, baptised
26/8/1762 Richard, son of Richard Dalton of Delpike, bricklayer, and Mary, baptised
26/1/1766 Mary, Daughter of Richard Dalton of Delpike, bricklayer and Mary, baptised
11/9/1768 Ann Dalton, daughter of Richard Dalton of Delpike and his wife, Mary, baptised
12/7/1771 Jane Dalton, daughter of Richard and Mary Dalton of Delpike baptised
3/3/1776 Henry, son of Richard and Mary Dalton, baptised
27/17/1788 Catherine and Mary, twin Daughters of William and his wife, Mary nee Taylor, born and baptised
13/1/1791 Ralphy Van Dyck Dalton, first child of Richard Dalton, son of Richard and Mary Dalton, and Mary Vandyck, alias Nandyck daughter of Ralph and Mary Vandyck, born- baptised 3/5/1807
16/4/1794 Ann, third daughter of William Dalton, bricklayer and Mary born - baptised 20/4/1794
13/8/1795 Mary Ann Dalton, second child and first daughter of Richard Dalton and Mary daughter of Ralph and Mary Vandyck alias Nandyck, born - baptised 3/5/1807
2/1/1796 Robert Dolman Dalton, first son and fourth child of William Dalton, bricklayer and his wife, Mary, nee Taylor, born- baptised 23/7/1796
24/1/1797 Mary Catherine Dalton, duaghter of William Dalton and Mary, nee Taylor, born - baptised 233/1/1798
15/7/1798 William Dolman Dalton, second son and sixthh child of William Dalton, bricklayer, and Mary nee Taylor, born - baptised 14/12/1798
15/6/1800 Jane Dolman Dalton, seventh child and fifth daughter of William Dalton, bricklayer and Mary nee Taylor, born - baptised 12/8/1800
7/4/1802 Richard Dolman Dalton, third son and eighth child of William Dalton, bricklayer and Mary nee Taylor, born - baptised the same day
23/11/1806 Henry Robert Dolman Dalton, ninth child and fourth son of William Dalton, bricklayer, and Mary nee Taylor, baptised - born 5/5/1806
2/3/1809 Thomas Dalton, first child of William Dalton, flax dresser (son of Thomas and Rachel Dalton of Holy Trinity) by wife Jane, daughter of Thomas and Ann Weadley, born - baptised 26/3/1809

Marriages/Witnesses
24/2/1700 John Dalton and Mary Jackson
13/4/1705 Darcy Dalton of Hawkshead and Jane Hall of York
18/10/1729 Joseph Burton of St. Helen's and Mary Dalton of St. John Delpike
7/12/1787 William Dalton, plasterer and Mary Taylor
3/11/1791 John Dalton and Sarah Jackson witnessed the marriage of George Jackson (tailor) of St. John Delpike and Ann Clough
25/10/1801 Henry Dalton of this parish, combmaker, and Sarah Middleton of St. Peter's in Little. Witnesses were William Dalton, John Middleton, Mary Dalton.

Burials
18/2/1605 Theophany Dalton, late wife of William Dalton
18/2/1605 Catheran Dalton, daughter of William Dalton
10/9/1770 Ann Dalton, a child
14/4/1773 Jane Dalton, a child
8/11/1789 Caherine Dalton
18/3/1790 Mary Dalton
17/9/1802 Thomas Dalton, age 24
15/4/1804 Mary Dalton, age 76

The above records were extracted by Michael Cayley, DGS librarian, from the
files of the Society of Genealogists (SOG).

In succeeding months there will be printed the BMD's of Holy Trinity, King's Court (otherwise Christ Church), York. (Part II).

It will be followed by a set of records from several York parishes. (Part III). E-mail: cayley@lineone.net

from Millicent V. Craig

To try and give credence to the "legend" of Walter and Jane DeAliton, the alleged founders of the Irish Dalton line, your American editor spent time in August at the British Library in London examining manuscripts that might shed some light on this family.

We began with tracing the references in a manuscript that was found in the effects of a British gentleman and donated to the Dalton Genealogical Society. It was undated and the author was unknown. However there were a few annotations that seemed worthy of further study.

The manuscript states that Philip, son of Walter and Jane, had founded a Cistercian monastery
at Kibbegain in Meath in the year 1150 and it was located in County Westmeath. It also stated that his mother, Jane, had founded a convent under the Augustinians. Both references were to be found in the works of Jacob Warrei Monasticon. Sir James Ware was born in Dublin and his father was Councillor General of Ireland. Sir James had collected bits of manuscripts dating from the 5th Century in Ireland and his collections are in the British Library and elsewhere.

A search of several pertinent documents of this period revealed no such reference. What did yield information was "Medieval Religious Houses, Ireland" by Aubrey Gwynn and R. Neville Hocock, Longman Group Ltd., London, 1976. This is an impressive compendium and the following is quoted from the reference. However Kilbeggan, rather than Kibbegain is the name given and one wonders whether this is the same monastery.

"Kilbeggan (Benedictio Dei). Ware and others have mistaken the Abbey Benedictio Dei for Abbeyshrule whereas papal letters prove that it was Kilbeggan. It was colonized in 1150 from Mellifont* and thought to have been founded by the Mac Coghlans.** In 1160 Catharneigh, great priest of Clonmacnois, died here in the novitiate of a monk Melaghlin Mac Coghlan, prince of Delvin, died in pilgrimage to the abbey in 1213. In 1217, the abbey received a penance for being involved in the 'riot of Jerpoint'. Abbot Mac Coghlan died in 1217 and in the same year Roderick and Melaghlen, sons of Mac Coghlan died in the abbey."

The description went on to list the abbots and political struggles for the land until the 16th Century when the abbey and church ruins were seized with its lands (over 800 acres) and became the King's property. There were no references to Daltons being involved in the history of the abbey. The site of this abbey can now be located through the grant of the lands to Robert Dillon in 1569.

The Augustinian convent, according to the manuscript in the DGS possession, was founded by Jane but cannot be substantiated from Augustinian records. Identified only as Beata Maria, there are no Augustinian records that survived to support this claim. The establishment of Augustinian convents in Ireland was a brief lasting phenomenom. DGS member K. T. Mapstone made a separate query to the biographer of Augustinian priests, Father David Kelly. He found no evidence of a Beata Maria Convent in Westmeath.

Also in the document is the note that the story of Walter and Jane and their descendency is registered in the Herald's Office of Ireland and is founded on "tradition". This of course means that there is no documentation. Sagas may be the only sources and we have yet to uncover them.

Returning to the manuscript, there are some deductions to be made. Had Philip De Aliton founded the abbey in 1150, it would likely have meant that he was at the age of majority. That means he would have been born before1129 and that his parents married before that date. It would place Walter's birth close to 1100. It then becomes rather unlikely that Walter at 70 years of age was one of the knights who accompanied Henry II on his invasion of Ireland in 1172. Lucy Slater is checking the contingents who arrived in Ireland with Strongbow and if Walter appears in that roll, we will certainly inform you. So who was Walter De Aliton and from whence did he arrive in Ireland? If you have any ideas for further searching, please contact Millicenty@aol.com

* Mellifont. Mellifont formed a branch of the Order of Citeaux. There were several Irish monks in this branch who did not conform to the strict discipline of the French monks. He established several monasteries in Ireland..
** Murchard O'Mcloghlin was ruler of Meath.

For those who want to take up the search, these are the volumes that have already been checked and yielded nothing.
1. Survey of forfeited estates in County Meath (ff 9-170b)
2. Yelverton MS. 16 - Ireland
ff. 1-47 - (ii) Ireland ff 20-31b
ff 48-123 Collections de rebus Hibernicia 1131-1539
3. Stowe - The Annals of Ireland in the time of Henry II by Sir James Ware ending 1180, paper ff 41.
4. Milles Collection Vol. XXXIX, Item 10, Annals of Ireland 1308-1310, 1316 - 1317.

In addition several other volumes were inspected and there was not a single reference to the name De Aliton or Dalton in any of them.

Addendum. Since researching this topic, Ciaran Dalton of Ireland and K. T. Mapstone of US have continued the search and may have some promising developments to report in a future issue of "Daltons in History".

by Millicent V. Craig

Historically, the United States has given short shrift to the Mexican American War known in the U. S. as its "Westward Expansion". Over the past fifteen years, historians in the U. S. and Ireland have researched a specific aspect of the war, the role of Saint Patrick's Battalion or San Patricios, deserters from the American ranks to the Mexican Army. These men are heroes in Mexico and honored annually. Ireland now celebrates the San Patricios where they have been accorded national celebrity status. And of course, a Dalton was among the deserters.

Background
In 1845, the U. S. Army under General Zachary Taylor marched 180 miles across Texas and moved into position on the east bank of the Rio Grande River. These troops were subject to the harshest conditons: living in pup tents in winter and in summer; fighting off rattlesnakes and scorpions; fending for themselves for food; little pay; and with one spiritual advisor for thousands of men.

Conditions were ripe for desertions. On the other side of the Rio Grande was the lively town of Matamoros, Mexico. Music from the cantinas and religious festivals could be heard across the river in the American encampment. One Sunday morning, Private John Riley requested permission from his officer to attend Catholic Mass in Matamoros. Riley received permission, crossed the river and never returned. Thus was born the San Patricios.

The Unit
Riley was born in Clifden, County Galway, Ireland c. 1815. He had a wife and child and had enlisted in the British Army, c. 1841. Seventeen months later in 1843, while stationed in eastern Canada, he deserted. He reportedly was a non-commissioned officer in an artillery unit. Riley found his way to northern Michigan where he worked intermittently for two years. He then enlisted in the U. S. Army at Fort Mackinac on 5 Sep 1845 for a term of five years. In two days his regiment left for Texas and within four months he was on the Rio Grande border. Riley obtained a pass to cross the river on 12 April 1846 to attend Mass. After defecting, he joined ranks with General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Mexican Army at a pay hike of $57 a month compared with $7 a month as a U. S. Army private. The General promised each defector large parcels of land when the war was over. He was successful in attracting many defectors and the ranks swelled to 42 men with Riley in command. They reportedly were not all of Irish descent but included British Army deserters and men of many nationalities living in Mexico.

Second in command was Patrick Dalton who was born c. 1824 in the Barony of Tirawley, near Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. Dalton too had joined the British Army and was stationed in Canada. He deserted and came into New York State where he enlisted in the U. S. Army at Madison Barracks on 2 Aug 1845. Since the U. S. Army did not accept deserters, both men (and many others) altered their vital statistics. After 14 months as a private in the U. S. Army, Dalton deserted from Company B, Second Regiment of Infantry, on 23 Oct 1846 while based at Camargo on the Rio Grande. Dalton's desertion occurred after the U. S. had declared war on Mexico. He was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Mexican Army and later, as the unit expanded, was made a Captain in charge of one of the San Patricio companies. By this time, July 1847, the number of San Patricios had increased to over 200 and thus comprised two batallions of 100 men each. They included 43 Americans and six black slaves as well as other
foreigners who swelled the ranks. The Battalion had its own military standard embroidered by the nuns of San Luis Potosi. It was a large green silk flag with the image of St. Patrick on one side and a shamrock and golden harp of Erin on the reverse side, surrounded by Mexico's Coat of Arms.

The U. S. declared war on Mexico on 13 May 1846 and as the U. S. Army advanced into Mexico, the San Patricios fought gallantly. From Matamoros, to Monterry, near Saltillo, Buena Vista and on south, the San Patricios stood their ground and were praised by General Santa Anna. Finally, in the southward advance they took cover in a fortified monastery in Churubusco, near Mexico City. In this battle the San Patricios suffered many casualties for they were out numbered by the U. S. Army. The remaining San Patricios surrendered. Riley and Dalton were among them.

Trials and Punishments
After the Armistice on August 23, 1847, two courts-martial were set up near Mexico City to try the San Patricio prisoners. Testimony of the U. S. Army deserters claimed that they had been forced into the San Patricio unit under threat of death. Dalton described how he had been captured by two Mexican horsemen and brought before General Santa Anna and asked to join the Artillery.

He knew that his life was in danger if he did not join. Others reported how Riley and Dalton had received authority from General Santa Anna to take the clothes of foreigners and others and force them to don the Mexican Army uniform. Riley himself claimed that he was kidnapped when he crossed the Rio Grande. In the end few escaped punishment. Fourteen were to be whipped and branded, Riley among them. They were stripped to the waist and lashed 50 times by an experienced muleteer. Riley and others were branded with a D on each side of the face. Riley's life was spared because his desertion occurred prior to the declaration of war. These men were also assigned to dig the graves of those who were hanged.

Captain Patrick Dalton was among those sentenced to be hanged and actually choked to death on the gallows. He and six others made their confessions to a Catholic priest and were buried in consecrated ground. Dalton was buried in Tlaquepaque Cemetery outside the village of San Angel. The remainder were buried under the gallows.

Those who were spared roamed Mexico as men without a country. After years of negotiating with the Mexican Government for back Army pay, Riley's claim was settled and he reportedly left the country.

Editor's Note: For a truly objective and factual presentation of the San Patricios and U. S. involvement in the Mexican War, I recommend the book, "Shamrock and Sword" by Professor Robert Ryal Miller, University of CA at Hawyard, who spent two years researching the topic. This book was published in 1989 and may be obtained through interlibrary loan.