The Biography of Henry (Harry) Dalton - Another Utah Pioneer

Henry (Harry) Dalton was the first son of John Dalton Jr. and Rebecca Turner Cranmer.

He was born on 10 Jan 1825 at the Dalton family homestead they called "Dalton Hollow" in Wysox, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. He grew up with three brothers and three sisters.

After a wonderful childhood in Wysox, he and the rest of the Dalton's packed their belongings and headed north-west to Washtenaw County, Michigan. After living in a little village named Freedom, Henry moved further west into Wisconsin where he and his brothers helped their father build another cabin. Then about 1842, this Dalton family, which totaled about 10 members, moved south to Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois. Here Henry joined the Mormon Church. The John Dalton Jr. homestead was a farm on the banks of the wide and beautiful Mississippi River. Then the troubles started for these Mormon's, with the locals demanding they leave Nauvoo. The hateful mobs finely forced them out of Nauvoo, but before Henry left,  he married Isabell Ferguson on 02 Feb 1846 in the Nauvoo Temple. A few days after this marriage, Henry and his new wife fled Nauvoo with his father's family and crossed the Mississippi River to start a new life in the west.

When Henry got to Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, he and his brother Edward and cousin Henry Simon Dalton joined the Mormon Battalion. His young wife crossed the plains to the Great Salt Lake Basin with her father-in-law.

He was a member of The Mormon Battalion (1846- 1848) Company D along with his brother Edward.  Cousin Henry Simon Dalton was a private in Company B.

Note: The history of the Mormon Battalion:

In July 1846, under the authority of U.S. Army Captain James Allen and with the encouragement of Mormon leader Brigham Young, the Mormon Battalion was mustered in at Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory. The battalion was t he direct result of Brigham Young's correspondence on 26 January 1846 to Jesse C. Little, presiding elder over the New England and Middle States

Mission. Young instructed Little to meet with national leaders in Washington, D.C., and to seek aid for the migrating Latter-day Saints, the majority of whom were then in the Iowa Territory. In response to Young's letter, Little journeyed to Washington, arriving on 21 May 1846, just eight days after Congress had declared war on Mexico.

Little met with President James K. Polk on 5 June 1846 and urged him to a id migrating Mormon pioneers by employing them to fortify and defend the W est. The president offered to aid the pioneers by permitting them to raise a battalion of five hundred men, who were to join Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, Commander of the Army of the West, and fight for the United States in the Mexican War. Little accepted this offer.

Colonel Kearny designated Captain James Allen, later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, to raise five companies of volunteer soldiers from the able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five in the Mormon encampments in Iowa. On 26 June 1846 Allen arrived at the encampment of Mt. Pisgah. He was treated with suspicion as many believed that the raising of a battalion was a plot to bring trouble to the migrating Saints.

Allen journeyed from Mt. Pisgah to Council Bluffs, where on 1 July 18 46 he allayed Mormon fears by giving permission for the Saints to encamp on United States lands if the Mormons would raise the desired battalion. Brigham Young accepted this, recognizing that the enlistment of the battalion was the first time the government had stretched forth its arm to a id the Mormons.

On 16 July 1846 some 543 men enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. From among these men Brigham Young selected the commissioned officers; they included Jefferson Hunt, Captain of Company A; Jesse D. Hunter, Captain of Company B; James Brown, Captain of Company C; Nelson Higgins, Captain of Company D; and Daniel C. Davis, Captain of Company E. Among the most prominent non-Mormon military officers immediately associated with the battalion march were Lt. Col. James Allen, First Lt. Andrew Jackson Smith, Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke, and Dr. George Sanderson. Also accompanying t he battalion were approximately thirty-three women, twenty of whom served as laundresses, and fifty-one children.

The battalion marched from Council Bluffs on 20 July 1846, arriving on 1 August 1846 at Fort Leavenworth (Kansas), where they were outfitted for their trek to Santa Fe. Battalion members drew their arms and accoutrement s, as well as a clothing allowance of forty-two dollars, at the fort. Since a military uniform was not mandatory, many of the soldiers sent their clothing allowances to their families in the encampments in Iowa..

The march from Fort Leavenworth was delayed by the sudden illness of Colon el Allen. Capt. Jefferson Hunt was instructed to begin the march to Santa Fe; he soon received word that Colonel Allen was dead. Allen's death caused confusion regarding who should lead the battalion to Santa Fe. Lt. A. J. Smith arrived from Fort Leavenworth claiming the lead, and he was chosen the commanding officer by the vote of battalion officers. The leadership transition proved difficult for many of the enlisted men, as they we re not consulted about the decision.

Smith and his accompanying surgeon, a Dr. Sanderson, have been described in journals as the "heaviest burdens" of the battalion. Under Smith's dictatorial leadership and with Sanderson's antiquated prescriptions, the battalion marched to Santa Fe. On this trek the soldiers suffered from excessive heat, lack of sufficient food, improper medical treatment, and forced long-distance marches.

The first division of the Mormon Battalion approached Santa Fe on 9 October 1846. Their approach was heralded by Col. Alexander Doniphan, who ordered a one-hundred-gun salute in their honor. At Santa Fe, Smith was relieved of his command by Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke. Cooke, aware of t he rugged trail between Santa Fe and California and also aware that one sick detachment had already been sent from the Arkansas River to Fort Pueblo in Colorado, ordered the remaining women and children to accompany the sick of the battalion to Pueblo for the winter. Three detachments consisting of 273 people eventually were sent to Pueblo for the winter of 1846- 47.

The yellow line marks the route Henry and he brother Edward took from Council Bluffs to Fort Pueblo and then onto S. L. C.

The remaining soldiers, with four wives of officers, left Santa Fe for California on 19 October 1846. They journeyed down the Rio Grande del Norte and eventually crossed the Continental Divide on 28 November 1846. While moving up the San Pedro River in present-day Arizona, their column was attacked by a herd of wild cattle. In the ensuing fight, a number of bulls we re killed and two men were wounded. Following the "Battle of the Bulls," the battalion continued their march toward Tucson, where they anticipated a possible battle with the Mexican soldiers garrisoned there. At Tucson, the Mexican defenders temporarily abandoned their positions and no conflict ensued.

On 21 December 1846 the battalion encamped on the Gila River. They crossed the Colorado River into California on 9 and 10 January 1847. By 29 January 1847 they were camped at the Mission of San Diego, about five miles from General Kearny's quarters. That evening Colonel Cooke rode to Kearny 's encampment and reported the battalion's condition. On 30 January 1847 Cooke issued orders enumerating the accomplishments of the Mormon Battalion. "History may be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry. Ha lf of it has been through a wilderness where nothing but savages and wild beasts are found, or deserts where, for lack of water, there is no living creature."

During the remainder of their enlistment, some members of the battalion we re assigned to garrison duty at either San Diego, San Luis Rey, or Ciudad de los Angeles. Other soldiers were assigned to accompany General Kearny back to Fort Leavenworth. All soldiers, whether en route to the Salt Lake Valley via Pueblo or still in Los Angeles, were mustered out of the United States Army on 16 July 1847. Eighty-one men chose to reenlist and serve an additional eight months of military duty under Captain Daniel C. Davis in Company A of the Mormon Volunteers. The majority of the soldiers migrated to the Salt Lake Valley and were reunited with their pioneering families.

The men of the Mormon Battalion are honored for their willingness to fight for the United States as loyal American citizens. Their march of some 2 ,000 miles from Council Bluffs to California is one of the longest military marches in history. Their participation in the early development of California by building Fort Moore in Los Angeles, building a courthouse in S an Diego, and making bricks and building houses in southern California contributed to the growth of the West.

Following their discharge, many men helped build flour mills and sawmills in northern California. Some of them were among the first to discover gold at Sutter's Mill. Men from Captain Davis's Company A were responsible for opening the first wagon road over the southern route from California to Utah in 1848.

Historic sites associated with the battalion include the Mormon Battalion Memorial Visitor's Center in San Diego, California; Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial in Los Angeles, California; and the Mormon Battalion Monument in Memory Grove, Salt Lake City, Utah. Monuments relating to the battalion are also located in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, and trail markers have been placed on segments of the battalion route.

Harry and his brother Edward  was taken sick along the long march and was assigned to the sick battalion and went to Pueblo, Colorado for the winter. This detachment of the Mormon Battalion arrived in the Salt Lake Valley and were greeted by Brigham Young on July 29, 1847.

Harry Dalton settled on land  near the present day Liberty Park on block 32, Lot 2, which bordered between fourth south and fifth south and between sixth east and seventh east. The other Dalton families settled next door, with his father, John Jr., on Lot 4, uncle Charles on Lot 5, and his brother Edward Dalton on Lot 3.

This Dalton family as a group helps build the S. L. Temple by supplying labor where ever it was needed.

The following are the names of the officers and privates who joined the Lot Smith Company in Salt Lake City, April 30, 1862, during the Civil War years:

Teamsters:

Henry Dalton, others.

Henry's father, John Dalton Jr. in the fall of 1862 was called to on a mission in Southern Utah by Brigham Young to raise cotton.  John Dalton Jr. then sold his house in Salt Lake City and first settled in Parowan, Iron Co. Utah. Henry Dalton soon followed him south. After living in a few places he didn't like, in 1871 he finally settled in Annabelle, Utah.

The first two family's to settle in Annabelle, Utah were of Harry Dalton and Joseph Powell.

Annabelle was named after Ann S. Roberts, wife of Edward K. Roberts, and Isabella Dalton, wife of Harry Dalton, two of the first women settlers of the place. Harry Dalton settled in the Sevier Valley in the spring of 1871, taking up the springs (with adjacent land) which afterwards became known as Annabelle Springs. Henry Dalton built the first log cabin there in the summer of 1871, and soon afterwards brought his family out. Other settlers arrived the same year. An irrigation ditch was commenced and many improvements made, though only a limited crop of grain was raised in 1871 by irrigating from the Annabelle Springs.

1880 United States Federal Census

Name:            Henry Dalton

Home in 1880: Annabella, Sevier, Utah

Age: 60

Estimated birth year: abt 1820

Birthplace: Pennsylvania

Relation to Head of Household: Self (Head)

Father's birthplace: Pennsylvania

Mother's birthplace: Pennsylvania

Marital Status:          Widower

Race: White

Gender: Male

Household Members:       

Henry Dalton 60

Isaac Dalton 10

Edward Dalton 7

Henry Dalton invested in mining shares recorded below.

First Recorded Mining Deed (Piute County Deeds and Mining Records, Book 1, Page 1)

Golden Curry Lead or Lode located in Ohio District North of Virginia City and running 3000 feet north west from north in the Curry Canyon. One hundred feet from the Curry dump pile south. Claiming all privileges granted by the United States Mining laws located by J. Hess March 23 A.D. 1868:

Harry Dalton 25 feet

Filed for Record Sept 7 1868

Jacob Hess County Recorder

Henry “Harry” Dalton was another of our Dalton family members to lead and lived a long, hard and dangerous life. He was another true Utah pioneer. 

Henry Dalton lived to the old age of 81, when he died on 03 Feb 1906 in Kanosh, Millard Co. Utah.  He is buried in the Kanosh, Millard Co. Utah Cemetery.

Official LDS Church records for Henry (Harry) Dalton:

Dalton, Henry or Dalton, Harry - Birth: Dalton, Harry - Date: January 10, 1825 - Place: Wysox, Bradford, P A.

Parents: Dalton, Harry - Father: Dalton, John II - Mother: Cranmer, Rebecca Turner

Death: Dalton, Harry - Date: February 3, 1905 - Place: Annabella, Sevier, U T, USA

Buried: Annabella, Sevier, UT.

Marriage Information: Dalton, Harry - Spouse: Fergeson, Isabella Date: 1850

Children: Dalton, Harry

1. Dalton, Amanda Delihah     May 10, 1850         Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, UT.

2. Dalton, Melissa Jane  April 6, 1852        Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, UT.

3. Dalton, Daniel Henry  December 15, 1853      Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, UT.

4. Dalton, John William  January 1, 1855           Parowan, Iron, UT.

5. Dalton, Orson Nephi   April 29, 1858       Parowan, Iron, UT.

6. Dalton, Albert Alonzo March 25, 1860       Parowan, Iron, UT.

7. Dalton, Susan                    February 26, 1862        Kanosh, Iron, UT.

8. Dalton, Ebenezer Amasa     May 7, 1863          Parowan, Iron, UT.

9. Dalton, Isaac Ferguson     December 6, 1869          Kanosh, Iron, UT.

10. Dalton, Edward Milton     September 30, 1873      Annabella, Sevier, U T.

Marriage Number 2 Dalton, Harry. - Spouse: Brunyer, Sarah - Date: January 7, 1855

Temple Ordinance Data: Dalton, Harry. - Baptism - Date: March 31, 1964 - Temple: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, UT.

Endowment Date: February 2, 1846   Temple: Nauvoo, Hancock, IL.

Sealed to Parents   Date: March 31, 1959     Temple: Manti, Sanpete, UT.

Sealed to Spouse    Date: April 2, 1854                

Temple: Endowment House in Salt Lake City

Places of Residence: Dalton, Harry -   

Davis County, UT, USA  1850

Vocations: Dalton, Harry. -   Farmer

Comments: Dalton, Harry was a Private in Company B of the Mormon Battalion.

Harry was listed on the Daily Log of Persons in Nauvoo.

In 1850, Harry had a household of 9 with $900 in real wealth.  In 1870, Harry had a household of 12 with $200 in real wealth and $2 75 in personal wealth.

THE END