Genesee-Clinton County MI Archives Biographies.....Dayton, John C. 1837 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 23, 2007, 12:56 am Author: Chapman Bros. (1892) JOHN C. DAYTON. To our subject it is believed belongs the distinction of being the second oldest person now living in Genesee County, who is a native of this county. He is a whole-souled and sunny-tempered man who has a kindly word for everyone. He is proprietor of the Dayton House, one of the first-class hotels of the city, and is ex-Mayor of the city. He was born in Grand Blanc, October 28, 1837. He is a son of Jonathan and Maria (Upham) Dayton. The father was a native of Rutland County, Vt., and was a son of Daniel Dayton, a New England farmer, as was our subject's father. Jonathan Dayton was married in Vermont, and in 1819 located at Avon, N. Y., and was there engaged in farming until 1828. He came to Michigan as a pioneer, being accompanied hither by three families who came from Detroit by team, cutting their road as they came along. Mr. Dayton, Sr., purchased Government land in the center of Grand Blanc Township, and began life in a log house as a pioneer. The family home was afterward built of square hewed logs, and was the finest house in the county at that time. It was located on the old Detroit turnpike. Later they built the first frame dwelling house in the county. They improved the farm, and about 1864 our subject's father retired from active labor, making his home in Flint until his death, in 1875, being at the time seventy-nine years of age. He was a Whig originally, and later became an ardent Republican. In his religious creed he was an Episcopalian and both he and his wife were charter members of the first Episcopal Church in the county, he being a Vestryman and Leader for many years. Our subject's mother belonged to a family noted for its longevity. Her father, Joseph Upham, lived to be nearly one hundred years old, and his mother lived to be one hundred and five years old. Mrs. Dayton died in Flint in 1871. His father was thrice married. The first union resulted in the birth of one child, who died. By the second marriage he was the father of three children, and by the third marriage two children. Our subject and Helena, Mrs. H. C. Van Dusen, of Chicago, were the children of this last-named marriage. J. C. Dayton learned the rudiments of farming while at home. He attended the district school during the winters, and gave his attention to his farm labor during the summer. He has drawn wheat to Pontiac, a distance of twenty-eight miles, and sold it there for fifty cents a bushel. For a great many years the Indians received their payment from the Government in a log school-house located on our subject's farm, the agent being J. Frazier, of Saginaw. From the time he was twenty-two he worked a farm on shares, but in 1865 he left it and removed to St. John's, where he became engaged in the manufacture of crackers with J. M. Frisbie. Three years later he bought out his partner and continued the business alone, it being very extensive for those days, handling from $28,000 to $30,000 per year. While at St. John's he served his village as Trustee for two terms. In 1872 he sold out the business, and located in Flint. After returning to this city, our subject dealt principally in horses until October, 1880, when he purchased the Dayton House. It was then known as the Brotherton House, and was built about 1875. It has one of the finest sites in the city, and is located on the west side of Detroit Street. It is a first-class hotel, and caters largely to the commercial trade, the traveling men being most appreciative of its comfortable quarters. Mr. Dayton was married in Grand Blanc October 20, 1859, to Miss Jenny E. Wolverton, a native of Saratoga County, N. Y., and a daughter of Dennis Wolverton. Mrs. Dayton was educated in Rochester, N. Y., where her father was Manager for the Rochester House. In 1886 our subject served as Alderman for a short time in the place of H. C. Walker, and in 1888 he was elected Mayor of Flint on the Republican ticket. Although not himself professing a formal creed, he has the greatest regard for churches and especially that to which his wife belongs—the Episcopal. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Portrait and Biographical Record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola Counties, Michigan, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State, and of the Presidents of the United States Chicago: Chapman Bros. 1892 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/genesee/bios/dayton894gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/ File size: 5.0 Kb