SECOND GENERATION

2. Henry Levi DALTON Sr. was born on 10 Mar 1750 in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Several uncertainties surround the birth of Henry Dalton, beginning with his name. He is sometimes referred to as Dorton. He was born in either 1748 or 1750, depending upon the old or the new calendar being used by England and the English speaking world until about 1750. His birth was either March 8, 1748 (old caldendar) or March 10, 1750 (new calendar).

It is important to remember that in 1752, an eleven-day calendar change was made, eliminating the extra days that had crept into the Julian calendar since its establishment by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII ordered that the extra days be dropped from the calendar. He also decreed that January 1st would be the beginning of the new year, rather than March 25th.

The Julian calendar was used throughout most of the Middle Ages in Europe. Its inaccuracy amounts to about three days in every four centuries, so by the time the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582, calendar dates were ahead of actual time by ten days. Since actual time is the time it takes the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun (a year), eventually the summer months would have come in winter and vice versa, if the calendar had been left uncorrected.

Why did it take until 1752 to make the change decreed in 1582? Roman Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar in or shortly after 1582. The Greek church did not approve the calendar revision at all, and consequently Greece, Bulgaria, and Russia were on the Old Style calendar until the time of the first World War, when they were thirteen days ahead of sun time. England, as a conservative Protestant nation, stubbornly refused to make the change, although many Englishmen and American Colonists informally followed the new calendar. By the time an Act of Parliament passed acceptance of the Gregorian calendar in 1751, the old calendar was eleven days ahead of sun time, so the Act provided that in 1752, the second day of September should be followed by the fourteenth day of September. In other words, what would have been September 3rd was called the 14th, with eleven days being dropped from the year.

Before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, it is more difficult to tell the year of birth of a child born in January, February, or March. Was the baby born in the new year or the old year? In England and her colonies, this led to a system of "double dating." A child born in January 1702 (using the Gregorian calendar) would be recorded as born in January 1701/2 by the parents, reflecting both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. This practice continued in the British colonies until England formally adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752.

March Court August 1750 Frederick County Maryland: The August Court met on the 3rd Tuesday the 21st of Aug 1750. "Henry Dalton a Mulatto (sic) tis said aged 6 months the 8th of Sept next is by the court are bound to Samuel Pruit and his assigns until he arrives at the age of 31(sic) years, and that Samuel Pruit in court here obliges himself to give the said Henry Dalton at the expiration of his time of servitude freedom dues according to the customs of the country."

Samuel Pruit's will dated Jan 3, 1760 to 29 Apr 1760 and probated 1761: "My son Samuel Pruitt shall have Henry Dalton for his own during the remaining pert (sic) of his indenture if any, that is to say if my wife shall die before the said Henry Dalton shall reach the age of 31. The boy to be the property of my son Samuel. Pruitt after my wife's death."

He was passed on to the Pruitt son by the will. Two years later (1771) he was released from servitude at age 21. Two years after gaining his freedom, according to military records, he lived near Redstone settlement, Pennsylvania; later again in the Bladensburg, Maryland area.


He died on 11 Jun 1836 in Monogahalia County, Virginia. Henry Dalton was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, having been drafted into the Continental Army. He served three tours of duty. He entered the service first from Redstone settlement in Pennsylvania. The third time, he was drafted about May of 1781 after he returned to the Bladensburg, Maryland area. He was attached to a unit under Captain Cross. He was discharged in late 1781 and returned to the Bladensburg area.


He was buried in near the "old Clinton Furnace". He was also known as Henry Dorton and Henry Dolton.
Henry Dorton [sic] was taxed in the James Daugherty's district of Monongalia County, Virginia during 1789 and listed as paying the tax calculated on one male and one horse. In 1791, 1792 and 1793 he was again taxed in Monogahalia County, Virginia in Hugh McNeely's district. In 1794 he was taxed in Nathan Springer's district and in Joseph Trickett's district during 1796, 1797 and in 1798. In the 1798 tax records, he is linked with John Henton but the link is never explained.

By 1803 Henry's tax burden has grown, he is then listed in Trickett's district with two males and by 1805 is in Alexander Brandon's district with two males and one horse while his son Levy Dorton [sic] living close by is also being taxed.

In the 1810 tax record of Brandon's appeared John Dolton [sic], William Hill. All of these entried are noted as "A man of Colour." The next year the following are all specified as "of color"; Henry Dorton [sic], Levi Dorton [sic], John Dorton [sic], Joseph Hill, James Hill, Sr., William Hill, James Hill, Jr., and John Parsons.

During 1812 Peter Culbison [sic] and Henry Dolton, Jr. appeared in Charles Byrn's district and 1813 more members of the family appeared on the tax rolls: Chas Hamilton, Willmer Male [sic] Senior and Junior, and William Sizer. In 1814 Hugh Kenady's [sic] name is added to the list.

The 1816 tax rolls of Mononagalia County, Virginia expanded by include William Cook, Willmore Cook, Hesekiah Cook, Jaccent Goens [sic], and Joel Goens [sic], while retaining the Daltons, Males, Hills, and Parsons. They all were included in Charles Byrn's district under the title of " free Negro 16 and upward "

He was married to Eleanor RUSSELL on 4 Jun 1781 in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Eleanor RUSSELL died after 12 Dec 1837. Henry Levi DALTON Sr. and Eleanor RUSSELL had the following children:

+3 i. Levi DALTON.
+4 ii. Nancy Anne DALTON.
+5 iii. Polly DALTON.
+6 iv. John DALTON.
+7 v. Henry DALTON Jr..
+8 vi. Bethuel DALTON.
+9 vii. Nimrod DALTON.