John Thorp Layton (1831 - 1905)

Born 16 May 1831 in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Tennessee (Nail) Layton — married 13 Feb 1856 (to 1864) in Jacksonville Oregon

Husband of Theresa (Moore) Layton — married 8 Nov 1871 (to 1905) in Oregon

Descendants

Died 12 Dec 1905 at age 74 in Applegate Jackson County Oregon, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Stephanie Wilbur [send private message]

Biography

John Layton was born in Lincolnshire, England.

John Layton was born about 1831. He was the son of William Layton and Mary Pears. John was baptised on 15th May 1831, in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. ^[1]

In 1841, John was residing with his parents and two of his siblings in Market Place, Bourne, Lincolnshire. ^[2]

Family
Parents: William Layton (1799 - 1872) and Mary Ann Pears Layton (1802 - 1854)

Sibling: Charlotte Layton (1833 - 1914)*

Spouses:
Mary Tennesee Nail Layton ^[3] (1840 - 1864)
Harriet Fidella Wilhoit Warner (1843 - 1903)
Theresa Moore Layton ^[4] (1852 - 1942)

Children:
Charlotte Layton (1858 - 1861)
Lola Martha Layton Bailey (1860 - 1938)
Mary Elizabeth Layton Stevens (1861 - 1930)
Ida Layton (1864 - 1864)
Charles William Layton (1867 - 1949)
Edward Frances Layton (1872 - 1963)
Rose Layton (1874 - 1874)
Ella Myrtle Layton Smith (1875 - 1948)
Florence Ada Layton Wilbur (1877 - 1974)
John Lester Layton (1880 - 1967)
Lena Laura Layton Marvin (1883 - 1932)
Cora Tevesa Layton (1886 - 1888)
Jessie Fay Layton Olding (1890 - 1982)
Amy Theresa Layton Green (1893 - 1965)

In 1880, John was living with his wife Theresa and seven of his children, in Applegate, Jackson, Oregon. He was a miner and farmer and was 49-years-old. ^[5]

Death: Aged 74, on Dec. 14, 1905 in Applegate, Jackson County, Oregon, USA
Burial: in Layton Plot, Jacksonville Cemetery, Jacksonville, Jackson County, Oregon, USA ^[6]

Extract from Bourne Diary concerning John Layton: ^[7]

An email has arrived from the United States asking for a photograph of the town cemetery. It comes from Gene Layton of Avondale in Arizona, whose ancestors are buried there and he wants it as an illustration for his family tree. He is the great great grandson of William Layton (1799-1872), landlord of the Bull Inn in the market place, now the Burghley Arms in the town centre, who later left the licensed trade to become a farmer. He married Mary Ann Pears (1800-1855) and they had eight children and it is one of them who provided the American connection.

John Layton who was born on 16th May 1831and attended several schools in the area, then served an apprenticeship of four years at a hardware shop in Stamford before leaving for America in 1849 and never returned home, becoming one of the thousands of fortune hunters who joined the Californian gold rush of 1849. In July that year, when he was only eighteen, he signed on as a seaman aboard the barque Jane Dixon that sailed from Liverpool bound for California, voyaging around Cape Horn and arriving at San Francisco in January 1850.

He spent the next few months engaged in boating and fishing on the Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay and after a successful spell of mining and trading, bought a farm and established a homestead and in the process became the head of a family that survives to this day. He was frequently attacked by Indians but he fought them off successfully and in order to help suppress the various uprisings, served in the army for a spell.

John was married three times and produced fifteen children and 25 years after leaving Bourne, he had become an astute businessman and property owner, wealthy and respected in his community. His local newspaper at Jacksonville reported in December 1875: �He is at present generally acknowledged to be on the high road to fortune although the result has not been attained without the exhibition of uncommon pluck, energy and perseverance, through a long and protracted career of mining in which he is monarch of all he surveys.�

In 1904, his standing in the community was summed up in an account published in the book Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon which eulogised his life as follows:

�The claims of John Thorpe Layton, upon the consideration of his fellow residents of Jackson and Josephine Counties, rest upon his more than ordinary ability as a miner and prospector. The mining camps of this part of the state have long been familiar to him and of whom it may be said he has operated with a comparatively sure hand, and while making rapid progress, has proceeded with extreme caution in his investments. Since becoming a citizen of this country, Mr Layton has thrown his political sympathies with the Democratic Party but has always been averse to office holding. John T Layton was the owner of both the Ferris Gulch and Williamsburg mines, in active operation for more than 40 years, thirty miles of mining ditches dug by hired Chinese labourers, builder of the Grants Pass Hotel in 1889, and owner of 800 acres of mineral and agricultural land. He has led an industrious and well-directed life and has been interested in mining for nearly fifty-three years. He has established many warm friendships in the course of his coming and going in the west and is known for his generosity, his liberal mindedness, and his enthusiastic advocacy of the climate and resources of the state of Oregon.�

John died on 14th December 1905, aged 74, and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery at Jacksonville, Oregon, where his grave has recently been restored to its original condition by Gene Layton. He is remembered today in the United States where his descendants number several hundred but in Bourne where the name has practically disappeared, he is quite forgotten except for his father's headstone in the town cemetery.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NG6Z-4TT : 11 February 2018, John Thorpe Layton, 15 May 1831); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 421,938, 436,025.
2. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ1L-RFH : 24 May 2019), John Layton in household of William Layton, Bourne, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
3. ↑ "United States Western States Marriage Index", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZ8C-GZP : 19 October 2018), John Layton and Mary Nail, 1856.
4. ↑ "Oregon Marriage Records, 1849-1952", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8W8-2HD : 29 June 2017), John T. Layton and Theresa Moore, 1871.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNC2-7H8 : 16 July 2017), John T Layton, Applegate, Jackson, Oregon, United States; citing enumeration district ED 53, sheet 93B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,081.
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #66311601 Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 19 January 2020), memorial page for John Thorpe Layton (16 May 1831–14 Dec 1905), Find A Grave Memorial no. 66311601, citing Jacksonville Cemetery, Jacksonville, Jackson County, Oregon, USA ; Maintained by Gene (contributor 47511871) .
7. ↑ https://www.bourne-lincs.org.uk/diary201111.htm

• Interviews with Ada Florence Layton by David Wilbur between 1964-1968

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Stephanie Wilbur for starting this profile on 27th September 2015.