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View Tree for Ralph DaytonRalph Dayton (b. 1588, d. 1658)

Ralph Dayton (son of William Deighton and Agnes Green) was born 1588 in Kent County, England142, and died 1658 in East Hampton, Long Island, NY. He married Alice Goldhatch on Jun 16, 1617 in Parish Church of St. Mary, Ashford, Kent, England.

 Includes NotesNotes for Ralph Dayton:
Laura Dayton Fessenden 1902 provides one view:

Ralph and his two young sons, Samuel and Robert, possibly with his brothers Thomas and Nicholas were the first of the name to land on these shores, arriving in Boston in 1636. Ralph was a widower at the time, his wife Agnes, daughter of Henry Pool, having died in London a few years before. One authority thinks that Ralph had lived in Bedfordshire a few years previously to his departure for America. [I have no record of Agnes].

Some confusion arises in the family records at this point. One chronicler of the Dayton family says that a Ralph Dayton (it is spelled first Drayton and later Dayton in the record), of Ashford, County Kent, accompanied by two sons Samuel and Robert, and a daughter Alice, journeyed to America at about the same time as the above-mentioned Ralph of London. This Ralph of Kent was the husband of Alice Tritton, a widow, and in addition to Samuel, Robert, and Alice, he had issue by her of a son Ralph and a daughter Ellen. Neither Ralph's wife, Alice, nor his daughter, Ellen is mentioned as making the voyage to America, and it is stated that the eldest son, Ralph, remained in England. That this Ralph of Kent was identical with Ralph of London seems likely for only one Ralph Deighton or Dayton appears hereafter in the records.

In 1639 this Ralph moved with his sons, Robert and Samuel, to New Haven, CT. Ralph is listed as a signer of the Fundamental Agreement and covenant of habitancy, the original governing instrument of this town.
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Another reference to controversy comes from John Allen who writes:

Thanks for writing back. I am still in the midst of assembling the various Dayton descendant lines from the various information that I've received - yours, by the way, is almost all new, and I am happy to have learned about your source!

When I have assembled it together, I will send you the complete set, and will appreciate it if you let me know about any errors that you see. Let me start with Ralfe and his children, for now.

He had Five children, three sons. The eldest son Ralph, stayed in England, apparently, having been something like 18 years old when Ralfe left Ashford. The younger sons came with him. Samuel seems to have moved from Long Island to perhaps Connecticut - he may have stayed at the New Haven Colony when Ralfe moved to Long Island. His youngest son, Robert, is the father of my line.

I see that you descend from his daughter Alice, although it seems to me that there is another Dayton link in there somewhere...

I have been working with a paper written by Reverend Charles H. Dayton, mostly about Daytons in New Jersey - again, my line. I'll come back to this in a minute.

There is a second paper, or pair of papers, that describe the purported pedigree of the "Dayton Name", which you can read on the internet. The version of this paper that I have been using is perhaps 50 years old, and is a little different, but they compare in all essential details. You can find it at: http://www.rain.org/ This document says that the Dayton name originated in a town of Deighton, in Yorkshire, England, and traces the line back to the late 1200s. If that is correct, then we find that the Dayton line can also be traced back to several Knights of York, and we can point to cousins (at least) that married some folks of Royal descent - perhaps we could even trace Ralfe back to Charlemagne.

Of the possibility that Ralfe Dayton is a descendent of the de Deighton, later simply Deighton, family, Reverend Charles says that he is "certain that it is not correct". He cites two bits of evidence which will be more meaningful to you after reading the papers on the "hutch" website.

First, he says that Ralfe Deighton in London spelled his name one way, while Ralph Dayton of Ashford spelled his in a completely different way.

Second, he says that Ralph Deighton departed London in (1636?) while Ralph Dayton departed Ashford in 1639. Evidence of the 1639 departure comes from Thomas Baker's family bible.

So the essential question is: were there two R.D.s, or one?

I have addressed the first point by personally examining the Parish records in Ashford, although I have not yet been to see the Parish records in London - maybe next visit!

In the Ashford books, Ralfe doesn't appear at the time of his birth, though I will investigate the year that you provided, just to be certain. This suggests that he relocated to Ashford, and if not from London, then from where? There is additional evidence of that, in as much as Ralfe apparently had brothers in Ashford, who were also not shown in the baptism records.

His name is spelled in a variety of ways in that book, too. It is neither the consistent "Ralph", nor the consistent "Dayton". The most varied spelling seems to be "Raphe" and "Daighton". Therefore, I would dismiss Reverend Charles's first argument.

To the second argument, that Thomas Baker says they "came out of England in 1639", I would say we can interpret in several ways. It could be that Thomas made reference only to himself and his wife Alice, and that Ralfe went to America in advance of the wife and children. Such was a common practice at the time. It is also possible that they left Ashford several years before leaving England. They may have passed through London on the way.

The (recorded) year of travel is also not particularly indicative. For example, in the History of Ashford, it's said that Comfort Starr lead a group of emigrants from Ashford to America in 1636, on the ship Hercules. In the versions of the Ship's Passenger List that I have seen (as recorded in America, versus England) the Starr group took passage in 1634 or 1635. Clearly, "the group" didn't leave in 1636, and arrive in 1634. (Else I would to have the "Hercules" recommissioned for my own use!)

The best part of this bit of news, is that I have something tangible to look for, next time I get a chance. I had no year to work from, and I have imagined that Ralfe was older than his wife Alice. It is VERY tedious to read the old records - I'll put some of it on-line one day, so people can look at it - and I don't think I read through the 1588 Ashford baptisms.

I hope I have given you enough of the short story. Please write back if you have any thoughts or questions.

Regards, John

More About Ralph Dayton and Alice Goldhatch:
Marriage: Jun 16, 1617, Parish Church of St. Mary, Ashford, Kent, England.

Children of Ralph Dayton and Alice Goldhatch are:
  1. +Alice Dayton, b. Bef. May 21, 1620, St. Mary's Church, Ashford, England143, d. Feb 04, 1708/09, Amagansett, LI, NY.
  2. +Robert Dayton, b. Bef. Jan 03, 1628/29143, d. date unknown.
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