"An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties."  Interstate
Publishing Company, 1906.  p. 500.
 
HON. THOMAS HAYTON

     In this notable career, we see exemplified the true type of American, the
type which has led in nation building from the rock-bound Atlantic coast across
a continent to the more hospitable waters of the Pacific.  Coming of colonial
American stock, his inspiration and patriotism are a heritage.  He has
courageously advanced settlement as a frontiersman, in development of the
natural resources he has been among the foremost, and as a public spirited
citizen and a gentleman by instinct and training he has done his duty by his
fellows.  The history of Skagit county or of Puget sound would be incomplete
without mention of the part he has taken in making it.
     Born in Pike County, Kentucky, June 23, 1832, he is the scion of a pioneer
family identified with the establishment of that commonwealth.  Jacob Hayton,
the paternal ancestor, was a native of the Keystone state and traced his lineage
back to old England.  The mother bore the maiden name of Rebecca Wedington; she
was a native of Virginia of German descent.  Both long ago passed to the great
beyond, the father's death occurring in 1864 on the old Pike county
homestead.  Early in the last century these hardy pioneers had crossed the
Alleghanies and in the blue grass valleys of the western slope the better
portion of their lives was spent.  Upon the farm young Thomas grew to manhood,
receiving his first lessons from his mother and later attending a private
school, where his education was completed.  During the latter years of his youth
he began asserting his independence by assisting various neighboring farmers in
gathering the crop, thereby gaining valuable experience as part of his
remuneration and by the time he was twenty he was able to command a share in the
crop for his labor and spent four years working on this plan.  In September,
1862, he answered his country's call for assistance in preserving the Union,
and, following Kentucky's flags, he served faithfully until the close of the
struggle, mainly in Kentucky and West Virginia.  His enlistment was made in
Company D, Thirty-ninth Kentucky Volunteers; he was honorably discharged in
October, 1865, with the rank of corporal.  Libby prison was among the horrible
experiences he underwent in the army.  After the war he returned to the pursuits
of peace in Pike county, but in the spring of 1868 moved to Cass county,
Missouri, and there tilled the soil during the succeeding eight years.  But
Missouri was only a tarrying point, for in 1876 he and his family crossed the
plains and mountains to Washington territory, making the first stop after
reaching the promised land, at Walla Walla.  There he heard more vividly than
before of the wonderful region that lay on the shores of Puget sound, so
determined to continue his journey.  He was so well pleased with the Skagit
country that very shortly after his arrival he purchased two hundred acres of
marsh land at the river's delta and immediately began its reclamation.  Diking
and clearing and farming the tract soon produced substantial results but it
required many years of unremitting toil and the expenditure of much money to
transform it into its present beautiful, improved condition.  Later he added a
quarter section of adjoining land, and now this immense oat and hay farm is one
of the finest on the lower sound, a high testimonial to the thrift, perseverance
and skill of its owner, who has, however, retired from all work but the
management of his rich estate.  It is indeed fitting that he should be allowed
in his declining years to garner the rewards that should come to the successful
pioneer farmer, and enjoy peace and comfort instead of struggle and privation.
     Sarah E. Sanders, a native of Monroe County, Virginia, the daughter of two
prominent Virginia pioneers, William and Elizabeth Sanders, became the bride of
Thomas Hayton in August, 1852.  Like the women of her type, she was a devoted
helpmeet, mother and companion during the entire span of her life, which ended
November 21, 1896, in her sixty-third year.  Besides her husband she left six
sons and two daughters to mourn their irreparable loss and perpetuate her
memory:  Jacob, engaged in agricultural pursuits near Milton, Oregon; Thomas R.,
the well-known hardware merchant of Mount Vernon; Henry, farmer and stockman in
British Columbia; George W., farming near Bremerton; James B., operating his
father's place at Fir; William, another prosperous Skagit farmer living on the
Swinomish flats; Louisa, the wife of L. P. Hemingway, now operating one of the
Hayton farms; and Cora, the wife of Alfred Polson, also engaged in farming near
Fir.  All are widely and favorably known as among the most substantial citizens
of this section.  Mr. Hayton is, of course, a member of the Grand Army of the
Republic, a distinction which is growing less and less common as the final roll
call is answered.
     As a life-long Republican Mr. Hayton has ever been active in political
matters and a leader in his party.  For many years he has attended every county
convention in an official capacity and has served at various times as a
territorial or state delegate.  His greatest public service, one that has
forever recorded him as one of the real founders of the state of Washington, was
as one of Skagit's three representatives in the constitutional convention of
1889.  comparatively few men secure such a rich opportunity to leave their
impress upon history and be is said to Mr. Hayton's credit, he has made the most
of it.  In years to come his descendants will remember this service when all
else if forgotten.  Mr. Hayton has witnessed with his own eyes the truly
remarkable development of the great Northwest during nearly three decades of
time, a portion of it from its primitive condition, and best of all, with all
due modesty, he himself has taken a leading part in the wonderful
transformation.  Universally esteemed and honored, he is among northwest
Washington's foremost citizens.
     
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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in January, 2006 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.