Recognized by DAR as an American Revolutionary War Patriot. WARNING: there is no proof that Samuel DALTON's wife was Ann Dandridge REDD; it is merely a tradition that has been long accepted, possibly encouraged by her supposed connection to the wife of George WASHINGTON.

Husband: Samuel DALTON I
Birth: 24 Mar 1698/9, Albemarle Co., VA
Death: 29 Dec 1804 or 9 Dec 1805, Rockingham Co., MD
Parents: various sets of parents have been proposed by secondary sources, but none have been proven.

There was a historic family of Daltons, whose record runs through the annals of North Carolina from the period of early colonial settlement.

The origin of Samuel Dalton is unknown in spite of numerous and long standing efforts to discover his parents and place of birth. His earliest known appearance in Virginia occurs in 1734 when he purchased a tract of 4 00 acres in Hanover County from John Dowell. Prior to that date, his name is not found in any source, including the parish records of Gloucester, New Kent, or Hanover Counties. The tract of land he purchased from John Dowell lay between Priddy's Creek and Wolf Trap Creek in the northeastern corner of present Albemarle County, Virginia. It was not technically in Albemarle until this corner of the county was separated from Louisa County in 1761. Before that, records for Samuel Dalton are found in Hanover County, Goochland County, and Louisa County - the progression of county formation on this early frontier of Virginia.

Samuel Dalton is an approved patriot ancestor with the Daughters of the American Revolution. Although he was elderly and did not fight in the military, he is credited with paying for some goods and services on behalf of the patriot army.

Samuel Dalton's life spanned over three centuries. He is said to have been born in 1699 in Albemarle County, VA and died in Rockingham County, NC on 29 December 1805. He was 106 years of age. In 1736 he married Ann "Nancy" Reed, daughter of Thomas Reed. Ann was born in 1718 in Virginia and died in Rockingham County, NC in 1800. She was 82. An alternate name sometimes given is Ann Dandridge Redd, Albemarle, VA, daughter of George Redd and Ann Dandridge.

Samuel Dalton was the son of William Dalton (a descendant of Count de Alton, who went from Normandy with William the Conqueror). Samuel Dalton and James Madison were intimate friends and both were members of the Love Land Company which invested extensively in lands in Western Virginia and North Carolina. He moved to Georgia but later returned to Virginia.

He was known as "Samuel of Mayo", because he owned land on the Mayo River in Rockingham Co., NC. He was the wealthiest man in all the Piedmont region of Virginia and North Carolina. In his later years he was said to travel solely by foot. He had developed an aversion to riding horses or carriages.

He raised a large family of children and lived there in patriarchal state until the advanced age of 106 years.

Samuel Dalton, Sr. died December 29, 1805 in Stokes County, North Carolina at the home of his daughter, Letitia Dalton Moore. A hand carved tombstone once marked his grave but has long since disappeared.

For a time Samuel Dalton lived near the home of the elder James Madison in Virginia and had much to do with the family. When Samuel Dalton left Albemarle County, Virginia, he first settled in Georgia on the present site of Savannah. However, finding the climate unhealthy and the Indians troublesome, he decided to move his family back to Virginia.

Family tradition tells that on his return, he passed a charming and healthy looking place on the Mayo River which is now in Rockingham County, North Carolina, located ten miles above the junction of the Mayo and Dan Rivers. He determined to settle there and soon acquired several tracts of land along the river and became a well-to-do farmer and raised a large family and acquired a large number of slaves. He built a large frame house overlooking the Mayo River and the splendid scenery beyond.

He was said to be active and erect as long as he lived. In his later days, he walked usually with his hands clutched behind him. For many years before his death, he refused to ride on horseback or in a vehicle and sometimes during this period he walked five miles to visit a son who lived on Beaver Island Creek. He and his wife, Ann Dandridge Redd were the parents of at least nine children.