 James Gayton was a very early pioneer in Emmons and Sioux Counties. We have attempted to capture just the genealogy of the family but at the end of this article there are linkages and suggestions on how to learn more of the family and their involvement in the counties.
James Bennett Gayton was born in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on 10 November 1833 to James and Mary Ann Wilmore Gayton. The 1850 Census does not show James as living with the family but it does list his parents, his grandmother Jane Wilmore, and some of his
In a brief research this writer could not find James in the 1850 census. In 1860 he is in Niobrara, L'Eau Qui Court, which at that time was in Nebraska and in 1861 became part of Dakota Territory. By 1868, although he was not living on the reservation with his wife, his first child born to Mary Pleasing to the Nation was in 1868. Mary and the children are in several "U. S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940" reports but James is not included. James and Mary are together only in 1880 and 1900 census reports. In 1870 James is at the Grand River Garrison, in the Grand River Agency in Dakota Territory. It was located at the Missouri and Grand Rivers in what is now Wakapala in Corson County, South Dakota; a part of the Standing Rock Reservation. In 1880 although their family of six children [Mary is listed as Wenona] is located in Emmons County, the exact location is not recorded. In 1885 they are in Emmons County with eight children but Mary/Winona is not listed. In 1900 James, Winona, and two children are in Gayton Township, Emmons County and Winona indicates she has had nine children and all nine survive. All nine are listed in various U. S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 reports [This writer records ten children]. In 1910 Mary/Winona is living with her son James at his home in Morton County [now Sioux County) on the Standing Rock Reservation.
"Oyate Wicimdeza/Pleasing to the Nation" is not a name found in records by this researcher. It is used by other researchers but sources are not included. Another name noted is "Joy to the Nation." Records found only Mary or Wi[e]nona]. Also a record for their marriage and Mary's death or burial dates/places could not be found. Some researchers are indicating Mary died in 1923. Also, some accounts have James married to a Sioux woman and having a family while he was further south in Dakota Territory and in Nebraska but this researcher could not find any records.
Children of James and Mary are: Abbie, William (1869-1 August 1936), John Bennett, Samuel (1873-8 June 1931), Maude (1875-), Charles Benton (1875-13 January 1929), Alice (1878, married Charles Archambault), Joseph, Amy (1884/5-, married Robert Bruce and Henry Lawrence), and James D..
James Bennett was one of the Emmons county organizers and a member of its first board of Commissioners. He owned an Indian trading store in Horsehead Valley, and a wood yard at Glanavon to supply the steamboats; later another one below the mouth of Cat Tail Creek, and a third on Horsehead Flats. A post office was named for him as well as a township, school district and voting precinct. He retired as a county commissioner in 1890 and moved across the river into Sioux County in 1902 and lived on land that had been allotted to his wife and family. He lived there until his death on 1 March 1909.
Burial Location Selfridge Golden Jubilee 1911-1961 Selfridge Seventy-Five Diamond Years 1911-1986 Gayton Cemetery Selfridge 1981 School Reunion Sioux County Postmasters Gayton Community History of Emmons County - 1976 Gayton School - Photos, Maps, Teachers, Students Gayton Gimbel Lutheran Cemetery Return to Home Page |