| Dislike for George III Resulted in First Hatton Coming to Wayne by Doris Miller (Herald-Dispatch Article) Dec 4, 1959 Among early settlers of the Sandy Valley was a Hatton family. Virgil Hatton, 136 Ninth Avenue, a descendant, has spent many years collecting information about his ancestry. Apparently the first Hattons came into England with William the Conquerer in 1066 and enjoyed many titles and estates until the days of Oliver Cromwell. In particular, Sir Christopher Hatton was lord chancellor of England under Queen Elizabeth and history records that he was one of her favorites. Hattons began coming to Virginia in early days, one William Hatton being one of those �transported to Virginia, imberqued in the David in 1635�. However, the Sandy Valley Hattons are descendants of Samuel Hatton, who was born in England and emigrated to America at the age of 16. Though some traditions have placed his birth at an earlier date, stories told in different branches of the family relate that King George III ascended the throne of England on Samuel�s 11th birthday, October 25, 1760, which would place his birthdate in 1749, and his descendant has found documentary evidence supporting that date. �At the time our ancestor�s tombstone was placed, members of our family believed Samuel Hatton was 111 yrs. old at the time of his death, but this is not true,� Virgil Hatton said in explaining the age of 111 listed on the stone. (buried in Smith Cemetery on Lige�s Road at Prichard, Wayne County, WV) The tradition says that little Samuel, apprenticed to a paperhanger, received a severe flogging from his master on his historic birthday for making a disparaging remark about the new monarch, and that he ran away- first to Ireland, then to Virginia when he was 16. The young emigrant landed at Alexandria, Virginia, and found employment on George Washington�s plantation. There he met and married Rosanna Queen, daughter of John Queen, perhaps as early as 1766. He (Samuel) served in the Revolutionary War, 1777-1781, under Captain William Hoffner. After the war, Mr. Hatton left Loudoun County for Hampshire County. Later, some time before 1804, he came on to the Big Sandy to claim 100 acres of land he had been awarded for his Revolutionary service. Apparently, his wife died before the family moved to this area. (Rosanna is buried in Hampshire Co. VA) Samuel Hatton died in 1839, aged 90, and was buried on his farm, one mile south of Prichard. At least six sons and two daughters accompanied Samuel Hatton here. These were William, perhaps born as early as 1767, as he was a Virginia Cavalry dragoon by 1783 and married Susan Flick in Loudoun County; Samuel Hatton, Jr. born 1774, married Nancy Campbell of Kentucky; David, married Sallie Burgess of Big Sandy, KY, and Jonah married Margaret Wallace of Kentucky, twins (David & Jonah) born 1781; Philip Hatton, born 1785, married Jane Cartmill of Sandy River, VA; Elijah Hatton, born 1796, married Elizabeth McGinnis of Guyandott, VA, after serving in the War of 1812; Eliza married Joseph Effingham in Loudoun County in 1802, and Nancy (Polly) married William Colgin of Kentucky and later married William Hill. Tradition says other sons were Charles, Asa and Levi, but no clear record of these is known. A John Hatton, some have thought was another son, older than Samuel. William and Susan lived near the mouth of Sandy on his land grant and were parents of 11 children, Wiley, the eldest, married Elizabeth Dixon in 1832. Solomon, another son, married Afy Fuller and was acting sheriff of Cabell County in 1863. David and Sallie reared a large family in Boyd County, KY, before moving to Montogomery County, MO, where they died. Their eldest son, Jonah Bur-------, married Sidney Cant--- at Louisa and they moved -----with the family. Descendants of this branch still live in MO. Tradition says that Samuel, Jr. and Nancy were married on a sandbar in the Big Sandy River in 1804 by a minister named Darby Kelley. It may have been a �Bible marriage� as many were in those days, as no record has been found. (Itinerant preachers performed these weddings and wrote lines in a family Bible as record). He was a soldier in the War of 1812. They had nine children. One son, Allen, piloted the first steamboat to go above Louisa, the Joseph P. Hatton, which went to Pikeville in 1843. �Mothers rushed to the bank on hearing the steam escape, bringing their off-spring along to see the wonder of their lives. Chickens and geese ran for the barnyards in great fright and rushed for the hills to escape.� is the description of that memorable day attributed to Allen Hatton. Elijah and Elizabeth lived on Elijah�s Creek or Lige�s Creek, where 10 children were born to them. One of their sons, Strother Hatton, married Margaret Paul, also of Wayne County, and these in turn became great-grandparents of Homer Hatten of Huntington. Another son, Samuel Kemper Hatton, married Frances Nichols Viers. Their son, Daniel Viers Hatton, married Dona livingston Strother on Christmas Eve, 1883, and emigrated to Illinois soon afterward with his parents. Virgil Hatton, born to Daniel and Dona in Missouri in 1884, was brought back to West Virginia when the family returned in 1885. Following the family pattern, Virgil was married to Daisy Bean in 1808, and went to North Dakota to homestead. As soon as he �proved up� on his homestead, Virgil entered the U. S. mail service, was transferred to Washington, D. C. then back to Prichard in 1915, and to Huntington in 1920. He was superintendant of the Guyandotte Branch Post Office when he retires in 1948. Now here follows one of those quirks often found in family histories. Philip (son of the original Samuel) and Jane lived on Gragston Creek, where he sold land for the Ruffner Brothers Heirs, buying many hundreds of acres himself. Of their eight children, the three daughters married Shannons, but though Eliza first married a Gilkerson . The eldest son, Cartmell, married Margaret Wellman at Ironton, in 1835. The youngest son, Philip, Jr. married Rheuhamma Riggs, later he married Mary Flowers. Philip and rheuhamma�s daughter, Kyda, married William (Tuck) Bean and they were parents of Daisy Bean who married Virgil Hatton. Through a long line, the husband and wife go back to a common ancestor in the old Revolutionary soldier, Samuel Hatton. Virgil and Daisy Hatton have four children, Josephine, wife of Fred Bartram; Katherine, wife of Richard McCoy; Dr. Don V. Hatton of Williamson, and Roy Hatton of Huntington, also a postal employee. Mr. Hatton believes that all Hattons, Hattens, and Haytons in this area are descentants of Samuel Hatton, as these are variant spellings he has found in the family. The orginial Norman French ending of �on� is he believes the correct family name, and history agrees. |
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