Col. B. M. Moulton
Col. B. M. Moulton, past department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic of Ohio, has been one of Lima's most distinguished and esteemed residents for almost 20 years. Colonel Moulton comes of a long line of ancestors, many of whom have been prominent in various walks and avocations of life and not a few, like himself, have gained honor and reputation military circles. He was born at Moultonville, Madison County, Illinois, July 3, 1845, and is a son of Orris G. and Nancy (Miller) Moulton.
The Moultons are descended for Sir Thomas Moulton, who went ot England with William the Conqueror and fought by his side in the battle of Hastings, in 1066. He was probably a Norman nobleman. He founded the town of Moulton in England and was given large estates and the title "Sir".
Five generations of Sir Thomas Moultons resided in the town thus established. In those days orthography was something of a fine art and the name became variously changed by the common people and for various reasons, probably on account of recurrences of the same baptismal name, by members of the family. Thus on some old records the name is found spelled Multon and Molton, but the old orthography has always been maintained by our subject's branch of the family.
In the "Domesday Book", that great survey of England made by order of William the Conqueror, in 1086, Thomas Moulton is mentioned as a land-owner, having been put in possession of an estate called "Galeshore," a property seized form the Gales by King William. Perhaps this is why the later Moulton is called "Lord of Gillesland."
Thomas de Moulton was a favorite of King Richard (Coeur de Leon) in 1190. He is call "Lord of Gillesland" in Cumberland and by the Normans, "Lord de Vaux." Sir Walter Scott introduces him in the romance "The Talisman," as such. He is probably the same Thomas de Multon who, as one of the barons, signed the Magna Charta in 1215. A Thomas de Multon was also a signer of the great charter of Edward in 1297 and this Thomas was probably a grandson of the preceding. They were Lords of Egremont in Cumberland and probably became posessed of their lands on the Scottish border as rewards for their services in the wars against the Scots. (From the Heraldic Office of Great Britain and other reliable sources). Moulton Hall is a place in Wulburton, now in ruins, once the property of Sir Thomas.
Dudgall in his account of Sturbic Says: 'Acre was an old hospital for the poor people, dedicated to St. Leonard, which being given with the Manor A. D. 1230 to the Knight Hospitalers by Sir Thomas Moulton, Knight & c." Next, following a page of interesting extracts from records portraying the distinction of these ancient "Moulton, " are numerous quotations showing that all branches of the Moulton family had arms with devices somewhat different from each other in minor details, yet alike in the main, viz: A plain field either of silver or blue crossed by three horizontal bars, generally red, sometimes sable. This continued for several hundred years down to the arms which were granted in 1571; by the record these are described as follows:
Moulton: Argent three bars (jules) between eight escallop shells, sable; three, two, two and one crest on a pellet, a falchion rising argent, granted in 1571. This is an accurate description of the arms brought over by Thomas Moulton in 1635, excepting the color bars and shells and the grant might have been to his grandfather as it was made only 64 years before the emigrant brought over the copy that is still extant. Tradition asserts this to be the fact and that the escalloped shells were added to the very ancient arms of silver of red field and three bars, for victories won by Admiral Moulton of more recent times.
In 1635 Thomas and John Moulton, brothers, came to Newbury, Massachusetts, from Norfolk County, England. Later they settled at Hampton, New Hampshire and in 1637 they were joined by a third brother, William, who came from Ormsby, Norfolk County.
Ebenezer Moulton was the first of our subject's branch of the Moulton family America, as far as known. It has been said that he was formerly a clergyman, also that he was in the service of the English government and came from England to Nova Scotia about the year 1725, a wealthy member of the English nobility. Afterward he came to New England and died in South Brimfield, Massachusetts, in 1783, leaving one son, Stephen.
Stephen Moulton, son of Ebenezer and great-grandfather of our subject, was born in 1734, was graduated at one of the New England colleges, inherited his father's wealth and was an accomplished gentleman of his time. During the American Revolution he equipped a regiment at his own expense and contributed very largely from his fortune in aid of the Revolutionary cause. He participated in military affairs as lieutenant colonel in the 22nd Regiment of militia from Stafford, Connecticut. His two sons, Howard and Stephen, where taken prisoners on Long Island and were confined in the old sugar house prison at Richmond, Virginia. Just 87 years later history repeated itself when our subject, also a prisoner of war, was sent to one of the old dungeons in the same city. After the close of the Revolutionary War, Colonel Moulton went to Ohio and later settled at Floyd, Oneida County, New York, where he died in 1819. He married a daughter of Lieut. Josiah Converse, Ellenor Converse, a cousin of Governor Julius Converse, of Vermont. Their children were: Howard, Stephen, Benjamin, Joseph, Solomon, Ebenezer and Josiah.
Howard Moulton, son of Stephen (1), was a prominent merchant of Troy, New York and an able and distinguished man. One of his daughters married Gen. John E. Wool and another became the mother of John A. Griswold, who once was a Republican candidate for Governor of New York.
Stephen Moulton (2), son of Stephen (1) was a farmer residing at Floyd, New York; two of his sons were named Jesse and Asa. Jesse by his first marriage had three sons and one daughter, Lewis, Charles, Henry and Julia. Julia became Mrs. Bell, of Syracuse, New York. By a second marriage, Jesse had a daughter, Elizabeth.
Benjamin Moulton, son of Stephen (1), lived at Floyd, New York, where he married and had four sons and two daughters, viz: James T., Arthur, Josiah, John, Maria and Eleanor. Of the children of Benjamin the record is as follows:
James R. Moulton, son of Benjamin, was at one time one of the leading merchants of New York City. One of his sons, Arthur, married a Miss Sagor, of Utica and they had one daughter. A son, Albert, died unmarried. A daughter, Sarah, married Thomas W. Timpson and they had one son and three daughters- Thomas W., Addie, Florence and Sarah. Another daughter of James T. Moulton, Letitia, married James Alexander Striker, of New York. Jennie, another daughter, married Philip B. Low, of New York and their children were two daughters - Letty and Jennie. Gary, son of James T., resides in New York and his children two sons and a daughter- are: Gary W., Raymond and Marion, the eldest son having one child.
Arthur Moulton, second son of Benjamin, married and reared a family some place in the far West.
Josiah, son of Benjamin, was born at Floyd, New York and settled in the West, marrying a sister of Judge Powers Green. They had three sons Powers, Rodman and Josiah and one daughter. Powers is a prominent man in Wisconsin.
John Moulton, son of Benjamin, reared a family in the West.
Maria Moulton, daughter of Benjamin, married Hezekiah McIntosh and they had two daughters and three sons; the latter being Andrew, Ichabod and Charles. Andrew and Ichabod married and practiced law a Utica, New York. One of the daughters became the wife of Josiah K. Brown, of Stittville, New York, dairy commissioner of that State.
Eleanor Moulton, daughter of Benjamin, married a Mr. Roberts, of Buffalo, New York, and they had three daughters Sarah and Maria, deceased, and Miriam.
Joseph Moulton, son of Stephen (1), lived and died at Troy, New York.
Solomon Moulton, son of Stephen (1), lived and died at Floyd, New York. His sons were: Stephen, Henry, Joshua, John, Benjamin, Roary and Wesley and his daughter was Susan, who married Oziah Wilcox. The children of this union were Jermain and Jefferson. The latter married and left two daughters Susan and Sophia, the former of whom married John Brinkerhoof, a prominent lawyer of Kansas.
Stephen Moulton (3), son of Solomon left no issue; he died at Rome, New York, and was interred at Floyd.
Henry Moulton, son of Solomon, married Lucretia Moulton and lived and died at Floyd. His children being Caroline who married Franklin French, of Western New York; and Thomas, who was a prominent merchant of Nashville, Tennessee. He was a polished gentleman. Of Thomas Moulton's two sons, Frank resided at Nashville; he also had three daughters.
Joshua Moulton, son of Solomon, lived and died at Floyd, New York. His children were: Severn, William, George, Lewis, Eliza, Catherine, Mary, Susan and Margot. His son, Severn Moulton was a prominent man in New York City. He left one son and one daughter, the former of whom, Frank Moulton, became well known to the public as the "mutual friend" in the great Beecher-Tilton trial-- his children reside in New York.
John Moulton, son of Solomon, lived in New York and left two children.
Benjamin Moulton, son of Solomon, died at Floyd, New York, leaving one son and two daughters. The son died in California without issue and one daughter Sarah is deceased. The other daughter Susan resides in the West.
Roary Moulton, son of Solomon, died at Floyd, New York, leaving one son, Horace C., who resides in Berlin, Wisconsin; and one daughter, Julia, who married Charles Riggs, of Turin, New York.
Wesley Moulton, son of Solomon, died unmarried.
Ebenezer Moulton, son of Stephen (1), was born at Stafford, Connecticut, where he married. Afterward he removed to Floyd, New York, where he died about 1855. He married first Mary Lillebridge, daughter of Rev. David Lillebridge, of Stafford, who was a son of Benjamin and Amy (Sherman) Lillebridge, the latter of whom was a sister of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The children of this first marriage were: Linus, David, Lucretia and Mary. He married (second) Eliza Gardner and their children were: Eliza, Maria and Orris G.
Linus Moulton, son of Ebenezer, resided at Floyd, New York, married Olive Frazier, of Western, New York and they had one son and five daughters: Jermain, who died without issue; Mary, Imogene, Harriet, Louise and Anna. Mary Married Asa Clark, of Floyd, New York, and left one daughter named Imogene, who married Charles H. Sampson, of Chicago,. Harriet married Jesse Armstong, of Rome, New York. Louise married William D. Thorne and their two sons Jermain and William B. live in Chicago; Jermain married Frances Dart, of Lansing, Michigan, and their two children are named Frances Louise and Dart. Anna Moulton died without issue.
David Moulton, son of Ebenezer, was born in Stafford, Connecticut. When David was a boy, his father moved to Floyd, Oneida County, New York, where David resided until his death, which occurred May 7, 1886. He was buried where he had spent the greater part of his life. Like the most of the Moultons of his time and race, he was a fine looking, large, well- proportioned man and in his youth he had great physical strength and all his life his mental endowments were of very superior order. He was a colonel in the State militia. In politics David Moulton was a stanch Democrat and for nearly 50 years was one of the leaders of his party, generally a delegate to all its important conventions and on one occasion was its candidate for Congress from the Oneida district. David Moulton married Prudence M. Sizer, who was a daughter of Eli Sizer, a grandson of a French emigrant, D. Souzour. They had these children: Julia, Mariam, Sarah and Eliza. Julia married Nehemiah Slooper and their children were : Cesarine, Prudence and David M. Of this family, Cesarine married Hon, Eaton J. Richardson, a prominent lawyer of Utica, New York and at one time a State Senator, and they had one son Everett Slooper. Prudence married William A. Davies at one time a prominent merchant at Floyd, New York, and they had one son William Everett. David M. also married and he had three children: Walter, William and Mary. Mariam married Henry M. Kellogg and they had three children: David M., Frederick H. and Converse. The first two are practicing law in New York City. Sarah married Edwin C. Kellogg and their three living daughters are: Ella, Clara and Louise. Ella married P. Fitzsomons, a merchant of New York City and they have two sons- Edwin Kellogg and Leon James. Louise married Sinclair Myers, a prominent real estate broker of New York City. Clara is unmarried. Eliza married William Pratt and their childen are: Harriet, Miriam and Milton. Lucretia, daughter of Ebenezer Moulton, married Henry Moulton.
Mary Moulton, daughter of Ebenezer, married Merritt Brooks, of Rome, New York and they had two sons Stephen and Sperry; and four daughters Elizabeth, Helen, Josephine and Mary Ann. Stephen left two sons, Elizabeth married Lester B. Miller, of New York City. Helen married John Sumner and their children were John and Edward, the latter of whom is a lawyer in Minneapolis. Josephine married Josiah Fogg, of St. Louis. Mary Ann died unmarried.
Eliza Moulton, daughter of Ebenezer, is the widow of Hosea Clark; her two daughters, Hattie and Emma, are both deceased. The former married Joseph Favil, of Brooklyn, New York.
Maria Moulton, daughter of Ebenezer, died without issue.
Orris B. Moulton, son of Ebenezer, was born at Floyd, Oneida County, New York, June 23, 1816. He married Nancy Miller, daughter of Benjamin Miller, of Trenton, New York, and soon after they moved to Madison County, Illinois, where Orris had purchased a large tract of land. The town of Moultonsville, in that county, is named in his honor, as he was its founder. Orris G. and Nancy (Miller) Moulton, had two sons, Benjamin and Orris G., the former of whom is the subject of the present record. The father of our subject died of cholera at St. Louis, Missouri, July 11, 1851, aged 35 years; his widow disposed of her property in Illinois and returned to Steuben, Oneida County, New York, where she died in March, 1873. Orris G. Moulton was born in Moultonsville, Illinois, July 23, 1851 and married Belle Ross, daughter of Aaron Ross, of Hornellsville, Steuben County, New York. They have one daughter, Frances, and reside at Syracuse, New York. Mr. Moulton is the general agent for New York of the Massachusetts Benefit Life Association of Boston, Massachusetts.
Before leaving the ancestral history in order to give attention to that of Colonel Moulton himself, a few more interesting records may be added, viz:
Josiah Moulton, son of Stephen (1), had two children, Charles and Harriet. The former settled in New York as a merchant and dealer in cotton and in this line he accumulated an immense fortune. He was a personal friend of Louis Napoleon and was his host during the visit of that nobleman of America. After Napoleon became Emperor of France, Charles Moulton and family moved to Paris and resided in that city of at their magnificent country seat in the environs. Charles died in 1886 survived by five children: Ray, Charles, Henry, Clara and Helen. Both Ray and Charles are married, the latter's wife being an accomplished lady from Boston they had two sons who reside in that city. Henry, son of Charles, is unmarried. Clara married a member of the firm of Brown Brothers & Company, bankers of New York, and she, with one child, was lost when the steamer "Arctic" was burned at sea. Helen, youngest daughter of Charles, married Count Paul Hatzfeldt, German Ambassador in London.
Harriet, daughter of Josiah Moulton, noted before, married Judge Powers Green, of Indiana, and their daughter Harriet became a Mrs. Hills, of Waukegan, Illinois, and their children are: Harriet, Rebecca, Grace and Frank.
After the death of his father and the return of his widowed mother to Oneida County, New York, our subject attended the public schools until he was 16 years old and then entered the Whitestown Seminary and devoted himself to his studies until he enlisted for service in the Civil War. On August 4, 1862, he joined Company E, 117th Reg., New York Vol. Inf., in which he served through three long years, during which time his personal bravery caused his promotion very rapidly. On September 29, 1864, he was wounded at the battle of Chapin's Farm and was taken prisoner and transported to the same old city which had been the scene of the incarceration of his kindred some 87 years before. From Richmond he was subsequently sent to Annapolis where he was kept at the distribution camp until he could be paroled. Colonel Moulton participated in the battles at Petersburg (barely escaping with his life at the time of the mine explosion), Cold Harbor, Drury's Bluff and Chapin's Farm and in innumerable smaller engagements.
After his return from the army, he resumed his studies at the Whitestown Seminary for one year and then entered Eastman's Business College, where he was graduated late in 1866. For two years he was a clerk in a wholesale mercantile business at Dolpha, New York and then embarked in business for himself at Conesus, New York. He remained here for eight years but sold out in 1876 and went to Pennsylvania in the employ of J. D. Wolf, connected with the Oil Well Supply Company and remained with him until March, 1877, when Mr. Wolf sold his interests to Eaton, Cole & Burnham, and Colonel Moulton became manager of the new company and continued until the organization of the Oil Well Supply Company. He accepted the position of manager of the business of this company of the district at Duke's Center in Northern Pennsylvania.
By 1881 Colonel Moulton's efficiency as a man of business was so recognized that he was transferred to the important district at Bolivar, New York, and in 1886, to Lima, Ohio. Here he has in charge the management of the Oil Well Supply Company of the Ohio and Indiana oil fields, in which the company is interested.
Colonel Moulton married Maritta Kuder, who is a daughter of John Kuder, of Groveland, Livingston County, New York. Their one son H. S. Moulton, is a lumber dealer at Lima and was a member of Governor Myron T. Herrick's staff.
In politics Colonel Moulton has always been an uncompromising Republican and he has been more of less prominent in the party for many years. During the administration of Governor Nash, he was a member of the executive's staff and hence acquired his present title. In 1904 he was elected department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic of Ohio and faithfully and satisfactorily attended to the duties of the office. Under the administration of Governor Herrick he served as a member of the board of trustees of the Soldiers' and Sailors and Orphans' Home, at Xenia, Ohio.