Hiram Norton Byington

It is thought that this picture is of Hiram Norton Byington, however, this has not been proven. 

The following information is given to Byington Families with permission from the author: Jimmy B. Parker of Bountiful, Utah.  Jimmy compiled a tremendous amount of research about the life of Hiram Norton Byington and Sarah Holkins Byington.  The entire book (in Microsoft Word format) will be available, however, only one chapter at a time.  The book includes several graphs and pictures that are best viewed in the original format.  Check back often to see the changes made to this page.

Chapter 1

Birth and Ancestry 

Hiram¹ Norton Byington was born 19August,1800 in Wolcott, New Haven, Connecticut, the third child and second son of Daniel and Susannah or Susan (Norton) Byington.²

Wolcott, Connecticut had been incorporated as a town only four years before the birth of Hiram.  Its earliest settler, John Alcok of New Haven, had settled the area in 1731, but it was more than 30 years later before a full parish (known as Farmingberry) was established there.  The town was named for Oliver Wolcott, Sr.  Governor of Connecticut from 1796 to 1797, who cast the tie-breaking vote in the assembly to allow the incorporation of the town.^{3  4}

The town of Wolcott is located approximately 21 miles almost due North of the city of New Haven, Connecticut, in the hill country.⁵

¹Jerry Seelos, a descendant of Hiram Norton Byington who has compiled the most complete and well-documented family group record form for Hiram’s family, has described the problem of discrepancies in the spelling of Hiram’s name: “Hiram Norton Byington is listed in some records as Hyrum Norton Byington.  In some cases this surname is also spelled Boyington, which is the way the name was pronounced by Hiram and his sons, and elsewhere the name is spelled Boynton… The name Hiram is believed to be the correct spelling for both Hiram Norton and (his son) Hiram Elliott, as that is how it appears in all of the earlier records.  However, the name was correctly spelled Hyrum among members of the third generation, i.e. Hiram Norton’s grandsons.  It is assumed that the later spelling of Hyrum was used more commonly among the Mormons (with whom Hiram Norton came to be associated) because of Hyrum Smith, the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

Hiram spelled his name when he signed it is 1867 as is reproduced at the beginning of this history.

²The Wolcott Town Record Book #1, p. 516, records Hiram’s birth in the following words: “Hiram Byington, son of Daniel Byington and Susy Byington was born in Wolcott on August 19^th, 1800.”

³Helen Earle Sellers.  Connecticut Town Origins (Chester, Conn.: The Pequot Press, 1942), p. 94.

⁴Arthur H. Hughes and Morse S. Allen.  Connecticut Place Names (Hartford): The Conn. Historical Society, 1976). Pp. 700 – 703.

In 1792, the Rev. Israel Bard Woodward settled in Farmingbury Parish and became the minister of the parish for the next 18 years.  He was paid, to begin with, “L80 salary and twenty-five cords of wood, yearly.”⁶  In addition, the parish bought the farm that the former minister (the Rev. Mr. Gillet) owned and established Mr. Woodward on it.  Rev. Woodward sold that farm in 1799 and purchased the house east of the meeting house.  He lived there until his death.⁷

At the time Mr. Woodward was minister in Farmingbury (eight years before to ten years after Hiram’s birth), it was a flourishing parish.  During the time Hiram was growing up there, “Wolcott was a business center with several stores and other enterprises which attracted visitors and drew trade from the vicinity for many miles around.  The church was really a strong one; it had in its membership men of talent and men of means.”⁸

It is interesting to note that the time Hiram was growing up there was the height of the prosperity of Wolcott.  Its population was, according to Orcutt,⁹ as follows:

1792        about 900

1800                    948

1810                    952

1820                    943

1830                    844

Several generations of Hiram’s ancestry had resided in Wolcott.  His great-grandfather, Daniel Byington, was born 18 Sept. 1711, probably in Branford, Connecticut, the son of John or Jonathan Byington.  This Daniel moved from Branford to what was to become Wolcott in about 1770.  He was involved in getting the parish of Farmingbury (or Farmingberry) organized in 1770 and become the first clerk of the society, which office he held for one year.¹⁰

Daniel (born 1711) lived at the “Mill Place” and, according to Orcutt, “appears to have been a mechanic, and to have had a shop for the construction and repairing of various wooden articles of use in those days.”¹¹

His son, Daniel (Hiram’s grandfather),  was born in Branford, Connecticut of 4 June 1738.  He followed his father as clerk of the Parish Society in Wolcott and served as clerk until 1798.¹²  Orcutt, in his history of Wolcott, makes a very interesting comment regarding Hiram’s grandfather, which is included here:¹³

At this place in the Society’s history, I must take leave of an acquaintance who at first sight and introduction, gave me considerable trouble and misunderstanding, but to whom, after six months’ acquaintance, I am quite reluctant to say “good-by.”  For he has been of great service to me.  Besides, when we are well acquainted with tried friends, we may well hesitate to change them for strangers, through the strangers may be clothed in exquisite style and beauty.  For twenty-nine years the records of the Society were written by Daniel Byington – the first year by Daniel Byington, Sen., the other twenty-eight by Daniel, Jr.  In 1799 Isaac Bronson was elected Society Clerk, and to his most elegant writing I now come, and in so doing must leave the less elegant “hand” of Daniel.  Apart from a little formality in the introduction of transactions, Mr. Byington was very nearly a model in the use of concise and appropriate terms, and of fidelity and honor in the office he held  It is, therefore, with great pleasure that I record my high appreciation of Daniel Byington, Jr. as clerk of the Society of Farmingbury, whose writings I have consulted daily for much of the time for three months past, until I had become familiar with every turn of his pen, and every form of expression; and until it seemed to me as a communion of spirits, in which friend Daniel was helping me on im giving to the world a picture of twenty-nine years of Society life in Farmingbury.  Good-by, Daniel, till I am introduced  you “on the other side of the veil.”

Rev. Orcutt says of Daniel: “His mechanical skill, and that of his son, Daniel, was celebrated for years for the making of the ‘great wheels’ for spinning wool, and the ‘little wheels’ for spinning flax.”¹⁴  According to Boynton, “he held a Lieutenants’ commission under George III in the old French war, but when the Revolution broke out took sides with the Colonists…  The tradition is handed down that during the French and Indian War the family name was changed from Boynton to Boyington.”¹⁵

Daniel, Hiram’s father and the son of Daniel (born 1738) was born 25 Jan. 1773 in Wolcott.  He married in about 1794, Susannah Norton, a twin daughter of Ozias and Maria (Frisbie) Norton.  She bore him three children, the youngest of which was Hiram.  When Hiram was less than three years old, his mother died.  Hiram’s father remarried soon after the death of Susannah to Hannah Alcott (Alcox).  Little is known of her, but Hannah lived until 3 Dec. 1835 and died in Oneida County, New York.  Daniel married a third time, sometime before 1838, Huldah Wakefield and had one child by her.¹⁶  As will be seen later, Hiram was, by then, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and on his way to Illinois.

Hiram’s father also “lived at the mill place, and was a mechanic with his father”¹⁷ prior to the family moving west. 

In 1800, the census of Wolcott¹⁸ lists the families of Hiram’s father and grandfather as follows:

                                                                        1800   Census  - United States

State: Connecticut____________   County: New Haven____________  City: Wolcott____________

⁶Rev. Samuel Orcutt.  History of the Town of Wolcott (Waterbury, Conn.: American Printing Co., 1874), pp. 60ff.

 ⁷Ibid.

⁸Ibid.

⁹Ibid.

¹⁰Ibid., pp. 60ff.

¹¹Ibid.

¹²Ibid., pp. 60ff.

¹³Ibid., p. 71, footnote.

¹⁴Ibid., p. 465.

¹⁵John Farnham Boynton and Caroline Harriman Boynton.  The Boynton Family (Groveland, Mass.: privately published, 1897), p. 269.

¹⁶Ibid., pp. 272 – 273.

¹⁷Orcutt, History of the Town of Wolcott, p. 466.

 Apparently, Hiram’s parents and their family remained in Wolcott until sometime between 1810 and 1820.  In 1810, Daniel Byington and Daniel Byington, Jr. and their families are listed in the census of Wolcott, New Haven, Conn.¹⁹ As follows:

1810   Census  - United States

State: Connecticut____________   County: New Haven____________  City: Wolcott____________

But by 1820, only Daniel Byington, Sr. remained in Wolcott, as is evidenced by the census of Wolcott²⁰ for that year:

1820   Census  - United States

State: Connecticut____________   County: New Haven____________  City: Wolcott_______________

Daniel, Jr. and his family had moved sometime prior to 1820 to Camden, Oneida, New York.  They were recorded in the 1820 census of Camden,²¹ as follows:

1820   Census  - United States

State: New York____________   County: Oneida_______________  City: Camden_______________

It appears likely that Hiram’s father, Daniel, moved his family to Camden because Daniel’s Uncle Heman Byington had gone there earlier and had established himself well in that area.  Heman had purchased land in Oneida County as early as 1804.²²

It is interesting to note that at about the time that Daniel and his family moved to Oneida County, New York the Erie Canal in that part of New York State was opened.  This section of the Erie Canal was opened 23 Oct. 1819.²³  Could Daniel’s family have come to Oneida County by canal travel?

Although Daniel and his family arrived in Camden early enough to be recorded in the 1820 census, he apparently did not buy land there until 1827.²⁴  He was still there in 1830, when he was recorded in the 1830 census of Camden:²⁵

                                                                        1830             CENSUS – UNITED STATES

State: New York________________ County: Oneida_____________ City: Camden_________________

He continued dealing in land in Oneida County, New York until 1841.  Daniel died in Camden on 20 Aug. 1843.²⁶  His will is recorded in the Oneida County will books.²⁷

Hiram married at Camden, Oneida, New York, on 27 Jan. 1828²⁸ to Sarah Holkins, the daughter of Joseph and Mahitable (Terry) Holkins.  She was born 3 May 1808 at Colebrook, Coos, New Hampshire.²⁹

¹⁹1810 Federal Census, Wolcott, Conn., p. 673.

²⁰1820 Federal Census, Wolcott, Conn., p. 180.

²¹1820 Federal Census, Camden, N.Y., p. 143.

²²Oneida Co., N.Y. Deed Books, Vol. 13, p. 287.

²³Daniel E. Wager.  Our County and Its People (Boston: The Boston History Co., 1896), pp. 185 – 187.

²⁴Oneida Co., N.Y. Will Books, Vol. 7, pp. 293 – 295.

²⁵1830 Federal Census of Camden, N.Y., p. 353.

²⁶Boynton and Boynton, The Boynton Family, p. 272.

²⁷Oneida Co., N.Y. Will Books, Vol. 7, pp. 293 – 295.

²⁸The only reference to this marriage date and place is found in the family group record form prepared by Jerry Seelos for the George Seelos family organization.  No reference to the original record was given on that family group record form nor has it been found in other research.

²⁹This date and place of birth for Sarah Holkins has not been verified in original records.  It is based on information on family group record forms in the Family Group Record Archives of the LDS Church.

Chapter 2

The Ohio Years 

According to family tradition, Hiram and his new wife, Sarah, moved to the Western Reserve in northeastern Ohio shortly after their marriage.  No census entry has been found which would either substantiate or refute this, however.  But since later records seem to agree that their children were born in Ohio, it is assumed that the family tradition is correct.

 The Western Reserve is an area in the northeastern corner of Ohio made up of about twelve of the present counties of that state.  Undoubtedly, Hiram’s Connecticut origin influenced him to settle there,  for many years, but particularly between 1796 and 1850, the Western Reserve served as a great magnet, attracting tens of thousands of New Englanders, largely those with Connecticut origins.  Historians say that the new inhabitants created an atmosphere more typical of early New England than any other area outside of New England.  Many members of these migrating families, or their children born on the Reserve, pioneered new homes farther west.³⁰

 Hiram and Sarah’s first child was born 25 Jan. 1829 in Sheffield, Ashtabula, Ohio, he was named Joseph Henry Byington.³¹

 ³⁰ Meredith B. Colket, Jr.  “The Widely Known ‘Western Reserve’ of Ohio”, World Conference on Records paper, Area I, No. 29  (Salt Lake City, 1969), p. 1.

On 14 Oct. 1830,³² another son was born to Hiram Norton and Sarah Byington.  This birth took place at Lake Erie in Ohio.³³ The child was named Hiram Elliott.

It has been supposed that another child was born to Hiram and Sarah in about 1833.  However, nothing is known of this child except that it was supposed to have been the child that died in 1838, which will be included in this narrative at the appropriate place.

In Northeastern Ohio at the time the Byington family was residing there, a new church was getting its foothold.  It was called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons).  During the early 1830’s, the headquarters of this church was in Kirtland, Ohio.  It was here that Joseph Smith, its founder, had established a new society and had sent missionaries to proselyte among those people living in the near vicinity as well as elsewhere.  Apparently some of these missionaries contacted the Byington Family for it is recorded that on 21 Feb. 1836, Hiram Norton Byington was baptized by John Knapp and confirmed by C.B. Thompson in Kirtland, Ohio.³⁴

³²Hiram Elliott Byington’s birth date is also given in a number of church records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

³³Jerry Seelos lists Hiram Elliott’s birthplace as Kingsville, Ashtabula County, Ohio, which is possible since it is near Lake Erie.  However, no documentation for this place of birth is listed.

An interesting entry was made by the Prophet Joseph Smith in his journal on 21 Feb. 1836, the day Hiram was baptized:

Sunday, 21.  Spent the day at home in reading, meditation and prayer.  I reviewed my lesson in Hebrew.  Some three or four persons were baptized, and the powers of darkness seem to be giving way on all sides.  Many who have been enemies to the work of the Lord, are beginning to enquire into the faith of the Latter-day Saints, and are friendly.³⁵

One might wonder if Joseph’s statement about “enemies to work of the Lord” could have had reference to the former lives of the “three or four persons (who) were baptized.”

Hiram was ordained a priest in Mar. of 1836,³⁶ and on the third day of that month was issued a certificate to preach the gospel, although it was not recorded until the 19^th of Sept. 1836.  It read as follows:

To Whom it may concern

This certifies that Hiram N. Byington has been received into the church of the Latter day Saints, organized on the sixth of April in the year of our Lord one thousand, eight hundred & thirty, & has been ordained a priest according to the rules and regulations of said church, & is duly authorized to preach the gospel, agreeably to the authority of that Office.  From the satisfactory evidence which we have of righteousness, & diligent desire to persuade men to forsake evil, & embrace truth, we confidently recommend him to all candid & upright people as a worthy member of society.  We therefore, in the name & by the authority of this church, grant unto this, our worthy brother in the Lord, this letter of commendation as a proof of our fellowship & esteem: praying for his success, & prosperity in our Redeemer’s Cause.

Given by the direction of a conference of the Elders of said church assembled in Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, the third day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand, eight hundred & thirty six.

Signed: F.G. Williams Clerk

Kirtland, Ohio, September 19, 1836.³⁷

Just one month and six days after Hiram’s baptism, on the 27^th of March 1836, the Kirtland Temple was dedicated.  This was the first temple erected by the Latter-day Saints.  Some glorious manifestations were witnessed in connection with the dedication of this edifice.  For example, the following incident is recorded as having taken place on the day of the dedication of the temple:

I (Joseph Smith) met the quorums in the evening and instructed them respecting the washing of feet, which they were to attend to on Wednesday following; and gave them instructions in relation to the spirit of prophecy, and called upon the congregation to speak, and to not fear to prophesy good concerning the Saints, for if you prophesy the falling of these hills and the rising of he valleys, the downfall of the enemies of Zion and the rising of the Kingdom of God, it shall come to pass.  Do not quench the Spirit, for the first one that opens his mouth shall receive the Spirit of prophecy.

Brother George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; any began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation.  The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished at what was taking place.  This continued until the meeting closed at eleven p.m.

The number of official members present on this occasion was four hundred and sixteen, being a greater number than ever assembled on any former occasion.³⁸

 On 25 June 1836, Hiram received a patriarchal blessing from Joseph Smith, Sr., the father of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  This patriarchal blessing was received in Kirtland, Ohio.³⁹  At the same time, Sarah (Holkins, also spelled Hawkins) Byington received a patriarchal blessing, also for Joseph Smith, Sr.⁴⁰

 ³⁵Joseph Smith,  History of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1968), Vol. 2, p. 398.

³⁶Menan, Idaho LDS Ward Membership Records, 1881 – 1941, p. 8.

³⁷Kirtland, Ohio LDS Elder’s Licenses, 1836 – 1838, p. 169.  The same wording is used in all the certificates issued from 1836 to 1838.  They were certificates issued to preach the Gospel similar to missionary certificates later issued by the same church, and generally indicated the priesthood held.

³⁸Smith, HC, Vol. 2, p. 428.

³⁹Patriarchal Blessings, Vol. 2, p. 157, in the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  See Appendix I.

 In the December 1836 issue of the Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advocate⁴¹, Hiram’s license to preach was recorded:

 The following is a list of the names of Ministers of the Gospel, whose Licenses were recorded the last Quarter, in the License Records, in Kirtland, Ohio.

By Thomas Burdick,

Recording Clerk

Kirtland, Dec. 1, 1836

 Priests:

Jacob K Butterfield

Elijah B. Gaylord

Jeremiah Wilby

H.N. Byington

Samuel Parker

 Hiram certainly was in the vicinity of Kirtland, at least from 1836 to 1838, but the exact location of the residence of him and his family during the Kirtland years is unknown.