Thoms Kelton

*Thomas Kelton of Boston*

Home Stories Registers Notables Census Heritage Links Index

Stories Thomas Kelton [1652] Fernando Cortez Kelton Kelton Family Items See the Kelton House James Kelton Robert Kelton [1724] William Kelton Dr. Leslie Kelton Robert Kelton David Kelton Robert Kelton [1786] O.P. Kelton Mark A. Kelton Benjamin F. Kelton Australia See also Heritage page		Thomas Kelton's arrival in the New World is well documented because he was deported during the English Civil War. In 1649 Cromwell beheaded King Charles I in England and the Scottish Parliament declared the exiled youth, Prince Charles, as their king. In retaliation, the Cromwellians gathered an army to invade Scotland, marching to Dunbar on the east coast of Scotland. On Sept. 3, 1650, the Scots, under the command of General David Leslie, made a tactical error by leaving the heights to attack the English. Cromwell's forces killed 3,000 Scots and took 10,000 prisoners, though half were released because they were exhausted or disabled. Over the next seven weeks, 5,000 Scots prisoners were marched 120 miles south out of Scotland to Durham in England where they were imprisoned in Durham Cathedral. About 1,600 prisoners would die, mostly of poor hygiene and fighting among themselves. Thomas was among 150 Scots prisoners transported to New England on the ship Unity. Arriving in 1652, Thomas and 36 others Scots were sent work in the ironworks at Lynn, Massachusetts, near Boston.[1] No records have been discovered in Britain describing from where the Scots troops had come. During this period much of Scotland was "still feudal and land was held and worked by virtue of service to the Laird or Clan. When the call came 'to arms' the sub-chief would be more interested in numbers than names in providing soldiers for the army."[2] The first record of Thomas is in the colonies in the Suffolk Court Files in 1653 that lists 35 of 37 persons indentured to work in the Lynn Iron Works.[3] Thomas and his descendants lived in Massachusetts from the 1600s. In the early 1800s, a few moved to Dorchester and Athol in Massachusetts and some to Vermont. In 1833, Fernando Cortez Kelton moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he started a successful lumber business. Though some of his descendants continue to live in Ohio, others moved to San Diego, Calif., and Seattle, Wash. Several of his descendants now live in Chester County, Pa. A genealogical listing of Thomas and some of his descendants was first compiled in 1895 by one of his descendants, Dwight H. Kelton, in an 14-page booklet called, Kelton Family Items. This little book listed each head of a descendant family with the Kelton surname and their children with a few interesting notes about many. Also included was a short section of sketchy information about the military service of these and other Keltons. In 1962 retired Army Col. Edwin Coit Kelton, a descendant of Fernando Cortez Kelton, reissued Kelton Family Items with detailed information about the descendants of Fernando C. Kelton. A computerized supplement has been kept since then listing the living descendants of Fernando C. Kelton. The additions to Kelton Family Items did not follow those Keltons who remained in New England. Two other Keltons from this period listed in the DAR Patriot Index are John Jenckes Kelton and Samuel Kelton from Rhode Island during the Revolutionary War.[4] Sources [1] Michael Tepper, editor, New World Immigrants, Volume I (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979), pp. 135-147. [2] Letter to the author from John A. Cole, historian at Durham Cathedral, Durham, England, October 9, 1992. [3] Cole's letter lists the record in the Suffolk Court Files No. 1226, Massachusetts Archives, LXIV. [4] DAR Patriot Index (Washington: Daughters of the American Revolution, 1966), p. 381. Other Information Thomas Kelton Family Register


		Comments or additions may be emailed to Ed Kelton.

		©2002 by Edward F. Kelton.
		New Page on January 15, 1998

Sources