Monday, October 28, 2013

Dexter and Arabella C. (Agard) Horton of Seattle, Washington



 I met Arabella while working on an essay about her grandfather, Noah Agard of Litchfield, Connecticut.  In developing the essay I used files I had not looked at in a very long time. 

One of Noah’s nine children was Eaton Jones Agard (b: 15 Dec 1790-7 Oct 1863).  In 1816 Eaton married Catherine Mallette, daughter of Samuel and Kate (DeForest) Mallette.  Eaton and Catherine had three children: Daniel, Eaton, and Arabella.

Arabella C. Agard was born in 1827 in Catherine, Tioga County, New York, and continued to live with her parents and then her brother until 1882 when at age 55 she married Dexter Horton of Seattle, Washington.

Dexter Horton (b: 1825-1904)  was was born in Seneca County, NY, and early in childhood moved with his family to a farm in Shabbona, Dekalb County, Illinois. He married first Hannah Shoudy. They had two daughters Rebecca (b: 1850) and Nettie (b: 1863). Hannah died in 1872. Dexter then married Caroline Eliza Parsons.  Dexter and Caroline had a daughter, Caroline (b: 1878). In 1880 Dexter was widowed with seventeen year old Nettie, and four year old daughter, Caroline.  Dexter needed another wife. He found one during his year long sojourn back in the Finger Lakes when he met and on 14 September 1882, married fifty-five year old Arabella C. Agard.  

Dexter Horton, entrepreneur, was Seattle’s first banker.  Because of his reputation for honesty, the local loggers gave him their money for safekeeping. He stored their money in sacks hidden around his store, and he even used a coffee barrel for deposits.  He kept good records for his depositors and the Dexter Horton Bank was established.

Dexter (d: 1904) and Arabella (d: 1914) are both buried in the Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle, King County, Washington. 

No comments:

Post a Comment