Person:Isaiah Sutton (1)

Research Notes

• Dunkirk is located in both Jay and Blackford counties, which can cause a lot of confusion.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Isaiah Sutton, in Shinn, Benjamin G ed. Blackford and Grant counties, Indiana: a chronicle of their people past and present with family lineage and personal memoirs. (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co, 1914).

   p 18 - [father] Hezekiah Sutton ... [and] His wife, whose maiden name was Gardiner ... Of their several children, one was Isaiah, who was born in 1802 , at Jamestown, Greene county, Ohio, and who was reared under the conditions and influences of the early pioneer era, Ohio having been admitted to Statehood about a decade after his birth. He became one of the early clergymen of the Methodist church in Ohio, and as an itinerant minister he lived up to the full tension of the pioneer days, as he went from place to place to preach in the little log houses of the day and labored with consecrated zeal in the uplifting of his fellow men. As a '"circuit rider" of his church the Rev. Isaiah Sutton came to Indiana in 1836, and in this state he repeated his pioneer experiences, in fact he and his companions having been compelled literally to hew their roads through from Greeneville, Darke county. Ohio, to what is now the town of Dunkirk, Jay county, Indiana. This devoted pioneer clergyman entered and perfected claim to a tract of heavily timbered land in Jay county, and on a portion of this tract is now situate the thriving little city of Dunkirk. There the earnest and godly clergyman made his home and developed a farm, the while he continued his services as a minister, denying himself and enduring immeasurable hardships in making his rounds as a circuit rider in the pioneer community, his services having been given in this line in Jay, Blackford and Delaware counties, in each of which he was influential in establishing the early churches of his denomination. Revered by all who knew him, this noble pioneer rested from his labors and entered into eternal rest in August, 1864 , and well may it be said that "his works do follow him." In summer's heat and winter's cold he passed onward in his devoted work, and none can doubt that in all things his was the faith that makes faithful. He was compelled in his labors to ford swollen streams, traverse flooded districts, to defend himself from attack by wolves and to upbear himself against many other perils and hardships. Rev. Isaiah Sutton was twice married. He first wedded Catherine Shrack, of Ohio, and they became the parents of eleven children. His second wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Sawyer, bore him six children, and she survived him by fifteen years, having been his faithful helpmeet, even as his first wife had been.
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   [cos1776 Note: Likely error. The birth (1802) and death (Aug 1864) dates given in this text do not match those inscribed upon his headstone and therefore I believe them to be in error.]

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Grave Recorded, in Find A Grave.

   [Includes headstone photo. Inscription: ISAIAH SUTTON, DIED, OCT. 22, 1865, AGED 56 Ys & 18 Ds]
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   [cos1776 Note: Memorial page states that he was born in New Jasper, Greene Ohio. No sources provided.]

3.   Biography of John T. Sutton, in Unknown publication.

   ... The first of the name in this county were Isaiah and Catherine SUTTON, who came over
   here with their family from Ohio in 1837 and established their home in Richland
   township, where they became influential factors in the development of that section of
   the county. Isaiah SUTTON was the owner of a small farm in Greene county, Ohio, in
   which county both he and his wife were born, members of pioneer families there, and
   when the lands in this section of Indiana began to attract the attention of prospective
   settlers he came over here on a prospecting tour, walking down from Fort Wayne, and
   entered a tract of 240 acres in Richland township, this county. That was in 1836, the year
   in which Jay county was organized. He returned to his home in Ohio, disposed of his
   land and interests there and in the following year drove through with his family and
   household belongings and settled on his new farm in Richland township. There was an
   arduous task of clearing to be done there, but he eventually got it done and in time
   developed a valuable farm. He also opened a store on his place and thus became one of
   the pioneer merchants of the county, trading extensively throughout this section, and
   when the railroad came platted there the Dunkirk townsite, as is narrated elsewhere in
   this work. In addition to his other duties, Isaiah SUTTON was a licensed "local"
   preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church and became widely known hereabout as a
   minister of the gospel, his influence in the creation of a wholesome moral atmosphere in
   the neighborhood in which he settled being recognized to this day. Isaiah SUTTON and
   wife were the parents of fourteen children, of whom the late William G. SUTTON,
   former county auditor and father of John T. SUTTON, was the first born ...