Household of David Allton
Males 5 thru 9 - 1
Males 10 thru 14 - 1
Males 15 thru 19 - 1
Males 20 thru 29 - 1
Males 50 thru 59 - 1
Females 15 thru 19 - 1
Females 50 thru 59 - 1
Total - 7
Persons employed in agriculture - 3

 
Nathan and Ada Cartwright were married on January 19, 1845, in Hancock County.  No hard evidence regarding her family has come to light, but there was one Cartwright family in Hancock County in 1850, the parents being William Cartwright (then deceased) and Abigail Davis, both originally from Rhode Island.  In 1840 they were living in Amity, Allegany County, New York.
Cartwright researcher Jack Hysel suggests that one of their daughters, who signed her given name as Amaca on one document, may have been the Ada Cartwright who married Nathan Alton.  See Martha Louisa Cartwright (sister).  See also Jack Hysel's webpages on Rootsweb.com.

Research by Alton descendents indicates that Nathan and Ada had an infant son who died and that she died in 1846.

The date of Nathan's marriage to his second wife is unclear.  Marriage dates in 1847 and 1848 have been proffered with no substantiation.  If they were married in New York, that would explain the absence of a marriage license issued in Illinois (although it must be noted that those files are probably incomplete).  The 1850 census tends to support their union about 1847 or '48, based on their children's ages.  Melvinnia was later enumerated as Alvina and Rebecca M.

Alva Alton, 31, male, carpenter, born NY
Rebecca A, 28, female, born NY
Andrew M, 2, male, born IL
Mary R, 2/12, female, born IL

 
"Melvinnia R., born Sept. 16, 1822, died Apr. 1, 1881", is part of the inscription read from Nathan and Melvinnia's tombstone.  She was named as Melvinia R. Parkest in Nathan's obituary and Malvina Parcus in a biography of their son-in-law, Thomas DeHaven.  Neither Parcus nor Parkest is a surname familiar in the general area of Hancock and McDonough Counties.  (In the 1840 Federal Census of McDonough County, there is a listing for a man whose name has been interpreted by other readers as James Parkis.  We disagree with that interpretation.  The person who wrote the names on those census pages usually dotted each lower case i; we believe that man's surname was recorded as Parkes.)

Eldon Alton, quoting from a volume of Allton family history compiled by Cecil Alton, states that Melvinnia was born in Centerville, Allegany County, New York.

We suggest that Melvinnia was the daughter of Wright and Martha Parkis.  Indeed, Wright's surname is found with several spellings so it may have originally been something else, but in later census years (from 1870 onward) the Parkis spelling was consistent.  Parkis census listings

So how did Melvinnia come to be married to Nathan?  Here's one possible connection.  Living in Centerville in 1840 were Lucy Allton (Nathan's sister) and her husband, Cyrus Keyes.  Perhaps after Ada died, letters were written and/or Nathan went back to New York for a visit.

The children born to Nathan and Melvinnia were probably all born in the area named Fountain Green Township in 1850:

i.	Andrew Milton Allton, born in 1848, died February 22, 1921, in Tennessee Township, McDonough County, Illinois.  Burial at Hills Grove Cemetery, McDonough County.
ii.	Mary Amelia Alton, born October 2, 1850, died May 1, 1902, burial at LaHarpe City Cemetery, LaHarpe, Hancock County.
iii.	Julia Etta Alton, born about 1857.

In 1852 a land patent was issued to Nathan A. Allton of Hancock County, giving him ownership of 40 acres adjacent to land already owned by his father.  View a representation of where Nathan's property was located.  Return to this page with your browser back indicator.

Nathan A Alton, 39, male, farmer, value of real estate 1200, value of personal estate 600,
born NY
Alvina, 37, female, born NY
Andrew, 12, male, born IL, attended school within the year
Mary, 10, female, born IL, attended school within the year
July, 3, female, born IL

Alton, Nathan, 52, male, white, farmer, value of real estate 1800, value of personal estate 900, born NY, male citizen of the U.S. aged 21 or more
Melvini, 45, female, white, keeping house, born NY
Andrew, 21, male, white, farm laborer, born IL, male citizen of the U.S. aged 21 or more
Ameline, 20, female, white, born IL
Ella, 13, female, white, born IL, attended school within the year

Allton, Alvie N, white, male, 60, married, farmer, born NY, father born CT, mother born VT
Rebecca M, white, female, 58, wife, married, keeping house, born NY, father born CT, mother born MA
Lathrop, Cyrus A, white, male, 16, farm laborer, single, farm laborer, attended school within the year, born IL, both parents born IL

 
Now on to Nathan and his third wife, Mrs. Elizabeth White (nee Thomas), married September 18, 1895.  Elizabeth was born in Canada about 1837.  Her parents were Jacob and Chloe Thomas, originally from New York.  Also, we believe Elizabeth was the sister of Sarah Emily Thomas, wife of Edward Squires; Emily was born in Canada (not in Ohio as published in several online databases).

Elizabeth was the third wife and widow of William Harrison White, a native of New York and son of Jary and Lucena (Lawrence) White.

William was a carpenter for many years; Nathan was working as a carpenter in 1850 and again reported that occupation when he and Elizabeth wed.  William and Elizabeth, married in 1877, lived in Warsaw.  On Nathan's and Elizabeth's marriage license her residence was shown as LaHarpe, but on the Board of Health document, her residence was shown as Warsaw and they were married at Warsaw.  Elizabeth's age was off a bit on their marriage license, but was reported more accurately in the 1900 and 1910 censuses.  Alton-White marriage documents  (68k, 89k)

Nathan died February 24, 1898, and was buried with Melvinnia at the Alton Cemetery in Fountain Green Township, Hancock County.  Many of the descendents of David Allton adopted the spelling Alton.  That is the spelling on most of the records found for Nathan and also on his tombstone.

Elizabeth died in January of 1911, burial location undetermined.