The earliest record of Captain James Dalton is found in a manuscript diary kept by himself and begun in the year 1736.  Captain Dalton has written various entries and memoranda of the arrivals, departures, and discharges of cargo at Savannah in 1736, Charleston in 1737, and later at East Cowes and other ports.  At this early day, therefore, we know definitely that he was already engaged in seafaring pursuits.  A few years later he was commander of the brigantine “Joshua,” trading between Boston and London, as appears by a letter of instructions from the owners, Henderson & Hughes, dated 1740 and directed to him.  Captain Dalton at this time was a resident of Boston, but it is not known how long he had lived here, or where he had previously resided. In 1740 he married Abigail, daughter of Peter Roe, who was also a resident of Boston, as shown by the Registry of Marriages of King’s Chapel of that date.  She had previously married Judah Alden, but her husband died very soon alter their marriage.  Captain Dalton continued to go to sea as ship-master, sometimes acting also as consignee of the cargoes.  He later became the owner of various vessels, and finally abandoned his seafaring life, taking up his residence permanently in Boston.  He then carried on a mercantile and shipping business, trading with Philadelphia, North and South Carolina, the West Indies, and the Northern British-American Prayinces.  From the years 1760 to 1770 he frequently sent his sons, Peter Roe and Richard, as supercargoes on these voyages.

In 1756 he purchased an estate in Boston, lying on Water Street, between Water and Milk Streets, which was then occupied by a tanyard, garden, a dwelling-house and other buildings. These buildings he pulled down, and in 1758 built upon the property a Mansion House, as shown in the picture on the opposite page, which was occupied by himself and family during the remainder of his life, and afterward by his son, Peter Roe. The house stood with its northern end toward Water Street, and its front to the eastward.  Soon after its completion a new street, now Congress Street, was ordered by a committee of the General Court to be laid out through the estate, running from Water to Milk Street. This was made necessary owing to the rebuilding of that part of the town, after the “Great Fire” of 1760. The projected street was partly a re-establishment of the old “Leverett’s Lane,” which ran from King Street (now State Street) to about the middle of Water Street, and which was then ordered to be continued through the intervening land, from Water Street in a southerly direction to Milk Street. The new portion of the street was to pass through Captain Dalton’s land, east of his dwelling-house, in such a manner as to divide it very unequally, leaving on its eastern side so narrow a strip as to destroy its value for building purposes. In December, 1761, Captain Dalton addressed a Memorial to the General Court, setting forth these facts, and asking that the location of the new Street, between Water and Milk Streets, might be altered and moved farther to the westward, so as to leave a good width of land on each side of it, and at the same time to make it join Milk Street at a point opposite the head of Atkinson Street. In order to accomplish this, Captain Dalton entered into an obligation with the Town Treasurer, not to require any compensation for his land occupied by the new street, provided it were run as he desired, and he also made an agreement with Francis Borland, one of the abutters, to make good any loss he might suffer by the proposed alteration. The change was accordingly made, and James Dalton’s estate then consisted of land lying on both sides of the new street. That portion lying to the westward contained his Mansion House, with an enclosed space in front, while that on the eastern side was soon built over with houses and shops, which were rented to various persons. The street thus laid out, at first known as the “New Street,” was afterward called “Dalton’s Lane” and “Dalton Street,” until the year 1800, when its name was changed to “Congress Street.”

Captain Dalton also owned real estate in Oliver Street, “Board Alley,” now Hawley Street, Joliffe’s Lane, now Devonshire Street, and Marlborough Street, now Washington Street.

He was prudent but energetic and successful in business, persevering, liberal, and public-spirited, courteous to his associates, and of a kindly disposition. He had ten children, dying on April 21, 1783, at the age of sixty-five. The Mansion House and its enclosure became the property of Peter Roe Dalton, while the remainder of the estate on Congress and Water Streets passed into the hands of his four sisters and their heirs.

Source:  Other Merchants and Sea Captains of Old Boston, State Street Trust Company, Boston, Mass., 1919

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