Funeral Services were held at the Layton farm five miles east of Toledo Friday for Mrs. Sirrilda B. Layton, on of the oldest real pioneer residents of Lewis county and southwest Washington. Mrs. Layton's death occurred at her home Wednesday morning, December 9. She was 89 years of age. An interesting thing in connection with her death and burial was the fact that her funeral occurred at her home where for the past 74 years, since she was married in October, 1851, she had resided continuously. Burial was in Lone Hill cemetery near the Layton home.
The story of Mrs. Layton's life is a romance of the pioneers who crossed the plains in '49, and is interwoven with the early history and development of Lewis county and southwest Washington. In 1849, Samuel Layton, a widower, and his two sons, Francis and Charles Layton, left their native state of Indiana on the long trail across the plains to the then Oregon country. They reached Vancouver in 1850 and the following year found their way up the Cowlitz valley to the neighborhood of Toledo, where, in the spring of 1851, they settled on Eden prairie, five miles east of that place. J. C. Davis and family , also pioneers of '49, located there at the same time. Samuel Layton and his son, Francis, took donation land claims, as did also Mr. Davis. Charles Layton was too young to take a claim.
Mrs. Sirrilda B. Layton was the daughter of Mrs. Rebecca Prince, a widow who also had crossed the plains from her home in Missouri in the year 1849. Mrs. Prince was a sister of J. C. Davis. During the long journey from the Missouri river to the Pacific Northwest, the Layton and Davis-Prince parties passed and re-passed each other at various times. It was while on this journey that Francis Layton made the acquaintance of Sirrilda Prince and when in the summer of 1851 the young woman visited the home of her uncle, J. C. Davis, the young people were thrown into each other's company with the result that they were married October 14, 1851. The wedding was a typical pioneer one, the ceremony being performed under a big cedar tree on the north bank of the Cowlitz river four miles east of Toledo. George B. Roberts of Hudson Bay Company fame ws the justice of the peace who performed the ceremony. Justice Roberts was insistent on the ceremony being performed on the north bank of the river, where he knew he had legal jurisdiction, the land there having previously been surveyed; while it was yet unsurveyed on the south side of the stream. Present at the marriage were the principals, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Davis and justice Roberts. For many years the oldcedar tree stood as a landmark to this historic event, but the raging waters of the Cowlitz eventually bore it away.
Mr. and Mrs. Francis Layton lived on Eden prairie happily and reared a large family, twelve children being born to them. However, in April, 1882, Mr. Layton died and of the various children but five now sruvive the mother, these being Mrs. Harry H. Hurst of Chehalis; Mrs. Rebecca Spencer of Ethel; Mrs. Caroline Evans of Alberta, Can.; and two sons, E. S. and E. P. Layton of Knab. All are highly respected in the communities where they reside.
Until very recent date, Mrs. Layton, despite her advanced age, led a most active life. During all her years she was always busy. She kept a garden which she gave her personal attention, had a flock of chickens, until recent years had some pigs, and kept a cow which she milked. During the delightful summer months it was her custom to arise at 4 o'clock each morning and she found her greatest happiness and contentment in being always busy. In her neighborhood she was generally regarded as a ministering angel to all wherever sickness or death came into a home and especially because of this will she be greatly missed.
She ws the only woman in Lewis county, so far as can be learned, who crossed the plains in '49. Her life in southern Lewis county was a model of industry and kindness to all her neighbors and friends. Due to this fact and the large number of descendants of the Davis-Prince-Layton family, which maintains an organization and meets annually in a reunion which attracts several hundred people, there was an unusually large attendance at her funeral. (photo)
Source: The Chehalis Bee-Nugget, 18 Dec 1925, page 16.
Transcribed by Diana Smith. She has no further information on this individual.