First Name:
John
Last Name:
Paxton
Type: Light Keeper
Collection / Donor:
Born:
1791
Died:
1859
Place(s)
Place:
Title / Position:
Principal Lighthouse Keeper
Cause of Termination:
Died
Year Started:
1853
Year Departed:
1859
Begin Salary:
350
Source:
Register of Lighthouse Keepers
Show documents associated with this person:
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Entered Date:
Oct 12, 2018
John Paxton was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and the son of Captain Thomas & Genevieve Paxton. Thomas Paxton was British. He fled to Canada from the U.S. during the Revolutionary War because of his loyalty to the crown. His wife was French-Canadian.
His son, John came to (the) Frenchtown settlement and was here for the War of 1812, serving as a private in a cavalry headed by Captain Richard Smith of the 1st Regiment, Michigan Volunteers.
When General Hull surrendered his American forces in Detroit, Paxton was taken prisoner. He was released December 31, 1812. Just weeks before the River Raisin massacre he came home and helped bury the dead. Then he headed south to hook up with General Lewis's troops who were marching toward the River Raisin. He was captured again and later escaped; (he helped) ferryboats loaded with U.S. troops around Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio.
On February he married Thoetiste Lasselle of Monroe. The couple had ten children. He went on to be the sheriff of Monroe County. He was a grocer during the 1830's and the city's assessor from 1835-1839 and the keeper at the Monroe Pier lighthouse from 1853-1855.