Leslie Layton, 87, pioneered in Gila Valley

BUCKEYE - Services for Leslie W. Layton, 87, a rancher and farmer and pioneer in the Gila Valley area, will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints here.

Mr. Layton died Saturday in a Phoenix hospital. He was born in Kaysville, Utah, and was brought to the Gila Valley when a few months old. He moved to Tempe in 1943, continuing his ranching and farming activities. He farmed in this area until recently.

Survivors include four sons, Leslie J. of Yuma, Delbert of Phoenix, Rohn of Tempe and Max of St. George, Utah; three daughters, Mrs. Angeline Alder of Pima, Mrs. Elizabeth Anderson of Safford and Mrs. Helen Jenkins of Buckeye; and 19 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren. Buckeye Funeral Home is in charge of announcements.

-Arizona Republic, March 15, 1970, transcribed by Rhonda Holton
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100 YEARS IN THATCHER
1883-1983

LESLIE W. LAYTON
NELLIE CLARIDGE

Leslie W. Layton was fundamentally a pioneer farmer and cattleman of the Gila Valley. He came to Arizona when he was six weeks old with his father Christopher Layton and his mother Elizabeth Williams Layton. His father was sent to the Gila Valley by the Mormon Church to organize the St. Joseph Stake. He was the first Stake President.

Leslie W. Layton and Nellie Claridge were married September 3, 1903 at Thatcher, Arizona. Nellie was the second white child born in the pioneer town of Thatcher. Her parents were Samuel and Rebecca Claridge. Leslie and Nellie were the parents of nine children, Christopher, Angeline, Elizabeth, Leslie, Delbert, Rohn, Samuel, Helen and Max.

In 1907 the Leslie Laytons bought a farm in Bryce or Lizard Bump.

They moved from Thatcher to Bryce by wagon and team. Mrs. Layton followed behind with her two children in a buggy.
The years they lived over the river were pioneer days for the whole family. All his life Leslie owned prize work horses and saddle ponies. He worked early and late in the fields, clearing and leveling his farm. He and his wife milked cows, separated the milk so Nellie could make butter to sell at the Pima Market. They always had pigs and chickens to feed. It was always dark when the chores were done.

Twice a week Mrs. Laytron drove a team and wagon to the Eden spring to fill their water tank. The water was used for drinking, cooking, washing clothes and bathing. There were no wells in the Bryce area. These were fun trips for the children. If their father went along, he took his shot gun and walked home over the hills so he could kill a mess of quail.

Weekly trips were made to Thatcher for supplies. The groceries, dry goods, bailing wire, machinery, shovels, hoes, pitchforks, and barbed wire were bought at the Big Six store in Thatcher. These orders were filled by Owsley Reneer, Dave Phillips, W.W. Pace and his son Willard Pace.
These were the days of the one horse plow and the stationary tin can bailer. The hay was cut, raked, shocked and hauled to the bailer by horses. Mrs. Layton fed all the hired hay hands.

In 1917 the Laytons moved to Solomonville where they bought the I.E. Solomon and Brig Stewart farms. Farming became more modern and they bought their first tractor.
The twenty four years they lived in Solomonville were eventful ones.

They were active in the activities of the L.D.S. Church. Mrs. Layton was Postmaster for many years. The family enjoyed the people of the community.

The Graham County Board of Supervisors appointed Leslie W. Layton, Philemon Merrill, Tuck Prina and Frank Webster to serve on the Graham County Highway Commission to supervise the building of the first hard surfaced road through the Gila Valley. This improved road was built in 1924.

During the war years the Laytons moved to Tempe, Arizona where they bought a farm on the Salt River. About the same time he and his sons acquired a cow ranch on the Verde River near the Bartlett Dam. The calf crops were hauled to the farm in Tempe and pastured before they were sold.

Mrs. Layton died on April 19, 1948 while living in Tempe. Mr. Layton lived on his farm with his daughter Helen in Buckeye. Even though he spent the last eight years in a wheel chair with a broken hip, he still took pride in his farm land.

Leslie W. Layton died March 14, 1970 when he was 87 years old. He was the last surviving son of Christopher Layton. He and his wife are buried in Thatcher, Arizona.
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Leslie Williams Layton was the son of Christopher Layton and Elizabeth Hannah Williams.

He married Nellie (Ellen) Claridge September 3, 1903 in Thatcher, Arizona.

They had at least four children. Their son Leslie Joy Layton died in 1971.