Samuel Fales Dunton was the 3rd Great Grandfather of Janet Pamella Wadley Fulton
Samuel Fales Dunton was born in 1835 in Camden, Maine, to Abner and Mary Dunton. In 1850, He was working as a tanner. On 25 April 1855, he married Frances Ellen Young. By 1850, he and Frances had 2 children including Cora, who Janet descends from, and he was working as a mariner.
He enlisted into the 6th Maine Battery of Mounted Artillery on 7 February 1862 in Camden, ME. The unit eventually became part of Tidball’s Artillery Brigade, Mott’s 4th Division, Hancock’s 2nd Army Corps, USA. He had a storied history with the army. He enlisted as a Sergeant, but at some time he was demoted to Private. Dates and reasons are rather obscure. He mustered out 17 June 1865 in Augusta, ME.
On 6 May 1864, around midday, the 6th Maine was positioned near the intersection of Brock Road and Orange Plank Road. Lee’s Army attacked with heavy gunfire, but when the assault was over, he had to retreat.
After the war, Samuel returned to Maine, and he and Frances had two more children. They then move to Fulton, Ohio and had another child. Samuel got the wanderlust and left, divorcing Frances in the process. On 28 November 1878, he married Orella Showerman of New York in Detroit, Michigan, and they returned to New York to live. She had health issues, and succumbed to her illness in 1905.
Samuel and Frances reunited in the Los Angeles, California area. He entered the Sawtelle Veterans Home in Los Angeles, CA soon after his arrival, and spent his last few years there. He died on 11 June 1906 of a cerebral hemorrhage. He is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Frances passed away in 1925.