William Walton, Jr.
Walton, New York is named after William Walton, Jr., a King's patentee and a founder of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York. On March 15th, 1770, King George of England granted a patent of 20 thousand acres to William Walton and his partners, most of which form present day Walton.
The Battle of Lexington on April 19th, 1775 ("the shot heard around the world,") started the American Revolutionary War. Many of William Walton's relatives were pro-British, but he sided with those who struggled for independence. The State of New York, which was organized in Kingston on April 20th, 1777, recognized William Walton's land patent because he was a patriot. With the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3rd, 1783, which ended hostilities, this land patent could safely be settled and would later become part of Delaware County.
It was two years later on May 16th, 1785, that Dr. Platt Townsend, a friend of William Walton, arrived with his party on the West Branch of the Delaware River, in the area which was to become the Village of Walton.
Map from the Stockton Avenue School (located where the Walton Grange is presently located), recently donated by the Walton Grange.