DALTON, HENRY GEORGE (3 Oct. 1862-27 Dec. 1939) was an industrialist, business and civic leader and philanthropist.
Dalton was born in Cleveland to Frederick and Ellen (Gordon). He attended Cleveland public schools until age 14 when he went to work on WHISKEY ISLAND for the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad.
Dalton's industriousness caught the attention of Samuel Mather who hired Dalton as a clerk in the newly-formed Pickands, Mather & Company in 1883. Dalton quickly moved up to bookkeeper and in 1893 became the firm's fourth general partner. He became senior partner following Mather's death in 1931. Dalton honored his friend and partner in 1924 and 1925 when he gave Kenyon College $400,000 for The Samuel Mather Science Hall.
In 1925 and 1930 Dalton was appointed by the President to analyze the United States Shipping Board's merchant marine policies. As a director of both Bethlehem Steel Corp. and Youngstown Sheet & Tube, Dalton clashed with Cyrus Eaton in a legal battle over a proposed merger of the two companies in 1930.
Dalton was a patron and supporter of the CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA, and a vice-president, trustee and executive committee member of the CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART. In 1936 Dalton became the first recipient of Western Reserve University's doctor of humanities honorary degree and in 1938 he was presented with the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce's Public Service Medal.
Dalton married Julia Kaufholz on 19 Jan.1886 (d.1935). Their two children died at an early age. Dalton, an Episcopalian, lived in Cleveland and is buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.
Pickands, Mather and Company Records, WRHS.