Walter Marshall Dexter, Pioneer Extraordinaire

Mary Dexter's father was Walter Marshall Dexter, born 19 Dec 1831 in Maine to Lotan Dexter and Ruby Fish.  He moved with them to Illinois in the mid 1850s and eventually moved on to Idaho in the late 1880s to homestead.  He died in Valley County, Idaho in 1913 and is buried in the same cemetery as his two children who drowned in the Payette River in 1890 - Crown Point Cemetery.

From The History of Henry County, Illinois: Its Tax-Payers and Voters, by H F Kett & Co, 1877  - pg 289 -  Walter M Dexter -
"Farmer Sec. 32; P.O. Ulah; born in Piscataquis Co. Maine, Dec 19, 1831; Rep;Bapt; owns 160 acres land, value $9,600; lived in Maine about twenty- three years, then went to California and was there six years; came to Stark Co. this State and lived there twelve years; came to this county in 1874; has held office of School Director in Stark Co; holds same office here: married Miss Alida Jane Bennett, Nov 24 1862; she was born Pennsyvania and brought up in Stark Co. Ill; they have four children, one boy and three girls."

Documents and biography pertaining to the settlement and progress of Stark County, Illinois : containing an authentic summary   Author: Leeson, M. A. Date of Publication: 1887   Subjects: Stark County (Ill.) -- History., Stark County (Ill.) -- Biography., Stark County (Ill.)...  pg 93 Chapter IV. Marriage record 1831-1866 -  lists the marriage of Walter M Dexter and Alida Jane Bennett as 24 Oct 1861.

Alida Jane Bennett was born 20 March 1835 in Milan, Cayuga, New York to Jeremiah Bennett and Sarah Winne.  She died 4 March 1924 in Valley County Idaho and is buried beside her husband, Walter M Dexter and her children, Lotan and Kezzia, in Crown Point Cemetery.  (Bureau of Health Policy and Vital Statistics. Idaho Death Index, 1911-51. Boise, ID, USA: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare certificate #045530 - This database is an index to the death records for the U.S. state of Idaho for the years 1911-1951. In addition to providing the name of the deceased, the index provides the date and place of death, the deceased's birth date, and their death certificate number.)