Robert Lewis Byington

Robert Lewis Byington (January 29, 1820 – June 20, 1886) was a Democratic politician who served on the Sierra County Board of Supervisors (1867–1870) and (1875–1877), and California State Assembly, 24th District (1877–1878). Byington was one of the early pioneers of Sierra County, California. He was baptized as Robert Lewis Byington on August 27, 1820, by Rev. Heman R. Timlow. Early life Byington was born in Southington, Harford County, Connecticut on June 29, 1820. He was a son of Zebulon and Abigail Webster, a cousin of Daniel Webster. An early paternal American ancestor was William Byington who came with his wife Elizabeth Jackson from Yorkshire, England in 1638 and settled in the following year at Rowley, Massachusetts. The family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was raised and attended public school. Byington left Cincinnati and went by ship to California around Cape Horn, reaching San Francisco on April 29, 1852. Seeking the discovery of gold in California, he moved to the mining district in the Sierra Nevada mountains, going first to Dutch Flat and then to Goodyears Bar and Monte Cristo in Sierra county. On November 23, 1857, Byington married Catherine Alice Freehill at Forest City, Sierra County, California. She is the daughter of Francis Freehill, a native of Ireland. They had eight children: William Henry; Mary (died in childhood); Mary Emma, wife of Tirey Lafayette Ford; Lewis Francis; Charles Thomas; Catherine Lydia; Clara Mary; and Francis Joseph Byington. The 1870 U.S. Census lists Lewis Byington (49), Catherine (35), William H. (10), Mary E. (7), Lewis F. (2), Charles T. Byington (1).