ayton W. Stoddard was born in Hutchinson, Minnesota in 1878 and spent his youth there. His family moved to Portland, Oregon at the turn of the century. In 1913 he met Esther Graham, who was born in Elgin, Iowa in 1884. They were married in Vancouver, Washington where Dayton was a Lieutenant in the National Guard. He was transferred to Ft. Liscum near Valdez, Alaska in 1918 and his family joined him there the following year. At the time they had two daughters; Vivian, born in 1915 and Fay, born in 1917. The family was then transferred to Seward where Dayton was stationed for a short time. They moved to Anchorage in 1919, and he took his discharge from the National Guard.

In Anchorage, Dayton was employed by the Alaskan Engineering Commission for a short period of time. He operated an ice cream parlor from 1921 to 1923, and he and Esther had two more daughters; Dorothy, born in 1923 and Beth, born in 1924.

Dayton took the job of city clerk for Anchorage in 1925, and held it until his death in 1933. Esther was an experienced telephone operator and was employed by the city until her retirement in 1956. She moved to Oregon that same year and lived there until she passed away in 197l. Dayton is buried in the Legion Tract, Anchorage Memorial Park.

Dayton and Esther Stoddard’s oldest daughter Vivian married Robert B. Laurie, one of the young men who came to Anchorage during the depression years. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1911 and entered the United States with his family in 1923. He was raised in the Salinas, California area and at the age of twenty-three he ventured to Alaska. Arriving in Seward in the summer of 1934, he obtained employment as a longshoreman for a short period of time before moving on to Anchorage. The winter of 1934 found Robert Laurie on a trapline at Little Indian Creek on the Chickaloon flats. He also tried his luck at prospecting on Resurrection Creek but was unsuccessful, so he moved on to Palmer in 1935. There, he discovered his talents as a mechanic and started his career with the Northern Commercial Company’s Caterpillar department. He and Vivian Stoddard were married in 1940. They had four children; Alison Esther Laurie Lewis, Fay Irene Laurie Von Gemmingen, Laurie Lee Laurie Richmond and Robert Bruce Laurie, Jr. Robert, Sr. passed away in 1984.

The Stoddards’ second daughter, Fay Mildred Stoddard Eskilson was widowed in 1987 and moved to Olympia, Washington. Third daughter Dorothy June Stoddard Walling had two children, Robert Eskil and Dorothy Denise. The youngest daughter, Beth Marie Stoddard Allen, had four children; Deborah Lee, Robert Dayton, Kim Marie Allen Stanton and Cynthia Kay Allen Rabe.