About the Clayton Historical Society
Margaret McLay Clayton
Margaret McLay Clayton ( 73 ), circa 1892
Moses McLay, Fintry Parish, Stirling County, Scotland, sailed with his wife and children to New York City in 1822-1823.
Documents show that Moses first settled his family in Sandy Hook, Long Island, New York. He subsequently moved them to Pennsylvania, Illinois, and the Wisconsin Territory. It was in Grant County, Wisconsin Territory, near the town of Mifflin that Joel Clayton, founder of Clayton, and Margaret McLay met and married in 1841.
Margaret's husband, Joel, an emigrant from Buxworth, England, was intrigued by the opportunities offered in his new homeland. Sometimes serving as wagonmaster, he and his brothers explored the Northwest Territory and California. Margaret and their three children stayed behind living with her parents, teaching school and taking care of her family. After Joel's fourth Westward expedition, she decided it was time for her and her family to join her husband.
Joel was mining in Bellingham, Washington, when he received the letter stating his wife was coming across the Isthmus of Panama to San Diego, California. This young Scotswoman with her three children braved the problems encountered on the journey, determined to succeed in this venture. Amazingly, Joel found his family when they arrived in San Diego.
After living in Fort Tejon, California, Stockton, California, and the Willamette Valley in Oregon, they eventually came to the Mt. Diablo area of California, where Joel and his family, as well as members of the greater Clayton family, lived. He developed the Mt. Diablo Mine and plotted the town of Clayton in 1857.
Joel died suddenly in 1872. Due to financial difficulties, Margaret eventually moved to San Francisco to live with her daughter, Eliza Clark. She enjoyed a long life, dying in San Francisco in 1908. Both she and her husband, Joel, are buried together on a hill, 'neath a tree, in Live Oak Cemetery near Clayton.
Fond memories of early times were recounted to her granddaughter Edna Calhan,
while Margaret was living with her daughter in San Francisco. In 1981, Edna
wrote the book, Clayton. Many of her recollections
are found in this book published by the Clayton Historical Society.
Joel and Margaret's second Clayton home is now our museum. It was originally located near the confluence of Mt. Diablo and Mitchell Creeks. The house was moved to its current site in 1976, and was opened as a museum in 1979. Descendants of the Clayton and McLay families continue to contribute vital information to our museum as they actively pursue the genealogy of their families.
