John Litton
John Littleton Litton (1855-1935) was a farmer who owned the historic Litton/Slaven Farm in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area.
See Also: Noteworthy Settlers of the Big South Fork Region
Biography
Born April 1, 1855, John Litton was the son of Littleton Litton (1832-1912) and Polly Coile (1833-1868), who were part of the Litton clan that settled the area of what is now Litton Road in Oneida.
John Litton’s father was the son of James Taylor Litton and Anna Foster. James Taylor Litton was a school teacher who served as justice of the peace before Scott County was formed in 1849. He was also on the committee that helped form Scott County. His parents were James Edward Litton and Elizabeth Polly Coyle. James Taylor Litton was a fourth-generation American; his great-grandfather, Caleb Polleckfield Litton, migrated to the American colonies from England in the late 17th century.
John Litton was one of 12 children. His siblings included Amanda Smith, George Washington Litton, William Litton, Sherman Litton, Mary Jane Easter, Martha Watts, James Harvey Litton, Elizabeth Davis, Barney Litton, Dick Litton and James Thomas Litton.
Family
John Litton married Elvira Evelyn “Vi” Dawes (1857-145). They had five children: Ezra Litton, Calvin Litton, Elizabeth Terry, Poppie Blevins, and Ellen Kidd.
Life & Times
John Litton was known as a master cabin builder. In the late 1800s, he built a cabin for Armstead Blevins near the mouth of Parch Corn Creek on the Big South Fork River, for a sum of $5. The cabin stood until it was accidentally burned by hikers in 1998.
Around 1900, Litton built a single-pen, 1.5-story, timber-framed home with a stone foundation on a hillside overlooking the North Fork of Fall Branch, not far from what is now the Bandy Creek Campground and Visitor Center in the Big South Fork NRRA. He also built a two-story, English-style milk barn measuring 32 ft. by 32 ft.
That was the beginning of the John Litton Farm, or the Litton/Slaven Farm, which is one of four preserved farmsteads in the Big South Fork NRRA (along with the Lora Blevins Farm, the Oscar Blevins Farm, and Charit Creek Lodge). It encompassed a total of 184 acres.
Both the home and the barn that Litton built in 1900 remain intact on the Litton Farm, which is accessible via a hiking trail that begins and ends at Bandy Creek Campground. Later, around the time of Litton’s death in 1935, Charles Rudy “General” Slaven purchased the farm and made some additions.
Death
John Litton died on June 8, 1935, at the age of 70. His wife, Vi, died on Dec. 15, 1945, at age 88. Both are buried at the Katie Blevins Cemetery a short distance from their farm.