From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
Publ. 1912 - Page 1062-1065
 
GRANT DEAN HARRINGTON.  Among those persons who have by virtue of their strong 
individual qualities earned their way to a high standing in the estimation of 
their fellow citizens, having by sheer force of character and persistency won 
their way to a place of influence in the community, Grant Dean HARRINGTON, of 
Elkhorn, now serving his sixth term as county clerk, is entitled to special 
mention in a volume of the nature of the one in hand, partly because of his 
excellent record as a public servant and partly because he is a worthy scion 
of one of the pioneer families of Walworth county.
 
Mr. HARRTINGTON was born in Richmond township, this county, on October 12, 
1862.  He is the son of Milton S. and Fannie E. (MILTIMORE) HARRINGTON, both 
natives of the state of New York, she the daughter of Edwin A. MILTIMORE and 
wife.
 
Grant D. HARRINGTON was a small boy when the family removed to the town of 
Delavan, where he grew to manhood and received such educational advantages as 
the schools of that place afforded.  He subsequently completed the scientific 
course of study at the University of Valparaiso, Valparaiso, Indiana, after 
which he taught school one year at Goshen, that state.  He then went to Rock 
Valley, Iowa, where he published the Register during a period of about twelve 
years, during which time he was also active in other business enterprises, 
meeting with a fair measure of success in all that he undertook.  He was one 
of the organizers of the State Bank and became its first vice-president.  He 
became a leader in public affairs there and was postmaster at Rock Valley for 
some time.  He also carried on a real estate and insurance business.
 
Finally returning to Delavan, Wisconsin, Mr. HARRINGTON  purchased the 
Enterprise, which he published about three years.  He was clerk of the city of 
Delavan during its organization.  In 1900 he was elected county clerk, and so 
well has he discharged the duties of this office that his constituents have re-
elected him every two years since.
 
At all times an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party, he has 
represented his constituents in conventions and party councils, always making 
his influence felt for the good of his community and the party in general.
 
In 1886 the Masonic order at Hull, Iowa, initiated him into its mysteries and 
he later became a charter member of Pilgrim Lodge at Rock Valley, and was 
chosen its first master.  In 1886 he became a member of Delavan chapter, Royal 
Arch Masons, and has since received the honors of Delavan Council, Royal and 
Select Masters, Beloit Commandery, Knights Templar, Wisconsin Consistory, 
Scottish Rite, and Tripoli Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the 
Mystic Shrine.  He stands high in Masonic circles in southern Wisconsin, in 
which he has long been active.  Religiously, he and his wife belong to the 
Congregational church.
 
Mr. HARRINGTON  was married on January 5, 1886, at Osceola, Iowa, to Sadette 
SMITH, daughter of John and Mary (ELLIOTT) SMITH, a highly esteemed family of 
this place.  One son has graced this union, Elliott Dean HARRINGTON.
 
In closing this sketch, it is deemed fitting at this place to give an account, 
of the massacre of Edwin A. MILTIMORE, maternal grandfather of the subject, 
and six members of his family, by the Bannock and Snake Indians on August 
31,1859, near old Fort Hall, on the Snake river, in which Milton S. 
HARRINGTON, father of the subject took part, fighting the red men and probably 
killing their chief.
 
The MILTIMORES were Eastern people and knew nothing about Indians, and they 
attempted to cross the plain to Oregon by way of a new trail, opened by the 
government, along which the Indians were supposed to be friendly.  Milton S. 
HARRINGTON was the main promoter of the enterprise with his father-in-law, 
Edwin A. MILTIMORE, and he was with the party from their start from Fairbanks, 
Iowa, and in 1907 he gave the following graphic account of the trip before the 
court of claims:
 
"I was on ahead as usual towards evening, selecting a suitable campground, 
when we were attacked by the Indians.  Hearing their firing and whooping in 
the rear, I took in the situation at once, and while we were practically 
unarmed and defenseless, I started back, having a rifle, intending to do what 
I could in driving them away.  I soon met Charles N. MILTIMORE running in my 
direction with Indians following him.  Upon seeing us, they fled, disappearing 
in the sage brush.  Mr. MILTIMORE told me that the Indians had killed his 
father, Edwin A., and the rest of the family, so we retreated to the camp that 
I had chosen; but in a few moments the band came down upon us in full force 
and surrounded us except on the river side.  They dismounted and closed in 
upon us, firing as they came.  They had nearly surrounded me when I was warned 
by others of our party.  I then secreted myself in the bottoms, where I was 
joined by Nathan TITUS, a member of the train, who also had a rifle. The 
Indians then came out into plain sight when a shot from one of our rifles 
killed the largest of the Indians, whom we afterwards learned to be the chief 
of the band, when the rest of the Indians again disappeared.  The killing of 
their chief broke up this band of  marauding red men and they later scattered 
in all directions.
 
"By this time it has become quite dark and we joined the survivors of this 
portion of our party, and by marching all night around the country supposed to 
be infested by the Indians we again struck the trail the following day.  All 
night long we could hear the whooping of the savages.  We finally overtook 
George and Alonzo MILTIMORE who had gone on ahead hunting ducks, thereby 
making their escape, being away on the river when the attack was made.  We 
found ourselves without a particle of food and very scantily clothed.  We kept 
hid in the daytime, traveling the rest of the way by night, in order to escape 
further molestation.
 
"Having learned that a train was ahead of us, two of our party were sent to 
overtake it.  On the evening of the fourth day we came upon a small government 
train, which had been sent out from the camp on Bear river with supplies for a 
party of surveyors in Oregon, and were returning.  They had an escort of seven 
soldiers and a guide, under the command of Lieutenant Livingston, who sent a 
scout and a soldier back to the scene of the massacre.  They found the bodies 
and the contents of the wagons scattered around as if a general looting had 
taken place.  Apparently the Indians destroyed what they could not carry 
away.  A party of dragoons went to the scene also and buried the bodies where 
the massacre occurred.  The father, mother and five children of the MILTIMORE 
family had met death, one of the children being a baby, born en route.
 
"We went on with the soldier to the government camp on Bear river and were 
there given a tent and food by the commanding officer, Major Lynd, the 
soldiers soon afterwards transporting us to Camp Floyd, where we spent the 
winter, my wife keeping a boarding house, while I and the MILTIMORE boys 
worked at anything we could find to do.  In this manner, we secured sufficient 
means to purchase an outfit and during the following summer I brought the 
survivors of the MILTIMORE family back to Delavan, Walworth county, Wisconsin."
 
It is believed that all the MILTIMORE family is now deceased except Charles 
and George.  The family was practically ruined by this atrocious and 
unprovoked attack by the Indians, who destroyed property of the MILITMOREs 
probably aggregating seven thousand dollars.
 
Submitted by Carol