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Born March 3, 1922, Tony Peyton, joined the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1940. After retiring He moved to Lubbock Texas where he lived 13 years before moving to Midland to be near his sons, Tyler and Terrance for the last six years of his life.

Shortly after graduating from Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio, Tony was asked to join the Harlem Globetrotters. This was long before the team became known primarily for its comical antics. In the early 1940s, the Globetrotters played and defeated many of the country's top professional basketball teams. His basketball success would now be considered unusual in that he was only six feet tall.

Tony also played briefly for the Chicago Studebaker Flyers later known as Chicago Studebaker Champions, a former professional team in the National Basketball League. As a part of the Studebaker Champions, He was a member of the first professional basketball team that included both black and white players. He retired from basketball in 1956.

After his basketball career, Tony worked for twenty-eight years in the beverage industry.

In 1988, Peyton moved to Lubbock, Texas, where he was active in youth basketball. He was a High Priest in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2001, he moved to Midland, Texas to be near his sons. The last member of the original Harlem Globetrotters, Tony Peyton died at the age of 86, in Midland, Texas July 23, 2007. for more like this please see Black Texans in History