City Directory Details for Charles Walton, Coachman

A review Of New York City Directories (1878-1925)

(c) 2020 by Walton Family Historian Frederick E. Walton

Sample Cover Page for Trow's New York City Directory

A careful review of Trow's New York City Directories for the working period of Charles Walton's life may help uncover possible evidence of when he arrived and worked in New York City during the early years of his life.  Unfortunately there is implicitly a lack of specific detailed data in a  directory entry that may cause us to misinterpret those facts, even though a certain amount of speculation is required. Nevertheless, there is a pattern to the data and this is my interpretation.

During the nearly half century between 1878 and 1925, a solitary Charles Walton is consistently listed as a Coachman, Driver or Chauffeur. There is never listed within this period two Charles with the same occupation. However, since there are missing or unavailable directories, it is a possible that a period occurred when one coachman named Charles Walton left and a different coachman named Charles Walton coincidentally arrived shortly afterwards.

In the period from 1884 to 1908 we find Charles Walton, Driver, Coachman or Ostler living at 22 E 39th st. in Manhattan. If this is "our" Charles, born in 1874, he would have only been 10 years old in 1884. While this is possible, it is unlikely. We probably think of a "Coachman" as the the driver of any type of coach or carriage, as we have seen in movies a hundred times. In reality the “Coachman’s” duties encompasses a much broader responsibility. A coachman reports directly to his employer and, being in command of the stables, the most important building after the house, is responsible for caring for and managing all the master's horses and carriages and related employees. He typically lives, with his staff, above the stable, not as a sign of his lowly stature, on the contrary, he is responsible for the very valuable carriages and horses and needs to constantly observe their health and oversee their feeding, grooming, and exercise whether they pull a carriage that day or not. This is a huge, “senior manager” type responsibility, and unlikely to be trusted to a 10 year old boy.

In another anomaly, why would “our” Charles be living with his new wife and Father-in-law a month after his wedding, as listed  in the 1900 Census, but then return to the same address listed in the directory before and after his wedding?

Either of the above facts may cause you to question if there are in fact two Charles Waltons, but there is one overlap time period that strongly supports this conclusion. In the 1905 Census, Charles and Mamie live at 136 E 28th Street. At the very same interval (1904-1908), and specifically in 1905, Chas Walton, Coachman lists his home address in the directory at 20 E 39th.

In 1911 and beyond, we find Charles Walton, a chauffeur, living 691 E 137th st, Bronx New York. This is the identical address that Charles Walton, a Chauffeur, lives with his wife Mary and their 2 children in the 1910 Census.  It would be nice to compare earlier census records with City directory records to see if this is a consistent pattern. Unfortunately a Charles Walton doesn't appear in the directories until 1884 so the 1880 census is of no use, and both the 1890 U. S. Federal census and the 1892 N. Y. State census (specifically records for N. Y. County) no longer exist.

More research is needed to determine if "our" Charles Walton did, in fact, even practice the occupation of Coachman, Driver and/or Chauffeur. It is encouraging to know (at least!) that both his father, John, and brother, George. where coachman, so this was somewhat of a "family business".

Below is a summary of the data I have found to date in the New York City Directories I was able to find. I'll let you make your own conclutions! Please feel free to leave comments if you have a different conclusion or see another pattern in the data.

Source: 

1) Ancestry.com (Search card catalog under "U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995")

2) https://ldsgenealogy.com/NY/Bronx-County-City-Directories.htm

Research from Trow's New York City Directory (Note: Missing Dates unavailable)
Date	Directory Data for WALTON	Comment
1878-1883	No entry found for Charles Walton, Coachman
1884	Walton, Charles, Driver, h 22 E 39th
1886	Walton, Charles, Coachman, h 22 E 39th
1888	No Charles Listed	Could have be unavailable when enumerators where canvassing
1889	Walton, Charles, Driver, h 22 E 39th
1891	No Charles Listed	Could have be unavailable when enumerators where canvassing
1892	Chas. Coachman, h 22 E 39th
1894	Chas. Coachman, h 22 E 39th
1895 & 1896	City Register Only, No individual names
1897	Chas. Ostler, h 22 E 39th	an "Ostler" is someone who works with Horses (which is technically what a coachman does. A coachman manages the horses, and is responsible for their health, excercise, feeding, etc)
1898 & 1899	Chas. Coachman not listed	No listing at all for 22 E 39th
1900-1904	No 1900,1901, 1902, 1903 business directory only	Note: Charles Walton, Coachman, and Mary (Mamie Condon) Walton are married and listed in the 1900 Census as residing at 275 E 75th Street, Manhattan, N.Y.  which would suggest that the “Chas. Coachman” living at 22 E 39th before and after 1900 may be another person???
1904-1908	Chas. Coachman, h 22 E 39th	1905 Census lists Charles and Mamie living at 136 E 28th St.
1909	Chas. Coachman not listed
1910	Chas. Chauffeur, h 211 W 120th	different address after at least 24 years. Could this be a different Charles? Note to be published in 1910 was probably enumerated in 1909.
1911	Chas. Chauffeur, h 691 E 137th	Same address as 1910 U.S. Federal Census
1912	Chas. Chauffeur, h 691 E 137th
1913	Chas. Coachman not listed
1915,1917	Chas. Chauffeur, h 691 E 137th	1916 unavailable
1918-1925	1918-1921 not available 1922/23 & 1925 No listing found.