Checking the Walton Vitals

Now that I have wrapped up the 1940 census project for my grandfather and his eight Walton siblings, I thought it would be a good idea to use the momentum to start gathering their vital records (Birth/Marriage/Death). I have been doing this for the English Waltons and since I took a break back in March , I thought it might be worthwhile to finish up this first American generation, before going back to my English research.

The first generation American Waltons and their Spouses in 1948

When I took my first genealogy course in 1991, there was no such thing as the internet, at least not in my household (and I was an engineer working for IBM at the time). My instructor carried cartons of books to the class that we could use to find information. That is, not information about our ancestors, but information to make contacts to get information...maybe...about our ancestors. Nothing was easy!

After conducting family interviews with my parents and discovering that my grandfather was probably born in Tarrytown, I mailed a letter to the town clerk and a couple of months later received a reply containing the birth certificate I had requested. This was the first step in a long, slow chain of discoveries that has led me to where I am today.  If you have ever been through this process, you know what I mean. What amazing changes have occurred in Genealogical studies. Today, with a few keystrokes, you might find your ancestors entire history. But knowing that it is the correct history takes some additional good old fashioned detective work. And If you want that birth certificate...you still need to send the town clerk a letter. You generally won't find it on the internet unless someone like me put it there.  It probably takes just as long to get a copy, and will be more expensive than it was in 1991!  

My first Genealogical record obtained manually in 1991

 
All these changes got me thinking...Have you ever thought about the world our grandparents lived in?  Imagine having to get through the day with no cell phone, no texting, no email, no laptops or tablets, no internet, no satellite TV...all the things we take for granted. Things that have now been integrated into our lives.  It would be more than inconvenient to lose them, we have come to depend on them.  And yet, twenty short years ago...in 1992, most of those things either didn't exist or were in their infancy.  And, 10 years before that in 1982 when all but one of the Walton siblings had died, all of those things were unheard of.

Harry's brother William and Mother Constance vising Dalton, Mass. in 1925

(Photo Courtesy of Claudia Shuttleworth)  

Ironically, we are instantly connected through email, texting and cell phones.  We have hundreds of "friends" on facebook, but we're more alone than ever. When is the last time you spent the afternoon with your extended family? Nowadays my favorite coffee shop is as quiet as a library. Although packed with customers, they are all siting alone hunched over a cell phone, thumbing messages into a tiny keyboard...maybe to a friend sitting across from them! 

Walton Brothers and sisters in the 1970's, Bob Walton is probably behind the Camera
(Photo courtesy of Alice Kearins)

We only need to look at our family photos and remember our own youth to recall how earlier generations connected with their families. Our grandparents still lived in the "real" world... unplugged.  When they weren't working, they spent time with their family and friends. Look at the photos, see the family gatherings. On a hot summer night, they didn't retreat into an air conditioned "media room" to be mesmerized by some mindless dribble on the boob tube. They sat on the patio with a cold beer and warm conversation.  Were our grandparents poorer than us because of their lack of technology?  They wouldn't think so. They probably thought they lived in an amazing world.  When they were born, the world traveled with horse drawn carriages, their father was a coachman and spent his life working with horses.  His children saw the introduction of the automobile, the airplane and by the time they were our age, man walking on the moon. 

Walton Siblings pay a visit to brother Fred's family in Mahopac, 1963
 (Photo Courtesy of Frederick Walton)

They witnessed jet aircraft breaking the sound barrier. (remember when you were outside playing and heard it? We knew we were living in the space age!)  They watched telephones and "wireless" radios find a place in every home.  They saw a grainy black and white image on a tiny cathode ray tube usurp radio and then watched it flourish into color on bigger and bigger screens, some as large as 25 inches!

They could take their own private automobile and drive several towns away to visit friends or family, a trip that may have previously taken hours on a train or bus.

Charles Walton and his Automobile
(Photo courtesy of Alice Kearins)  

None of them lived in the 21st century, but they lived in a truly modern age, these first generation American Waltons.  And, they would be completely baffled by the way we live today.  No, there are still no flying cars and we still grill our steaks on the back deck. The cell phone and texting wouldn't truly amaze them...after all Dick Tracey had this sort of technology strapped to his wrist for years! But our world is more complex, more intense, more hurried...and harried! We are more connected, but more alone.

In August, I will be traveling through New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey on a combination business trip and family visit. I will be carrying the Walton family Archives with me, and hopefully adding to them. 

Rick's parents, siblings, spouses and children in 2003 family reunion

 As I start gathering the first Generation American Waltons Vital records, I may call on you to see if you already have something I need so I don't waste time collecting information you can provide me. I may also have some existing records about your branch of the family that I would be happy to share. In some cases my travel schedule is limited, but If I am nearby, I would love to meet you even if it's just for a quick hello. 

I hope we can connect on my upcoming trip to NY and New England.  It would be nice to remember the old days... with a cold beer and a warm conversation. (OK... we can sit in the air conditioned room if you promise to turn the T. V. off!)

The NEW YORK Walton's in the 1940 Census

Wrapping up a slice of 1940 Walton History

George Walton (1864-1910) and Constance Wilhelmina Long Walton (1869-1931) produced a total of  12 children, of which 9 survived to adulthood. Only one child, John (Jack), remained single. The rest of the siblings married and  produced families of their own.¹

 By 1940, George and Constance were both long gone, but their many children and grandchildren had spread beyond the borders of Tarrytown, the family home place. Most had stayed in lower New York. Son Harry was raising his family in Massachausetts while his widowed sister Connie remained in Arkansas City, Kansas where she lived with her husband before his unexpected death.

Constance Walton McMonagle in the 1940's

The 1940 Census gives us a unique look into these families and helps us see the roster of grand-children's names of this second generation of Walton's in America. For many readers, this generation is our parents or grandparents.


Back in March, I started looking for the "Westchester Walton's" in preparation for the release of the 1940 Census in April. Using the 1930 census as a starting point I located many of the siblings, but a few eluded me and Frank Walton absolutely refused to be found.

Starting with my grandfather, Fred Walton, the youngest sibling I located his census (see "The other side of the Street") and solved the genealogical mystery surrounding it (see "What became of Aunt Agnes?"). This was both challenging and rewarding. It took a little detective work to locate the proper record. I followed up by flexing my genealogical muscles and locating oldest sibling William, then, in birth order, I found Robert and Harry.

The next sibling, Charles, was in White Plains in 1930, but had moved by 1940 making him difficult to locate, so I skipped on to the next sibling, looking to harvest the "low hanging fruit" first.

I got stuck on the next sibling, eldest daughter Constance. She was no longer at her 1930 address either, but I had some clues that led me to a 1938 address in  Arkansas City, Kansas². A newpaper article I have showed her in WWII WAC uniform and described her as being from Arkansas city. Presumably this is after 1940 so I started searching through all the Census sheets for Arkansas City. I have gone through hundreds of pages and just found her this week. The remaining siblings had been on hold until I found Connie.

That changed last week. I learned Ancestry.com now has several states indexed, including New York. This makes searching so much simpler. I quickly and easily found three of the four remaining New Yorkers: Charles, Frank and Lillian.

John eluded me. He was living with Lillian in 1930, but had moved on by 1940, I suspected he was"hidden" amongst hundreds of John Walton's listed on Ancestry.com. This would take a little more investigation. I remembered he was in the Army, so I thought maybe he enlisted prior to 1940 and was away from home. Nope, his enlistment date wasn't until 1942. I went back and tried searching from many different angles, always getting the same result. No match for our John Walton (1906-1997).

In a way, it was almost too easy to find Charles, Frank and Lillian. I had enjoyed the mental workout of doing it the "old fashioned" way, looking through page after page of names until I felt like I was getting to know their neighbors. There is a certain thrill when you finally came to the name you were looking for, but enough is enough! where are you hiding John? Then it hit me...He isn't John! Well... he is John, technically, but everyone called him Jack. So I searched for Jack and Bingo! He is listed as a porter in a hospital in White Plains.

 I have now found my grandfather and ALL his siblings in the 1940 census. I  updated their links on the summary page "The Waltons of Westchester 1940 Census Summary" on this blog. I hope YOU will use these links to find your Parents and Grandparents.See what you can learn, beside the names. Did they own a house or rent? What was their rent, or the value of their home? What was their occupation? How much did they make?

The next step is to fill in the blanks. YOU can help me with that. Do you have family photos from the 1940s? Newspaper articles? Pictures of the family home? Stories? If you have anything you would like to share, I will gratefully accept your contributions. My goal is to create a page or more for each sibling to tell their story. How much detail we find about each sibling is up to you.


Notes:
1 Connie and E. J. Mcmonagle had a child in 1926 that died shortly after birth- source: newspaper article in Arkansas city newspaper and personal cards of condolence to Connie, now in the author's collection.

2. Connie's address when her husband died was 2403 N. A St. Arkansas City, Kansas on February 17, 1938. (Source:Diamond Grove Cemetery, located at 1601 South Lincoln Avenue, Jacksonville, Illinois)

Sad News

copyright (C) 2012 Rick Walton
This week I received some sad news from cousin Claudia Shuttleworth about the passing, on June 12, 2012, of 93 year old Daisy Mae Walton Smith. Our Sincere Condolences to the Family.

Original Photo courtesy of Claudia Shuttleworth.
Photo editing and text by Rick Walton

Daisy was a granddaughter of George Walton, daughter of Harry Walton (1897-1981) and Sarah Mae Adams (1900-1977) and sister of Claudia's mother, Barbara Simmons.

Her obiturary was published in the Berkshire Eagle on June 25, 2012 and is reproduced in full here:

Daisy M. Smith, 93, passed away on June 12, 2012 at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in Jaffery, N.H.

She was a life long resident of her beloved Dalton,[Massachusetts]. 

Some of her favorite things to do were puttering in her yard, walkingon York Beach and taking care of her family. 

 She was predeceased by her husband Roswell W. Smith Jr. (1977), a brother, Harry Walton and a sister Ruth Gaudette. 

Daisy leaves two daughters Cheryl Smith of Marlborough, N.H., and Susan Smith of Fitzwilliam, N.H., a granddaughter Michelle Amodia of Lancaster, Mass., three great grandchildren, Jade 13, Jasmine 13, Elijah 5, a sister, Barbara Simmons of Washington, Mass., and many wonderful Nieces and Nephews. 

There will be no services. She will be interned in Main Cemetery [Dalton, Mass.] at the convenience of the family. Donations may be made in her memory to Dalton Rescue, Flansberg Ave, Dalton MA.

Visit to California in May

Copyright(C) 2012 Rick Walton

I took a break from my 1940 Census project in May, combining business and pleasure, to travel to California. While there, I met our cousin Gayle (Walton) Judd and her husband Evan.

Gayle invited me to visit her lovely home in Saratoga, California where we traded stories and documents of our Walton family genealogy conquests and triumphs.Gayle has been researching the Walton family since the 1960's and is responsible for many Walton records available on the Family Search Website.

Gayle's grandfather, John William Walton, is George Walton, my great-grandfather's, older brother. Many of you reading this are descended from George. John and George are both son's of John and Eliza Walton.

Apparently John William came to America between 1880-1882, although we have not pinned down his exact departure and arrival dates. It is amazing how many John Walton's there where in that time period...he may as well have been John Smith! 

The Walton Brothers In America
John William Walton (1862-1936)	George Walton (1864-1910) Photo Circa 1887

We can conclude that George arrived in America around 1882 because of a job reference¹ from the Danyrallt estate in Llangadocks (modern day LLangadog), South Wales, where he was employed as "a groom under a coachman for somewhat more than a year." The job reference further states: "He is leaving me on the 6th instant [November 6, 1882] in order that he may join his brother in America, where he thinks he may be able to do better for himself than if he remained in England [signed] John Peel, 4th November 1882."

Is it signed H or S. L. Breese?
 Let me know your opinion.

A job reference² dated 1883 has George working as a groom for S. L. Breese (or possibly H. Breese). Unfortunately there is no address and, so far, I have been able to locate anyone of that name in the census or city directories in the U. S. or England. I don't know for sure if George made it to America in 1882 as planned. I do know, from a highly complimentary  job reference³ dated 1886, that George Walton  had been working as a groom for George E. Dodge of 72 Wall Street, New York City since 1884. Dodge was a successful Lumber merchant, Philanthropist and horse fancier. His glowing remarks about George Walton’s ability with horses is especially significant coming from someone who knows and appreciates horses like Mr. Dodge did.

The only brother unaccounted for in the 1881 English census is John William. coupled with the information in the job reference, it is an easy conclusion that John is the brother George is going to join. John's absence from the 1880 U. S. census leads us to conclude that John probably arrived after the census, but before the job reference was written, so he most likely arrived within the 1880 to 1882 time period. Anyone who can provide conclusive evidence of either brothers departure or arrival will be very much appreciated!   
 

Rick visiting Gayle and Evan Judd in California , May 17, 2012

 Like me, Gayle traveled to England and walked the same streets as our ancestors in search of clues.She related many interesting and funny stories, including an experience in Cheddleton. She traveled to England with her husband who was part of a choral group and decided to take a side trip to Cheddleton while her husband's group traveled to Scotland for a concert.She had taken a bus from nearby Stoke-on-Trent and traveled throughout Cheddleton on foot visiting many of the same places that I did, including the church. As daylight waned, she was trying to get in as much site seeing as possible before the bus was scheduled to depart. She asked some local women for directions to Sunnyside, The Walton family house, which is about a mile from the church. The local ladies offered to drive her over and a friendship was soon struck up. Although complete strangers, they ended up offering her the grand tour of the town the following day and convinced her to miss the bus and stay overnight with them.

Like two kids swapping baseball cards, we flipped through an amazingly similar set of photos taken a decade apart, trading stories and observations.That evening, Evan treated Gayle, my wife Ruthann and I to dinner at a favorite restaurant where we enjoyed a wonderful meal and good company. Genealogy talk had to take a break because Evan and Ruthann voted to ban the topic after a short time, allowing for more general conversation as we got to know each other a little better. This encouraged Gayle and me get together for an unplanned second day to discuss more genealogy "on our own time". 

 Gayle and I spent the whole next day together looking through several notebooks of documents she had compiled on her genealogical research. Given the short time window, we focused on the English Walton documents that were a common denominator. I helped Gayle set up a digital archive on her computer and we scanned in 22 documents, mainly English Civil Registration documents, that she has collected since the 1960's. I saved copies to my hard drive and was able to carry this treasure trove home to my archives.

As the hours ticked by, I was so absorbed in scanning and discovering... that I probably overstayed my welcome. I know I made poor Gayle miss lunch and I appreciate her patience with me.

As a result I have the following documents available and thanks to Gayle's permission, I am happy to share them with you by your request. Many of these will be explored in future blogs as we continue to document the Walton's of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire. 

First Generation (Children of John and Eliza Walton of Cheddleton)

Father	John Walton	1852 English Civil Registration Marriage Certificate
		1890 English Civil Registration Death Certificate
Mother	Eliza Walton	1893 English Civil Registration Death Certificate
1.1	Emily Walton	1853 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
1.2	Elizabeth Walton	1855 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
		1861 English Civil Registration Death Certificate
1.3	Jane Ann Walton	1857 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
		1868 English Civil Registration Death Certificate
1.4	Mary Walton	1859 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
1.5	John Joseph Walton	1860 English Civil Registration Death Certificate
1.6	John William Walton	1862 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
1.7	George Walton	1864 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
1.8	Edwin Walton	1865 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
1.9	Louisa Walton	1867 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
1.10	Rose Walton	1870 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
		1937 English Civil Registration Death Certificate
1.11	Frederick Walton	1872 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate
1.12	Charles Walton	1874 English Civil Registration Birth Certificate

Note: Brothers John and George, the subject of this article, are highlighted

Second Generation (Children of George & Wilhelmina Constance Walton)  

1.7.5	Robert Walton	1936 SS Application
1.7.7	Charles Walton	1900 Baptism Certificate
		1937 SS Application
1.7.12	Frederick Walton	1936 SS Application

Footnotes:
1. Peel, Robert, Job reference for George Walton, 4 November 1882, Danyrallt estate in Llangadocks (modern day LLangadog), South Wales, from the personal papers of George Walton passed on to daughter Constance Walton McMonagle and then passed on to grandaughter Mabel (Molly) Walton Lewis who provided copies in 2000 to current holder and transcriber Frederick Walton, Raleigh, NC.

2. Breese, S. L., Job reference for George Walton, 1883, location not stated, from the personal papers of George Walton passed on to daughter Constance Walton McMonagle and then passed on to grandaughter Mabel (Molly) Walton Lewis who provided copies in 2000 to current holder and transcriber Frederick Walton, Raleigh, NC.

3. Dodge, George E., Job reference for George Walton, 1 Feb. 1886, 72 Wall St., New York, New York., from the personal papers of George Walton passed on to daughter Constance Walton McMonagle and then passed on to grandaughter Mabel (Molly) Walton Lewis who provided copies in 2000 to current holder and transcriber Frederick Walton, Raleigh, NC.