Calling All Cousins

George and Constance 
Wilhelmina Walton

According to an 1882 job reference, George Walton “… is leaving me on the 6th inst.  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”

Thus  began a lifelong journey, resulting in an American wife, a dozen children and, for many of you reading this blog, our very existence, in part, because of that decision George Walton made 129 years ago while working at an estate in Wales.

During his lifetime George collected at least six job references. The fact that our family holds these 19^th century documents is remarkable because they are, in reality, mere scraps of scratch paper that some employer had handy when George asked for a reference when moveing on to a different and perhaps more prestigious employer. The words are part standardized formula… “Honest and sober...etc” ... but also include heartfelt sentiment, reflecting the man they described.

1882 Job Reference from employer in Wales

 To George Walton, these scraps of note paper, from a wealthy man’s desk, were his passport to future jobs. He preserved them carefully.  After his death, they continued to be preserved and passed down. Today they are written evidence of the character of a man none of us knew, but many are descended from.

Why are Vital Records so Important? 

 

 Certain documentation is important because, as Joe Friday might have appreciated, it gives us the facts….just the facts.

So called “Vital records”:  Birth, Marriage and Death records, have been recorded by church or civil authorities for centuries and clearly identify important facts about our ancestors. It is the “who, when and where.”  While we may remember a grandparent’s birthday or anniversary, a vital record certificate is bona-fide evidence of that event that is fairly indisputable.

For example, George Walton’s death certificate clearly states that he died on June 16, 1910. This is believable because the issuing authorities had a respected Doctor (J. C. Todd) who was willing to sign an affidavit attesting to this fact.

 

 

BUT the death certificate also provides George's birth date as July 9, 1860. This fact is literally “chisled in stone” on his grave. It’s wrong!

Does this mean you can’t trust vital records? No, but it means you have to use a large dose of common sense. Ask yourself Who provided the authorities issuing the death certificate the birth date. Not George! So whoever it was may have gotten it wrong.  I didn’t figure this out for 20 years. For many years I couldn’t find George in England because I was looking for an 1860 birth date.

In July 2010, cousin Gayle Judd sent me a copy of George’s birth certificate, dated July 3, 1864. With the help of cousins Claudia Shuttleworth and Gayle Judd, I “found” George in an 1881 English census. I had previously dismissed this George Walton record because I thought the age was wrong. Once I made this connection the floodgates opened and we now have ton’s of information about our English ancestors.

As special as we Walton’s are, there are lots of Waltons in the world sharing our names. John, George, Frederick, Charles, Frank, William, Constance…etc...they show up everywhere when you Google them. Of course most of the results are either for someone unrelated or are otherwise completely useless. Having accurate vital records can help us narrow down the search results and lock in on our specific ancestors.

To accomplish this I have added a vital records matrix to the tabs at the top of this blog. Please check it out. I hope you finds it useful. My first pass is to identify what records I have, which also identifies those records we need. The Matrix may be incomplete as you read this, but keep checking back...it is a work in progress. If you have additions or corrections, PLEASE let me know. Perhaps you already have these records for your direct line ancestors. If you do, would you be willing to send me a copy for the Walton Archives so we can preserve them in a central location and add them to the matrix?

Calling All Cousins

Claudia recently asked me how many cousins we have made contact with. Here is the breakdown- George and Constance Walton had nine siblings that survived to adulthood.

Three children have no living descendants:

1. Oldest son William had one daughter Gertrude, who never married and is now deceased.
2. Oldest Daughter Connie had one daughter who died in infancy.
3. Jack, the eighth child, never married.

The remaining six children, all had children and many had grandchildren and great grandchildren. Of these six, we have connections to five of the lines:

1. Robert Walton- Four children. We Need to do more research to locate living family members.
2. Harry Walton- In contact with grandchildren Claudia Shuttleworth and Craig Walton.
3. Charles Walton- In contact with his daughter "Pip" (Beatrice) and grandchildren Alice Kearins and Cheryl Frost.
4. Frank Walton- In contact with grandchildren Sharon Woods Walton, her sister Donna and Cathy Wright, widow of Grandson Billy Wright.
5. Lillian Halpin- In contact with Daughter Connie & Walter Ludwig in Fla. 
6. Fred Walton- My grandfather,  in contact with my siblings and cousins in Idaho.

I am hoping to make connections to all six lines and expand our contacts to other cousins within the lines we have already established. I know there are other cousins out there who may be interested and may have information that would be helpful to us.

Please pass this web link on to all your cousins and ask them to contact me to join us on our journey to document the Walton Family.