Draft Card

This is my paternal grandfather's draft card application. It is another document that is available. I got this from a paid site, Ancestry.com. It's probably one of the better known sites for family history. You should check it out.

Social Security Number

This is a copy of the actual form that my grandfather filled out to get his social security card. It has his parents names, his birth date, place of birth, his place of employment. And a copy of his signature.

As long as the person is deceased, and on Social Security's list as deceased, you can request a copy. It can be a big help in figuring out more about your ancester. By looking at this I can look for his parents(in England) and see if I can find him living with them.

I have quite a few of these documents in my collection. They cost about $30, but the information that I get from them has really made it a worthwhile investment.

Mother's Day

I wanted to do something for Mother's Day. This is a picture of my Nana, my maternal grandmother, my mother, Hazel, my oldest daughter, Kelly, and me. The occasion was my grandmother's 82nd birthday in 1995. At the time, my daughter was 15. She is now a mother herself. She has 2 beautiful children, a boy and a girl, my grandchildren. My mother didn't live long enough to see her great grandchildren. She died in 1998. I think of her often and I see some of her in each of my children, and also in each of my 5 grandchildren. I hope that my children tell their children about their grandmother. I know she would have love to see this new generation come to be.

Clarance Batchelor and Clara Tweed

When doing family history, it is always a good idea to find some way to verify the information that you find. For example, I know that I am related to my parents.  But what about someone looking for my history in 100 years. How would they verify this?

 This is a marriage return for my maternal great-grandparents, Stanley Batchelor's father and mother. I know that Stanley is my grandfather and I have documents to show that. I also can be pretty certain that Clarence and Clara are his parents. His birth certificate has their names on it as his parents. The marriage return is another level of documentation that shows me that I am on the right family line.

One Piece of Advice

I found this picture at my father's house. He had died in July of 2006 and my brother and sisters and I were cleaning out his house. I believe this is a picture of my maternal grandparents on their wedding day.

I got into family history after my mom passed in 1998. I wish now that I had asked more questions about what she knew about her parents and grandparents. She was kind of a private person, and didn't share much unless you asked her.

After my father died, I realized that I was on my own to try to identify the subjects of the pictures that we found in the house. My sister and I have been working together to try to figure out who these people are and how they may be related to us.

If I could offer one piece of advice to anyone who may be interested in finding their roots, it would be to ask questions, lots of them. Ask your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Even cousins can sometimes steer you in the right direction.

I wished I had asked more questions...

Charles Hunter

Charles Hunter was my mother's maternal grandfather. He and his wife, Bertha had 13 children. He was 68 years old in this photo taken in April, 1942. I'm not sure who the baby is. I think it is one of his grandchildren. He died in December of 1959. I was 11 months old.

Clarance, Where Are You?

Clarance Brooks Batchelor was my maternal great-grandfather. He was born March 29, 1872 in Cape May, N.J. He married Clara Tweed on Aug 21, 1900 in Aura, Gloucester County, N.J. They had a total of 4 children, 3 lived to become adults.

In April, 1913 my grandfather Stanley Emerson Batchelor was born. His mother Clara died around 1916. After her death, Stanley was sent to live with her family. I think because he was so young. The older two children stayed with Clarance. After this, I don't know a whole lot.

I know he remarried between 1916 and 1920. I found him living with another wife in the 1920 census, in Hammonton, N.J. with his two older children. But I haven't found anything else after 1920.

I keep looking every so often hoping to find some new information, but no luck so far.

Who Are You?

This is a picture of my mother. I think she is 4-6 years old. I have been trying to identify the man in the picture. I've passed the picture around but no one seems to have any idea of who he is.

Mom and Her Parents

This is a picture of my mom with her parents. My mother is about 17 years old. It was taken in Collins Lake, NJ.

This is a photo of my great grandmother, Bertha Hunter (Batchelor). She was my mother's grandmother on her mother's side. I think this was taken in the Paulsboro area.

Mom and Her Brothers

This is my mom and her two brothers, Victor and Stanley. Both the boys died young. Stanley was 3 and Victor was only 18 months.

My dad and his brother.

This is a picture of my dad and his brother, Walt.
Dad is holding his dog. I believe the year is 1946. My dad was 16. and Walt  18. They grew up in Croydon, Pa.

Getting Started 3

Once you collect enough information, you should figure out a system to keep it in some sort of order. I used loose leaf paper for a while, but now I have a filing system that works for me.

You will want to use a method that works for you. I tried three or four methods. Using files for my family lines works for me. There are plenty of genealogy sites that offer free forms to download to use to record your information. Ancestry.com is one that I use.

Organization is important. You want to be able to find that piece of information that you know you have.

Getting Started 2

If you do not have grandparents, other older family members can often help. Aunts and uncles can be useful in answering questions about other family members. I have an older cousin, my father's niece. She has been able to give me information that help me in my search.

Getting Started

When you start your journey into genealogy, it is always a good idea to start with yourself and work back. Look at some of the documents that you have on yourself. Birth certificates, your parents names and dates of births, marriage dates, your siblings dates of birth. Ask your grandparents questions about where they were born and what they know about their parents and grandparents.

My Paternal Grandmother

This is a picture of my grandmother

Mary Abrams Lawton.

Finding Female Decendants

Trying to trace female lines can be difficult. Without knowing their maiden name, what can you do?
One thing that has helped me is look at the childern's middle names.  Sometimes families would give the mother's maiden name as a middle name for their child. It isn't foolproof and doesn't happen every time, but it does occur and makes it worthwhile to look into it.

My mother's family

My grandparents on my mother's side were Stanley E. Batchelor and Myrtle N. Hunter. They were married on December 31, 1936 in Gloucester City, N.J. They had 3 children, Hazel N. born Oct 30, 1938 , Victor S. born Feb. 8, 1940, and Stanley E., born Apr. 5, 1944.  Victor and Stanley both died as young children, Victor in 1943 and Stanley in 1945. My grandfather was born on Apr. 30, 1913 in Clayton, N.J. He died Aug. 14, 1959, when I was 8 mos.  My grandmother was born on Jan. 24, 1913 in Newfield, N.J. She died on June 15, 1998, 6 mos. after my mother.   

My father's family

My grandfather was George Henry Lawton.  He was born on July 16, 1886 in Warrington, England.  George had three brothers and one sister. He immigrated to the US in 1907.  He eventually settled in Philadelphia, PA.  George was married twice.  His first wife was Victoria Edwards. They had three children, Victoria, Ralph and Raymond
His second wife was my grandmother, Mary Abrams. She was born on November 9, 1895 in Pennsylvania. Mary was married to Albert Hyde first. She had five children from that marriage, Beatrice, Albert, George, Catherine and Herbert.
George and Mary had two children, Walter and James, my father. 

Me and Genealogy

I caught the genealogy bug listening to my uncle telling me about how he and my father grew up. They grew up in a blended family...his, hers, and theirs. Having no experience with this type of family at the time, it fascinated me to hear him tell me about how they were all related.

I started my research in 1999.  I ran into a lot of brick walls, and managed to solve most of them.  I still have a few that I cannot seem to get through, but that is what makes this journey so much fun and interesting.  Finding out how and where my ancestors lived is challenging. 

Genealogy Fact

  Each generation that you reveal has double the ancestors consisting of direct decendents.  If you start with your parents and only go back 3 generations, you will have 28 new names to research.  These are grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents.

Mom and Dad on Their Wedding Day

This is a picture of my parents on their wedding day.  My mom's parents are Stanley Emerson Batchelor and Myrtle Naomi Hunter.  My father's father was there also.  His name is George Henry Lawton

My Parents

My parents names  were James A. Lawton and Hazel N. Batchelor.  They were married on June 15, 1957 in Lindenwold, NJ.  My dad was 26 and mom was 18.  My father work as a machinist for various companies.  Mom was a housewife and mother. She went back to school after we were all in school and worked as a LPN for several years.

My Family History

My hope for this blog is to let my family know a little about our family history. I am also looking for other people that may be related to my family. I hope you find some useful information.
Kathy