Joseph Pratt Lawton was born May 22, 1833 near Antwerp in Jefferson County New York. When he was twenty three years of age, on the 29th day of October 1956 he married miss Jane Wilson on her 21st birthday. During the following 22 years eleven children were born unto them, all near, or in, Philadelphia, New York, just down the road from Antwerp. Of that total nine of them reached adulthood including my grandfather Will, born April 25, 1866 (as was his twin sister Wealtha), and their younger brother Charles born November 30, 1875.
About the time the dates changed from the 1800s to the 1900s Charles wed Mary Noody. On May the seventh 1904 Charles and Mary, having had children in 1901, 1902, 1903, now had their fourth which they named Ralph Gerald Lawton.
Grandpa Will and Jane had their first mutual child August 27, 1905. This child was named Lloyd, and he ultimately became my father. Thus my father and Ralph were first cousins, their fathers being brothers.
I shall gloss over the next twenty years or so bringing us to June 1925. It was on the 20th of that month that my father married Alice Halladay ultimately bringing about my birth some 13 years later.
About a month after their marriage, July 17th Ralph married Grace Halladay, sister to my mother. They had three children, Harold in 1926, Ralph Jr. (Gene) in 1927, and Richard (Skip) in 1929. Four months after Skip’s birth Ralph Sr. was killed in a farming accident just short of his 25th birthday.
Some ten years or more ago, I was wandering through a cemetery in search of a family member, when what should I discover but the tombstone marking Ralph’s resting place for the previous seventy-five years or so. At the time I was a bit surprised as I had no idea he was buried there. A couple of years then passed until there came a day when Gene and I were conversing. He mentioned he had no idea where his father was buried, and I told him I did know. He then asked if I would tell him how to go there, and I answered that I would take him there. At that point we went together directly to his father Ralph’s grave, paid our individual respects, and left again.
Bringing this tale up to the present I no longer know where this tombstone is located. In recent years I have taken it upon myself to photograph all those family stones that I can locate. Upon returning to photograph Ralph’s tombstone, I cannot locate it. According to two records that I am aware of including the cemetery records for the Grove Cemetery in La Fargeville, Jefferson County, New York, it is supposed to be in that cemetery, but those records do not say where. I have searched for it several times with no success.
If anyone reading this, knows of the stone’s location, please contact me, Leo@Lawtonissue.com
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