Family Stories
Lawton Family Recollections
(by Richard James Lawton)
For me, this trip down the 'Lawton Family Memory Lane', began over 60 years ago. It seems like months, not years. Being born in the fifties to a middle class family in Brockton, Massachusetts, one of five boys and having a large family on both my mother's and father's side, made for a memorable childhood.
My father, James R. Lawton, had a life voyage that epitomized those of the 'greatest generation'. Born into a large family and having lost his Dad age the age of 5, our father was forced to understand the merits and strengths of his Catholic faith and it's teachings of loving one another. He was the beneficiary of those teachings.
Our Dad quit high school to join the United States Army. He became a paratrooper with the 17th Airborne Division. As a teenager he was critically wounded behind enemy lines, spending over a year in an English army hospital undergoing multiple surgeries. He grew up fast.
His time spent in the English army hospital delivered important lessons to our Dad. He wrote to hundreds of families for the illiterate soldiers who were also recuperating from their war injuries. He articulated and lived the pain, despair and loneliness of every soldier for whom he wrote. It was there as a teenager in a British army hospital that he developed his ability to listen to others and to empathize with others, traits that would serve him well for the rest of his life.
In 2004, I recall driving into Boston with our Dad for a trustees meeting at the law school. We were talking about my nephew Tim Lawton's tours of combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan, as an Army Ranger. We talked about the American divide over support for the war on terrorism even after the terrorist attack in New York City on 9-11-2001. He related how public sentiment in the 1930's and 1940's regarding American involvement in the growing global conflict was also evenly divided, despite German and Japanese atrocities. He stated that, "American reticence to engage in warfare dated back to the American Revolution. War is cyclical if not inevitable and part of human nature; and, there will always be those who support war efforts and those who oppose those efforts." How right Dad was.
Dad told me a story about his return to the States after his final discharge from the hospital. As no one in his family owned an automobile, he was taking a train everywhere. His leg was in a brace and he was using a cane to help himself walk. He was surprised that no one would give up a seat on the train for a disabled veteran nor would they even acknowledge his disability. "That's just the way it was", said my Dad.
One memory that I'd like to share is one that involves 'Kit" McCaig, my father's aunt and my grandmother, Christine (Twohig) Lawton's sister. 'Kit', was a talented cook and worked for her nephew, our uncle, Fr. Tom Lawton, at the Holy Cross Father's Retreat House. She would pray the rosary as she made spaghetti sauce and meatloaf. 'Kit', who came from Ireland, was well into her nineties when she finally retired from the Retreat House. She died in 2001 at the age of 104 years young.
All the Lawton, O'Malley and Stewart cousins, worked at one time or another at the Retreat House. We changed and made beds during the summer camps that Fr. Tom, allowed to take place there. We painted inside and out. We did whatever Fr. Tom ordered us to do. It was a wonderful way for a 14 year old teenager to earn a few bucks. In addition, Aunt 'Kit' fed us pretty well.
Aunt 'Kit' was a treasure trove of stories and family history. Although most of the family stories will be told within this 'Family History', one of our memories of Aunt 'Kit' illustrates the breath of historical events that our Twohig and Long ancestors personally witnessed and lived through.
In 1979, while working at the Retreat House I listened intently to Aunt Kit, who referred to all of us as "child". She had recently traveled with her youngest sister 'Winnie', back to Ireland for the first time since they arrived in America in the Fall of 1906. She was recalling the long and cold boat ride from the port of Queenstown (now called Cobh), in County Cork, to the port of Boston. Now, almost 73 years later she would be returning 'home' to Ireland. She was 9 years old when she emigrated from Ireland. Now, her great grandchildren are older than that. She reminisced about her excitement over the first manned flight by the Wright Brothers and the sense of pride she felt over Neil Armstrong's moonwalk in 1969. She wanted us to know what a great gift it was for her to be able to live in three different centuries, experience so much and to be able to share her stories with us. Her family, including her grand nephews, considered Aunt 'Kit' a great gift; and, that she was.
John F. Kennedy
(by Mark Edward Lawton)
Every family has stories that become part of their history. Some of those stories become fictionalized over time to make them more attractive to later generations. Some family stories don't need a fictional restructuring. Some of our family stories that will be retold here fit into the later category. One of those stories relates to our late President, John F. Kennedy
John Kennedy (born in May of 1917), was an Irish Catholic disabled World War II veteran who loved politics and Irish humor. Jim Lawton, of Brockton, Massachusetts (born in October of 1925), was an Irish Catholic disabled World War II veteran who loved politics and Irish humor. Their paths would cross in 1952, while both were running for elective office, Kennedy, for the United States Senate and Lawton for a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
John Kennedy, in 1952, was a long-shot candidate running against Republican incumbent Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts.
It was on the campaign trail that summer that Kennedy would see Jimmy Lawton, also a candidate for public office, entertaining a large audience with his stories and famed imitations. The attraction that these two men would have for one another began that summer.
During Kennedy's years in the White House, Kenny O'Donnell, special assistant to Kennedy, would contact Jimmy Lawton to let him know the President was arriving either in Boston or Cape Cod. These would be occasions for the two to meet and greet one another even for a brief moment.
In August of 1963, only three months before Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, Texas, Jimmy Lawton and Kennedy would meet for the last time. As Jimmy Lawton was preparing to leave his cottage in Dennisport, Massachusetts to meet the President at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, he asked his young son, Mark Lawton, to come with him to meet Kennedy. Kennedy's plane landed and Kennedy and his entourage exited Air Force One. Kennedy and Jimmy Lawton greeted one another before they walked together from Air Force One to Kennedy's waiting limousine. The two men talked briefly before Kennedy left for his house in Hyannisport. On the way home to Dennisport, young Mark asked his father why he was "so sad and quiet". Jimmy, responded presciently, "Because I know I'll never see the President again." He never did.
Only a few months later, on November 22, 1963, while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed by assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. It was one of the greatest tragedies in American history. American, as well as world history, was changed forever.
Lt. John Henry Cashman
(by Mark Edward Lawton)
John Henry Cashman, our grandfather, spent a few years as an officer in the United States Army, during the First World War. He was a First Lieutenant.
After graduation from Brockton High School, John Cashman, studied at Bryant and Stratton Business College in Boston, before enlisting in the United States Army. John, reported to Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, before being deployed to France.
As in so many other families, John Cashman's military uniforms were stored in the attic of his home. I learned about those uniforms from my mother, Jeanne (Cashman) Lawton. Jeanne, passed away in 2017. She never did give us those uniforms before her death. Her husband, our dad, Jim Lawton, passed away in 2007.
When my mother passed away there were many things left to do. One of them was to find Lt. John Cashman's uniforms in the attic of her Brockton home and distribute them to our grandchildren and especially to the many members of our family who served this great nation in the military.
We found the military uniforms in a box that sat in the attic of our parent's home for many years. I was relieved that I could finally fulfill my mother's request, which was also her father's request. What made this story special, was an enclosed letter entitled 'Lt. John Cashman, Father of Jeanne Lawton'. The letter was written by our mother. Our mother, in her own hand writing, had asked me directly to give her father's military uniforms and medals to her grandchildren so that our grandfather's service in the United States Army would always be remembered and honored. I fulfilled that request.
Bill Lawton's Letter
(by Mark Edward Lawton)
In August 2018, Patty (O'Leary) Lawton and I, visited my late father's first cousin, Bill Lawton, of Brockton, Massachusetts. Billy, was the grandson of Maurice Lawton, of Killeagh, County Cork. Maurice, was the youngest brother of Edward Lawton, our common ancestor.
Bill Lawton, told us stories about the Lawton Family, about his time in the United States Army, about the shoe factories in Brockton and about living in Brockton after World War II. In his mid 90's, Bill, has since passed.
It was at this visit that Bill Lawton, handed us an envelope with a letter that had been written by his wife, Rosemary (McCormack) Lawton. The letter was written on January 16, 1977. The subject of the letter was the Lawton family ancestry. It contained valuable information that Bill Lawton wanted included in our Lawton Family History. The information in Rosemary's letter has been included in the Lawton family narrative.
The Lawton Coat of Arms
(by Mark Edward Lawton)
No one in the Lawton Family ever paid any attention to the existence or non-existence of a Lawton Coat of Arms. Our father, Jim Lawton, however, did hang a Lawton Coat of Arms on the walls of his law school office and on the walls of his courtroom lobby. Over a period of twenty years, Mark Lawton searched for evidence that a Lawton Coat of Arms existed. What he found was a connection between the Lawton's of County Cork and our Lawton ancestors in Bordeaux, France, known as 'The Wild Geese'.
The Lawton's of County Cork, who were prominent vintners and land owners with a beautiful estate in Killeagh, County Cork, displayed the Lawton Coat of Arms for hundreds of years. Evidence of their Coat of Arms is engraved in the tombs of those Lawton's who reside at St. Mary's Churchyard in Youghal. That graveyard has since been moved.
The engraved coat of arms is described as "a hand and arm holding up a flag, crest, a demi-lion". For years, our cousin, Stephen Curran, Jr., of Killeagh, County Cork, the son of Stephen Curran and the late Rosemond 'Rosie' Curran, searched for the Lawton Coat of Arms. In 2019, Steve, found a Lawton Coat of Arms in an unexpected place -- Bordeaux, France.
The description of the Lawton Coat of Arms that Steve found in Bordeaux, France, is as follows: an armored hand holding a gold trident on a red and gold shield, crest, a demi-lion. It is identical to the Lawton Coat of Arms described on the tombs at St. Mary's Church Yard in Youghal, County Cork. It confirms the connection between the Lawton's of Killeagh, County Cork and those Lawton's who escaped Ireland during the Flight of the Wild Geese, in 1691.
A History of Prostate Cancer in the Lawton Family
(by Richard James Lawton)
James R. Lawton (DOB: October 20, 1925), was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 70. His five sons were immediately informed of the diagnosis by their father so that they and their doctors could appropriately monitor their own health. Jim Lawton lived a normal life for decades after his diagnosis. He died on March 19, 2007, of unrelated causes.
In 2019, two of Jim Lawton's sons were diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Richard James Lawton, was diagnosed when he was only 42 years of age. Thomas David Lawton, was diagnosed when he was 46 years of age.
There is a growing body of medical data to support the theory referred to as 'generational acceleration'. The theory holds that there is a greater probability that a descendant of one diagnosed with prostate cancer, may himself be diagnosed with the same cancer, but at a younger age.
Family history is wonderful to have. One's family medical history is necessary to have.
Keeping Things in Perspective
(by Mark Edward Lawton)
Yuval Noah Harari, in his bestseller Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (Harper Collins 2017), begins his book talking about uncontrollable forces of nature such as famine and plague. Harari states, "After famine, humanity's second great enemy was plagues and infectious diseases." Harari cites the Black Death that began in the 1330s, killing up to 200 million people; the small pox virus of the 1500s; the Spanish Flu, that began in the trenches of northern France during WWI, infecting a third of the global population, and killing up to 100 million people.
The COVID-19 pandemic, as of May 25, 2020, had taken 100,000 lives in the United States. As of Christmas of 2020, over 330,000 had perished. By August of 2021, that number had reached 646,667 deaths. By September of 2021, more than 40 million people had been diagnosed with the coronavirus in the United States. By December of 2021, over 800 thousand people had perished out of 50 million cases. By March 2022, one million Americans had died. Two months earlier, in January of 2022, Massachusetts surpassed 20,000 coronavirus deaths. Many members of the Lawton, Poudrier and Kaylor families contracted the virus. Some were hospitalized. Some lost their lives. The virus has caused millions to lose their jobs, changed how all of us socialize, how we buy food and how we view our future.
On May 13, 2020, O'Leary cousin, former Senator and Massachusetts Judge, Michael Creedon, sent us an email entitled 'Keeping Things in Perspective'. It was impactful enough to be repeated here. It asks us to imagine being born in 1900, living until 1985 and the many traumatic global events that we would have personally experienced during our lifetime.
Many of our ancestors did live during those years. Snub O'Leary (1910 -- 1985), Marie (Clifford) O'Leary (1912 -- 1994), Catherine 'Kit' (Twohig) McCaig (1896 -- 2001), Virginia (Ducey) Kaylor (1909 -- 2007), Richard Thomas Kaylor (1909 -- 1986) and Beatrice (Poudrier) Cashman (1899 -- 1979), are just a few.
The Judge Michael Creedon e-mail and the instructive reminder of how fortunate we've been, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, is set out below:
Maybe we don't have it that bad. It's a mess out there right now, granted. But, a look back at what our ancestors had to live through, gives us a small amount of perspective that is important to our own survival.
Imagine you were born in 1910. On your 4th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 8th birthday. 22 million people perish in that 'war to end all wars'. Later in the year, the 'Spanish Flu' epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from that pandemic in those two years. Yes, 50 million people.
On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%. The world GDP drops 27%. That runs until you're age 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren't even over the hill yet. And don't try to catch your breath.
On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war. Smallpox was epidemic until you were in your 40's as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime.
At age 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million people perish. From your birth, until you were 55, you dealt with the fear of polio epidemics each summer. You experience friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and/or dying.
At age 55, the Vietnam War begins and doesn't end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation.
On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on the planet, as we know it, almost ended. When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900.
How did they endure all of that? When you were a kid in 1985 and didn't think your 85 year old grandparent understood how hard things were for you, remember that your grandparent survived through everything just mentioned. Keeping things in perspective is important.
Once Upon a Time
(by Dawn Giel)
The date was November 21, 2019. It was my first date with Tim Lawton. We met and ate at La Ventura Restaurant in the West Village section of New York City. At the end of the night, we slowly walked to West 12th Street. We stopped at the corner of West 12th and West 4th. We said goodbye. Our hands first touched and I felt sparks fly. I knew then that this man was the one for me.
My family loved Tim. Tim's family I always hoped felt the same way about me. Tim's niece and 'family spokesperson', Vivian Kaylor, was only three when I first met her at her home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 2020. Vivian, was calling me "Auntie Dawn" when I met her a second time. I felt pretty comfortable at that point.
In 2021, Tim and I moved in with one another. On a crisp Sunday afternoon on December 19, 2021, Tim, asked me to go for a walk around our neighborhood in NYC to take in the sites of the Christmas décor.
During our walk I attempted to put my hand in Tim's pocket to keep my hands warm. He gently pushed my hand away, me not knowing my engagement ring was in that same pocket. I know Tim was a Ranger in the Army after he graduated from West Point, but his planning was exceptional. He had a dear friend of mine, Caitlin Burke, positioned to take photos of the wonderfully orchestrated proposal and Caitlin had a perfect stranger positioned to take a video on her iPhone.
Tim and I stopped at the same corner of West 12th and West 4th, where we had said goodbye on our first date. He told me how he had seen a quote after we first met, about a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter being a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.
He then knelt on one knee and asked me to marry him. I gave him the biggest, "Yes!"
"Once upon a time there was a boy, who
loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he
wanted to spend his whole life answering."
-Nicole Krauss, The History of Love