Lottie Orton of Hastings, Nebraska

1911 postcard, Sakonnet RI to Hastings NE

Continued from Mary Orton of Fall River, Massachusetts.

As mentioned in the previous article, in 1911 Lottie Orton of Hastings, Nebraska, received a postcard from her cousin Mary Orton of Fall River, Massachusetts. The question is, can we find any more evidence that Lottie and Mary's fathers were brothers?

The Ortons of Hastings, Nebraska

The address on the card was "321 Kansas Av C St" which is close enough for my money to "321 West C St" where we find Lottie in 1910 with her parents and younger brother Clarence. I am not familiar with Hastings, Nebraska, so I am only guessing, but the street might have been known by both names, or underwent a name change about that time. In 1920 the family is at 501 Kansas Avenue.

Lottie Orton was the second of three known children of Edward Orton and Lillie Amanda Smith, who had been married in La Salle County, Illinois, on November 19,1884. Lottie married Lloyd Dufford, apparently on June 18, 1913, in Jamesville, Iowa. They had one (adopted) child, Howard. Lottie died in 1982, preceded by her husband Lloyd, who died in 1963.

A lot of my information on Lottie's family came from a tree starting with the Lottie Ulola Orton page at familysearch.

That tree says that Edward was born June 1844, in Shilton, Warwickshire, although it does not give a source for the location. According to all but the 1900 census though, Edward had been born about 1840 in England. That includes his information in the following household on the 1851 Census of Shilton Village, Warwickshire:

George Orton, 77, head, widowed, handloom weaver, silk, born Shilton, Warwickshire
Edward Orton, son, 34, handloom weaver, silk, born Shilton, Warwickshire
Dinah Orton, son's wife, 40, born Bramcote?, Warwickshire
Mary Anne Orton, granddaughter, 14, born Shilton, Warwickshire
Edward Orton, grandson, 12, born Shilton, Warwickshire
John Orton, grandson, 9, born Shilton, Warwickshire
George Orton, grandson, 7, born Shilton, Warwickshire
Dinah Orton, granddaughter, 5, born Shilton, Warwickshire
Jemima Orton, granddaughter, 11 months, born Shilton, Warwickshire

That is the same household in which we found George Orton of Fall River, Massachusetts, if you remember.

And this is probably the index reference to Edward's birth, as found at freebmd.org.uk:

2nd Qtr 1840
Orton Edward Foleshill Vol 16 page 412

Which is in the same registration district as George's birth in 1844.

John Orton of Hastings, Nebraska

If you noticed, there was also a John Orton in the 1851 Shilton household of George and Diana (Wesley) Orton. I'm guessing that he is the same John Orton who is in Hastings, Nebraska, on the 1880 census, though I can't be positive. I didn't find much more about him, but I mention him in this article and have included him in the database just in case.

Conclusion

So, can we conclude that Edward Orton of Hastings, Nebraska, and George Orton of Fall River, Massachusetts, were brothers? I think we can. Did the postcard help? Again, yes. We could have found their relationship with just the records, but would we have known where to look for the other brother? I don't think so.

Sources and more information about the Ortons of Fall River can be found under Orton in the Other Families tree on this website.