Benjamin Franklin Walton

WALTON, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN — Benjamin Franklin Walton died at his home in Geneva, Neb., at 10:15 a. m. Tuesday, December 9, 1941, aged 69 years, 2 months, and 5 days. Death came suddenly and was due to a heart attack. Mr. Walton had seemed in his usual health up to that morning.

Mr. Walton, son of the late Dudley and Jane (Montgomery) Walton, was born October 4, 1872, at Commiskey, Ind. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Casey, Ill. After a few years the family moved to Edgar, Neb., coming to Geneva in 1889. This had been his home ever since, except for a short sojourn in Missouri.

He was married to Martha H. McPherson, May 25, 1892. To this union were born three sons, Glen F. of Rupert, Idaho, and Gerald and Gale of Geneva. They, with six grandsons and one granddaughter, a great-grandson, one brother, Marion of Geneva, and a sister, Lida Black of Casey, Ill., survive. One of the grandsons has received an honorable discharge from the United States Army, and another, Leo Walton, is serving with the Army in the Philippines.

Mr. Walton began his business training in the general store of Carson & Shickley in Geneva as a young man. Those were the days when stoves and coal oil lamps held sway. After three years of clerking, he opened a confectionary, June 13, 1893, and continued in this business until the spring of 1904, when he learned the barber profession.

After working for Ed Franzen of Shickley a short time, he opened a shop of his own in Geneva, October 26, 1904, and successfully conducted a shop here most of the time since.

During his many years of residence here, Mr. Walton made many friends and he knew much of the early history of the community. He was always in favor of public improvements. He served efficiently as a member of the city council, he was a member of the Masonic order many years, and it was his request that his old friend Charles H. Sloan, deliver the funeral address and that a Masonic funeral be conducted. He was also a member of the M. W. A., and the I.O.O.F.

The funeral was held Friday, December 12, at the Kritner Funeral Home with the Masonic order in charge. Due to Mr. Sloan's enforced absence, his address was read by his son, William. The service was concluded with prayer by the chaplain, J. K. Waring. Interment was in the Geneva cemetery, with the Masonic burial service. The pallbearers were Glen, Gerald and Gale Walton, Marion Walton, Fred Picard Sr. and Henry Drake. Source: The Nebraska Signal 1941