| My full name is James Paul Joseph Lawton Sr. Born April 30, 1939 in the town of Bath New York. My mother and Father lived in Greene New York, but my mother went to Bath to be close to her mother during the birth of her 2nd son.Greene is a small town just north of Binghamton, NY. It has a population of about 1701. It is the home of RAYMOND CORP. Raymond Corp home page |
| This were my Dad had a Ice Cream shop and we lived up stairs. Store on left and we lived over the other store on the right. (This is a thumbnail so click to see the full size photo) The door in the middle is to upstairs and the window above it was my bedroom.This building is on the National register now. My Dad did not have the store till after he came back from World War 2. The next to last picture is Charles Clinton who was the Lawyer that had his office in the left side of the block upstairs. He loved horses and one year he and my Dad drive to the KY Derby(about 1950). He died in our apartment when he had a heart attack. The third picture is Tim (my Brother) and I in about 1941. The other picture is my Dad when he served in the US Army Air Corps. Dad joined even though he had a Defense job and 2 kids because he thought he should. I'm always amazed and great ful at the way men joined to fight in World War 2. 550 Joined with 32 never returning from Greene NY. One of them was Carl Pierson . Carl Piersons Funeral Click on the link to see pictures of it. The next to last picture is My Dad in School (first row Right 3 desks back) If you know any of the others please Send e-mail.The next to last picture is my mother with her Grandfather. Last picture is my Father and his father. My Grandfather had a Ice cream and candy store in Greene across the street from where dad had his store. Not sure but I think it is the one just west of the Village office. |
| I went to Greene Central School till I left after the 11th grade and got married to Sandra Lee Richards of Chenango Bridge, NY. I have been married to her for 47 years. We have three kids 1 boy and 2 girls. They are great kids and We love them very much. Jim Jr., Donna and Barbara and now we have six Grand kids 5 boys and 1 girl. |
Here is a link to Greene Central School
| Please go to the link on the home page Class of 57 Greene Central School and look at them then. |
| Now lets talk about Greene, it was a great town to grow up in. Our house was never locked and I never remember anything being stolen. I had a great time when I was a kid. Everyone in town knew me and I knew them. We had a Bar (Luby's Bar and Grill) that had Birch beer on tap for the kids. Labor day is a big day in Greene, They have a one day fair that is put on but the town with the only outside thing is the rides. The picture above is from the Farris Wheel. About 10,000 people will come to Greene, for the day. The Fireworks that night are one of the best in NY State. It is held on the Ball Flats which was built back in the 30's by the CCC. When I was a kid I could hardly wait for the Labor day to come. The next picture is on the Geneese St that I took when I was a kid with a Kodak camera. The lady is Althea Adams who was married to "Horky" Adams and the parents of Don Adams who still lives in Greene and is married to Pat Spring. You can see the Elm Tree Restaurant and the Barber Shop. Some may remember that the Elm Tree was so named because of the biggest Elm I have ever seen was out front. I remember a night in about 1949 when Frank Walker came down in front of the Elm Tree and had a TV(3 inch) on the back of a truck he got power from the restaurant and we saw Channel 12 come on the air. Pictures 3 and 4 above are of a good friend that just passed away Harlow Henninge. 3 is when he was young(about 1947 or 8) and 4 was last year. 5 is Three men from Greene that were a part of of my life. (from Left to right) Joe Villante, Bill Henninge and Nick Gillette Bill is Harlow's Dad and a He was the the town Constuble, Tony was the Step-father to the Armstrong kids and Ron told me years latter that he could not have ask for a better Father. Nick was just one of the Gillette brothers. |
| This is a picture of the Greene, NY Emergency squad. Each man (names at the bottom of the picture) signed a note for $100 at the bank to buy the Ambulance that you see here. None of them had to pay the note them self because the town people came thru when they saw what a great thing is was to have them in town My Dad was also a member of the Greene Fire Dept. and when he died on March 11 2003 they lower there flag to half mast and draped the station with black cloth. |
 This is our house in Palm Bay, FL.If you would like to see the inside click on the link.. |
| In 1992 Greene was 200 years old and they put out a calender. Here are some pictures from it. there is one mistake on the caption see if you can find it and its not what they say it is now. |
|
This is the Smithville Flats School. When we were young they held classes in Smithville
for grades 1 thru 6. See if you know any of them. Click to enlarge. |