Arthur Wesley Batton was born in Irwin Co., GA (now Ben Hill Co, GA) on 7 Feb 1905. He was the youngest child of John Bryant Batton and his second wife, Arlie Virginia Dorminey. He m. Rena Mercier on 30 Oct 1926 in Ben Hill Co, GA. They lived with his mother for several years and farmed. They also milked 17 cows and sold the cream, feeding the milk to the pigs. They had two daughters: 1) Barbara Deene Batton, b. 18 Mar 1931, who m. Malcolm Emmett Pierce on 27 Nov. 1949 in Duval Co., FL and 2) Virginia Ophelia Batton b. 1 Sept 1935, who m. J.(John) Homer Reasy, Jr. on 2 July 1954 in Duval Co., FL. About 1935 Arthur bought some land to farm and built a small house. They lost the farm and house later in the Depression. After losing the farm, Arthur tried to sell insurance but was not successful. He had always wanted to be a barber and had learned to cut hair by cutting the hair of most of his male relatives. He finally obtained a position as a barber in Fitzgerald and the family moved to Fitzgerald to live at 220 N. Main St. He worked at two different barber shops between about 1938/39 and 1941. He went to Jacksonville, FL in 1941, got a job there and the family moved to Jacksonville. They lived first at 50 W. 8th St. and then at 481 E. 44th St. He first worked as the elevator operator in the Western Union Building. He later worked as a barber in the shops on Camp Blanding Army Base at Starke, FL. Arthur died 12 June 1955 from heart disease and high blood pressure. He is buried next to his parents in Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery in Wilcox Co., GA. Arthur and his wife, Rena, obtained a divorce in November 1954 in St. Johns Co, FL. Rena married Thurman Kivett Edwards of Dunn,NC in June 1958 and they remained married until Thurman's death in August 1990. Rena died in Jacksonville, FL in August 1999. She and Thurman Edwards are buried in a mausoleum in Greenwood Cemetery in Dunn, NC.