Sunday, August 14, 2011

My dad's Uncle Quint's family

I only heard my dad talk about two of his uncles - his favorites - Uncle Quint and Uncle Bill.  Uncle Quint was Oliver Quintas Hawk, sometimes listed as Olliver Quintas Hawk.   Uncle Bill was William Evans Hawk, oldest son of George Washington and Salina Hudson Hawk. 

This summer I was able to visit the grave of Uncle Quint and his wife, Suda Anderson Hawk, in a tiny town in eastern New Mexico called Elida.  Elida is in Roosevelt County, southwest of Clovis.

I was curious about this part of my dad's family for several reasons. On the way to Texas, my dad's family had stopped at this uncle's house in Oklahoma on their move to Texas.  My great grandmother had remained there and is buried in Payne County, Oklahoma. But the Oklahoma family kind of disappeared from there.  I searched back in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, even California, but wasn't able to find them until the census records became available online through Ancestry.  To my surprise, Uncle Quint and family had moved to New Mexico.  He didn't die until 1960 when he was about 87 years old.  My folks and I had traveled near there in about 1965 and I'm pretty sure my dad didn't know his Uncle Quint's family was that close. 



Uncle Quint and Aunt Suda (I'm assuming that's what she was called, although I can imagine it being Sudie) had three childlren:  Walter Hesicar, Oliver Quintas, and a daughter, Cecil M. 

Walter Hesicar (same middle name as my father, Joe Hawk) was born in 1888 in Nodaway County, Missouri.  He married Dessie McQuain in Payne County, Oklahoma.  They had one child that I know of: Homer Oliver Hawk, born in 1908.  In 1930 they were living in Payne County, OK.

Oliver Q. Hawk was born 1900 in Payne County, Oklahoma and married Beatrice Cochrain in Roosevelt County, NM on Valentine's Day in 1921.  They had two children I know of: Ollie Clint Hawk, born 1926 and  Bennie Louisa Hawk, born 1929.  He died in Smith County, Texas in 1973.

Cecil M. Hawk was born in 1903 in Oklahoma and married Steve Cochrain on the same day her brother married Beatrice Cochrain.   She and Steve Cochrain had a son, Montie Cochrain. she is buried in the Elida Cemetery, as is her husband and son.  After her husband's death, she married again and her name on the tombstone is Lea.

 
I would love to know more about my Hawk and Cochrain cousins.  As usual, I was rushing down the road and didn't take time to see if there were any of the family still left in Elida.  That just means a trip back!

Aunt Jackie's Story

Aunt Jackie's story about their late night swim is again in the news.   She would be so tickled to see it on the internet.  She would have loved the world wide web.  See her story at Baytown Texas site

Thursday, August 4, 2011

An Arranged Marriage

When I was a teenager, in a time long ago, a neighbor and friend of my mother, had become widowed and then remarried quickly. Of course, the community was appalled at this scandolous behavior. I was therefore surprised when Mama defended the lady, who had complained to her of being so lonely after her husband's death. It was only much later than I learned the reason for that defense: my mother had done exactly the same thing! 

Let me explain.  Mother was first married to Leonard George Showers and they lived in 1930 in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana according to the census. Leonard was the son of Hattie Hawk Showers, eldest daughter of Joseph W. and Martha Jane (Hess) Hawk, and was therefore also my Dad's oldest sister. The elder Showers family also emigrated to Texas from Kansas with the rest of the family by covered wagon in 1908. Mama and Leonard Showers had one child, a boy also named Leonard George, born in 1931. Below is the only photo we have of Leonard.  He is shown with his son, my brother George.

Sadly, Leonard Sr. contracted tuberculosis, and after lingering for several years, died of this disease on March 1, 1936. During his illness, they had returned to his parents' home in south Texas.  As he lay dying, according to my brother and others in the family, he asked his Uncle Joe, my father, to marry and take care of his wife and son. My parents did marry, and only six months later, on September 2, 1936. Remember, this would have been in the middle of the Great Depression.  Can you imagine being suddenly a widow with a young son to raise, and in a rural farm community with no jobs?  In spite of being an "arranged marriage" it was a long and happy one, and they always seemed very devoted to one another. They were married for just short of 44 years when my mother died in June of 1980.

In my post of January 3, 2010, I covered the family lines of my parents, Joe H. Hawk and Alma Josephine Bond. See My Parents' Families