Happy Birthday Grandmama Nora Timmons Bond

Today, October 7th, would have been my Grandmama's birthday.  Her 134th! 

This is Grandmama (on the right) with her sister Martha Timmons Roten (Aunt Mattie) on the left.  They were very close and it was a great loss when Aunt Mattie died in 1945.  We have so many letters from Aunt Mattie and Uncle Bill Roten to Grandmama.  Sweet, sweet, caring letters to their "red-headed Sis." 

I chose this photo because it reminds me of the sense of calm I felt around her.  I was so young when she died (only 6), but I have one special memory that has remained with me through the years.  She was standing by the window in the farmhouse living room, and seemed to be looking into the distance through the Venetian blinds. The room was slightly dark because the blinds were closed.  I was curious and couldn't understand how she was seeing anything. I asked her what she was doing. She turned slightly to me and told me "I'm praying." I was made to understand this was her quiet time alone with God and I was not to bother her while she was talking with God.  By that time, she had suffered so many losses: her husband and five of her children.   Yet her faith in God remained strong.  What a loving legacy to leave to her children and grandchildren. 

Whoo-hoo! I finally found my mother's missing Aunt Mary.

A little background:  For many years I searched records for Mary Bond, my mother's aunt.  She was the only Bond aunt or uncle with whom she corresponded, and I thought it would be so nice to find out more about her.  Just curious, but no luck.  I had no surname for her husband, and could find no marriage record.  All I knew (or remembered, anyway) was that Aunt Mary was married to a doctor and lived around Oklahoma City.  I spent a lot of time looking but with no name for the husband, I just couldn't find a clue.

Recently, and it was truly a stroke of luck, I found her.  Tracing her mother, Martha Nichols Bond, my great grandfather's second wife, led me to Aunt Mary.  Grandma Nichols, as she was known by the grandchildren of the first family, was living with her daughter Mary and Mary's husband, Jesse Anton Bates, who was a physician.  This is from the 1930 census in Seminole County, Oklahoma. 

 Jesse Anton Bates is buried in Oklahoma City in Memorial Park Cemetery, having died in 1947.  In Tishomingo Cemetery in Johnston County, Oklahoma there is buried a Mary Lee Bates and a Charlie Frank Bates.   Their son Charles was named after both grandfathers: Charles Bond and Frank Bates.   Mary Bond Bates lived until 1977.  This would reinforce my recollection of Mother receiving letters while I was still at home on the farm.  Tishomingo is the birthplace of my mother and has been home to many Bond families over the years. 

I note that other researchers have Aunt Mary dying in 1920.  I could find no evidence of this.  She and husband Jesse and son Charles are also on the 1940 census for Seminole County, Oklahoma.  Charles appears to have had no children and so this family simply disappeared in the sands of time.

So who was Nicholas Hawk?

Who is the Nicholas Hawk who lived in Hardy County, WV (VA) in the late 1700's and what happened to him?  Is he the brother of John and Martin Hawk?   He owned 272 acres next to Martin Hawk who owned land next to John Hawk, all on Patterson's Creek.  So were they brothers?  Some seem to think so.  There are quite a lot of references to John and Martin Hawk being brothers, but they stayed in Hardy County.  Nicholas Hawk and wife sold his land grant of 1789 to Nicholas Michael in 1793. 

To further complicate matters, there are records in the Library of Virginia where John Hawk and Nicholas Hawk received land grants in Harrison County, VA (now WV) in 1789 and 1787 respectively.  Are these the same two Hawks who were granted land in Hardy County?  Quite probably.  Have I done any research in Harrison County?  Nope.  I didn't find any census records for either of these two in Harrison County either.

Mark Hale in his book Return to Greenland, Volume 1, pub 2000, believes Nicholas (wife Elizabeth) is probably a brother and that these three were the sons of Jacob and Catherine Haak.  There is a Nicholas Hawk in neighboring Randolph County, who disappears by 1796 and is replaced by Elizabeth Hawk.  Randolph County was formed from Harrison County in 1787. 

Next steps:

1. Look at  Rev. Daniel Schumacher's Baptismal Records, publication of the Pennsylvania German Society, Volume 1, 1960, as well as baptismal records in Pennsylvania at the Family History Library.
2. Research Randolph/Harrison Counties, WV records for more information on Hawk families.
3. Order a copy of the deed from Nicholas Hawk to Nicholas Michael in Hardy County, WV.

I've researched some German families through the church records in Pennsylvania and have run into the problem of finding only some of the known children christened, either because records were lost, or the families moved, or once the church split.  I'm excited to try to find Jacob and Catherine Haak and hope to eventually find where these families came from in Germany.  My Dad said they were Pennsylvania Dutch, and I had no doubt of that, but I couldn't find anyone back beyond the Virginia Hawk families. 

So perhaps I had the information all along.  That wouldn't be the first time that's happened!

Sons of John Hawk, Sr. Hardy County, VA

Okay, thought I'd get back to this since it's one of those things I really enjoy.  I promised a copy of this to a distant relative and while digging it out, thought I'd just share it with all.  This is what I've used as proof for the parents for my
gr-great grandfather John Hawk, Jr. (of Indiana and Illinois). As a reminder, John Jr. was born 8 March 1790 in Hardy County, Virginia and moved to Tippecanoe County, Indiana about 1838.  He later moved to Christian County, Illinois where he died 25 May 1880. 

Here are photos of the front and back of a copy of a deed record in Hardy County dated 10 Dec 1816, wherein John Hawk Sr. and wife Catherine, give 410 acres on Luneys Creek, including the flag meadow and mud lick, to all their sons, for consideration of $100.  They list their sons as Henry, Solomon, Jacob, and John Jr., and  I presume the sons are listed in order of their birth.  Each son got 100 acres except Jacob who received 110. 

 

 Although wife and mother Catherine is listed, she wasn't required to sign the deed.  Nice that things have changed. 




Below is a page from Hardy County, Virginia (now West Virginia)General Index to Deeds, with book and page numbers listing the record for this transaction as Book 7, Page 664. There are many other listings of Hawk grantees.  I'll post the Hawk Grantors page another day.