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. 

Great Grandfather W.R.M. Timmons and the Battle of Perryville

Co. G, 31st Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A. That is the only military information I had on Gr-Grandfather Timmons (1842-1905) and was taken from his tombstone in Bee Cemetery, Johnston County, Oklahoma.  I knew he had fought in the Civil War, and had been wounded.  Or so I was told. For years I looked for some real material giving details - where, what happened, what battles.  Finally - FINALLY! - I've finally found some records. I signed up for Fold3 which specializes in military wars.

The Battle of Perryville, Kentucky
There were quite a few pages documenting Grandfather Timmons'  involvement in the war, including the one at left which says he was wounded October 8, 1862 and left at Perryville Hospital.  With a tiny bit of research I learned the Battle of Perryville is considered one of the bloodier ones with an estimated 7,407 casualties (including dead, wounded, and missing or prisoners of war).  This battle came after the Battle of Shiloh.  Troops from both sides fought each other along the way until they reached Perryville.  Although the Confederates were considered to have won from a tactical standpoint, they retreated and the North was able to retain Kentucky for the rest of the war. 

Imagine being wounded and left behind as your regiment pulled out, leaving you in the hands of the enemy.  To give you an idea of what the situation was like, I found this quote from a Confederate surgeon at Perryville (from the Tennessee4Me website):

Dr. Charles Todd Quintard's description of a field hospital at the Battle of Perryville:
" When the wounded were brought to the rear, at three o'clock in the afternoon, I took my place as a surgeon...and throughout the rest of the day and until half past five the next morning, without food or any sort, I was incessantly occupied with the wounded. It was a horrible night I spent,--God save me from such another....
About half past five in the morning of the 9th, I dropped--I could do no more. I  went out by myself and leaning against a fence, I wept like a child.  And all that day I was so unnerved that if any one asked me about the regiment, I could make no reply without tears...The total loss of the Confederates...was 510 killed, 2,635 wounded,  and 251 captured or missing, and of this loss a great part was sustained by our regiment [the Rock City Guards from Nashville]."

Doctor Quintard, Chaplain C.S.A. and  Second Bishop of Tennessee, edited by Sam Davis Elliott, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 2003.

The video at this link shows the Dye House  which was used as a hospital.  Other sites were also used, but this appears to have been the first hospital set up during the battle. The video also gives you a good idea of what the area looked like, since not a lot has changed in the intervening years.

Grandfather Timmons, wounded, became a prisoner of war.  He was traded back to the Confederate Army and the document at left is a receipt for the exchange of prisoners on November 15, 1862 in Vicksburg.  He went back to fighting for the South and was promoted to Corporal later on. There are more documents like this following his career during the war. 

Here are some sites with great information about the Battle of Perryville:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Perryville

http://www.battleofperryville.com/ 

http://www.perryvillebattlefield.org/

Surname Saturday: Is this MY Hess Family?

This photo is one I got from the Historical Society Museum in Rooks County, Kansas when I visited there searching for relatives.  I don't know if it's my family, because I have only photos of my grandmother as very old and one of her sister when she was very young.  I'm hoping and wishing someone out there might know - maybe one of my Hess relatives from Cloud County, Kansas. I do think the old lady resembles my grandmother in this photo.

Here's what I do know about my grandmother's family.  Her father, Charles Hess, was born in Ottsveiler, Prussia (Germany)in 1806 and came to the United States to Grant County, Wisconsin.  There he married Margaret Martin, daughter of Augustus Martin and wife Elizabeth, on 28 Oct 1852.  All their children were born in Grant County, except their last: Sarah. Children of this union were:
1. Louise Elizabeth Hess, b. 21 Mar 1854, d. 14 May 1933, Richland County, Wisconsin. She married Absalom James Daughenbaugh 4 May 1873.
2. Anny Isabel Hess, b. 14 Sep 1855.  She married W. Riley Alderman.
3. Martha Jane Hess, my grandmother, and information is available at
4. Charles Alexander Hess, b. 7 Jan 1871, d. 9 Oct 1946 in Cloud County, Ks.  He married Arvilla Resco 31 July 1831.
5. Sarah Margaret Hess, b. 29 Oct 1873 in Iowa, d. 31 May 1898 in Cloud County, Kansas.  She married James Dexter Jenkins, 12 Dec 1892.  She is buried by her parents in Kansas.

My Hess family is shown on the 1880 census in Rooks County, Kansas so this could be my family.  Of course, there are quite a few Hess families in Kansas, so they could belong to some else.  All the Museum knew was the notation on the photo "Mr. Hess and family."

Surname Saturday - Joseph W. Hawk family

I see looking back where I listed the family of George Washington Hawk, my great grandfather, but not that of his son, my grandfather, Joseph Washington Hawk (b. 16 May 1858, Montgomery County, Indiana, d. 11 Oct 1935, Clemville, TX).  So here goes:*Married Martha Jane Hess, daughter of Charles and Margaret (Martin) Hess 21 Sept 1881 in Phillips County, Kansas
Children:
1. Hattie Florence, b. 25 Aug 1882, Kirwin, KS; d. 18 Feb 1967, Bay City, TX; m. Tony Showers, 17 Jan 1903 Rooks County, KS;
2. John Walter, b. 26 Aug 1885, Kirwin, KS, d. 1 Oct 1972, Lake Wilson, MN; m. (1) Lillian Brown 14 Apr 1909 Phillips County, KS, later divorced, (2) Josephine Margaret Shannon, 26 Nov 1920, in Sanborn County, South Dakota;
3. George Washington, b. 30 Oct 1887, Kirwin, KS, died in World War I on November 1, 1918.
4. Charles Edward, b. 25 Aug 1890, Kirwin, KS, d. 29 Nov 1962, Mitchell, South Dakota; m. Amelia Idella Sterner (Mattie) on 14 Sept 1921 in Kingsburg County, SD;
5. Alexander Quintas, b. 12 Feb 1893, Kirwin, KS, d. 13 Mar 1893, Kirwin, KS;
6. William Evans, born and died 13 May 1894, Kirwin, KS;
7. Salina Edythe, b. 17 Aug 1896, Kirwin, KS, d. June 1978 Texas; m. Marshall C. Alexander on 2 Mar 1916 in Matagorda County, Texas;
8. Joe Hesacar (my dad), b. 23 Nov 1899 Kirwin, KS; d. 21 Nov 1981, Palacios, Texas, m. Alma Josephine Bond Showers on September 2, 1936;
9. Rosie Clarcey, b. 30 Oct 1903, Kirwin, KS, d. 14 Jun 1949, San Antonio, TX.

A Letter from Mama

Just recently I came across this letter from my mother written in December, 1977.  (Wow, that was a long time ago.)  People often have one picture of a person--some thought my mother was super critical, for example--but a truer vision of that person might be seen when their thoughts are expressed in a carefully written letter. The sweet concern for me expressed in her letter paints a portrait of the mother I knew and loved.  Without letters like this, her caring and concern would be lost. Sadly, letter writing is going the way of the buggy whip. What a great loss.  Without letters like this, we can't look back at the love that was expressed.  And so often today, we don't take the time to know a person's inner thoughts.

This was written two and a half years before she died.   Her writing is pretty shaky.  This was probably written after her first stroke. Letters were important to her and me at that time because there was still no phone service to the farm.  Thankfully, that did arrive  not long after this and we were able to speak often before her death.   I hope you are able to read the letter. Just in case, I've transcribed it below.

 


Tuesday 13, 1977 (Dec. 13, 1977)

Dear Genie, Teddy & Amy,
Sure wanted to come down for TJ's (Teddy's) birthday.  We just didn't have the push to start start out. Thought of the three of you all day.
Thank you Genie for the C. Will try to see about a water heater this week. Papa and I just can't make it to Lake Jackson.  Not now anyway. Thank you Genie, so very much love.  We may not cash it. You see you had such a rough time. Don't be mad at us or think it wasn't appreciated. It is. You will never know how much. Please understand. Okay?
It's raining here this morning but not cold.
Oh! Did you get the gift for TJ's birthday?
Would he like a watch for Xmas do you think.
Must get this out there. (Getting the letter to the mailbox at the farm.)
Love from Mama and Daddy.
God's care our Love.