Sunday, October 29, 2017

Anna Jane Goldberg 1855-1919

Great Grandmother - Maternal Side

Anna Jane Goldberg was born in Texas to Reverend Charles A. and Mary Ann Doe Goldberg, being the youngest of their four children. Anna's mother died in 1859 in Clarksville and by the 1860 U.S. Census the family was residing at Linden in Cass, County, Texas. After Anna's father remarried, she decided to live with her older sister in Clarksville and returned. On the 1870 U.S. Census, she is still living in Clarksville with Mollie and it indicates that both of her parents are of foreign birth.  Prior to the 1880 U.S. Census, Anna married Dwight Clinton Van Wey, a man that was 20 years her senior. Together they had the following children:

  1. Claudia P. Van Wey (1880-1947); married George Robert Thomason
  2. Charles "Charlie" Rufus Van Wey (1884-1930); married Vona F. Minshew
  3. Sullivan Ross Van Wey (1886-1963): married Geneva
  4. Lydia Kate Van Wey (1888-1977); married Fred Wadsley
  5. Allie May Van Wey (1892-1964); married Loyad Sullivan
  6. Cora Cornelia "Pearl" Van Wey (1894-1937); married William Ralphus Hutsen
I have read that they were members of a "Grange" which is a type of co-op where the families were educated and crops were sold by the grange. I do not have a source to site for this. In the 1900 U.S. Census they are still living in Red River County, Texas.

Anna's husband dies in 1906. She is listed on the 1910 U.S. Census as having given birth to 9 children but only 6 are living. At some point before her death, she was living with her sister Mollie again. She died a week after her beloved sister passed away.


Thursday, October 19, 2017

Clara Alice Chapman Hembree 1875-1954

Great Grandmother - Paternal Side

Yes, I am hopelessly behind in my challenge but I am not giving up! I have resigned to myself that this is going to take longer than the my original goal of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks but I will do what I can. Part of my distraction is that I always know there is more information out there and I hope that I can find it before I post about a person (and I am right!) but that shouldn't keep me from posting what I already know.

Grandma Clara has been a real challenge since neither she or her two siblings are in any census before 1900. Looking at her death certificate, Uncle Riley's, and Aunt Belle's has yielded different parental names and those relatives that are still living can't offer any clues. So the search has taken me to DNA to try and figure it out. This has led me to the surnames "Bigby" and "Adair" who came to the Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears and now I am stuck. Well, here's what I do know:

Clara Alice Chapman was born on May 30, 1875 in Arkansas, (Indian Territory). She was a very religious woman though I can't say if this was her upbringing. On July 8, 1894 she married James Nathaniel Hembree in New Lewisville, Arkansas.

She gave birth to a child in 1896 though the child did not live very long. According to Uncle Bill, the child had something wrong with it and was allowed to expire although there is no record I will attribute it to family lore as to the cause of death but the 1900 U.S. Census states that she had 2 children.

Here I'm getting ahead of myself as Clara and James had the following children:

  1. Infant Hembree (1896-1896)
  2. Vina "Viney" N. Hembree (1898-1919); never married
  3. Dartha "Dorothy" Esther Hembree (1901-1986); married Fess Cornelius
  4. William "Bill" Joel Hembree (1905-1989); married Lucille "Lou"
  5. John "Johnny" L. Hembree (1910-1996); married 1st ?; married Ruth Thompson
Clara and James lived in Barry County, Missouri alongside the Hembrees and remained there until after 1905. By the 1910 U.S. Census they were living in Higgins, Oklahoma. They remained in various parts of Oklahoma until 1935 when they moved to Houston. While in Oklahoma, my father remembers his grandmother coming over to watch the four boys while my grandmother went to work. 

Upon moving to Houston, Clara joined the Lindale Pentecostal Church. She was a very active member spending days leading Bible classes and was in constant attendance at it's worship services.  She was always surrounded by her family of children, grandchildren, and the every growing list of great grandchildren. She died on October 12, 1954, one month after her husband of many years and Grandmother told me it was of a broken heart, her death certificate states it was of cardiac failure, which makes it true at least in my mind. 

Fess, Dorothy, Bill, Clara, and James

Clara, Dorothy, Johnny, James

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Jane Byers 1855-1919

2nd Great Grandmother - Maternal Side

Great great grandmother Jane has been elusive at best to track down her heritage. It is stated in Aunt Minnie Bell's book that she was of Welsh heritage and that was about all. The book also states that she was disowned by her family for marrying an Indian. This has lead to much speculation and conjecture. Through DNA I have been able to determine who her grandparents were and at least one aunt. Her grandparents were Wesley P. Byers and Margaret Pugh, her aunt was Malissa Byers Floyd. Her father was either John C. Byers or Frank Byers though they seem to not be listed on census records.

Here is what I do know about Jane from records - she was born probably in Missouri between 1855 and 1857. The Byers family were there farming but also had land in Miller County, Arkansas and Cass County, Texas. Around 1877 she marries an Indian, William Turner, where they settle on a farm in Gillis Bluff, Missouri.
William Turner 

1880 U.S. Census

They had two children:

  1. Rose Etta Turner (1877-1939); married John William Hutsen
  2. John William Turner (1882-1974); married Adelaide McGhee
John William Turner and Adelaide McGhee Turner

William died in a railroad accident in DeSoto, Missouri in 1881 while Jane was pregnant. She was depending on her son-in-law and daughter to help eek out a meager living on the farm. On December 21, 1884 she married a widower with five children, Thomas Jefferson White.

Together they had two sons:
  1. Charley W. White (1885 - ?); married Emma C. Hamilton
  2. Lewis "Lude" Jefferson White (1889 - ?); married Clyde Beatrice Long
It has been considered that it was her son-in-law who initiated the long journey from Missouri to Texas in a covered wagon, but it was Jane who had family living in Red River County. She and Thomas continued to live in Missouri until after the 1900 Census, living close to Wesley Byers.
1900 U.S. Census

This record states that Jane had a total of 9 children with 3 living. However by the 1910 Census, when they are living in Winfield, Titus County, Texas it states she had 4 children with 3 living. Needless to say she had raised 9 children in her life time though it appears Charley died before 1900. Lude and his wife are living with Jane and Thomas on their farm while Jesse (Thomas' son) lives next door. Jane apparently had an education as she is able to read and write.

1910 U.S. Census
Around 1915, the couple moved to Bogota and opened a restaurant according to Aunt Minnie Bell.

Jane apparently came down with dropsy (congestive heart failure) in the fall of 1918. She was moved from Winfield to her daughter's home and died in 1919 at Bogota, Texas. It is believed that she is buried in Bogota Cemetery near Johnny Hutsen although I have not been able confirmed this. It is said that it was raining so hard the day she was buried that they had trouble keeping the water out of the grave.