Pando Tree 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks : 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:

Infant Hembree (1896-1896)
Vina "Viney" N. Hembree (1898-1919); never married
Dartha "Dorothy" Esther Hembree (1901-1986); married Fess Cornelius
William "Bill" Joel Hembree (1905-1989); married Lucille "Lou"
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.