#52ancestors Post Seventeen: William W. Noah Is Buried in the Bethel Cemetery in Erath County

This week's writing prompt for #52ancestors is cemetery. One of my favorite visits to a cemetery was my 2003 visit to the Bethel Cemetery in Erath County, Texas. This was not because I found a lot of family in the cemetery. William W. Noah is the only one. But, because my grandmother grew up in the very small community of Bethel. The Hairstons, Noahs, and Thompsons left Falls County to live in Bethel in about 1883. Phillip A. Hairston, my great-grandfather, and his sisters, Permelia Hairston Noah and Mattie Hairston Chisum Thompson, all settled in the Bethel School Community. This community no longer exists, but seeing the landscape and the surrounding areas added a little more to my family history. 

William W. Noah was born April 7, 1866. According to the 1880 census record, he was born in Texas.  He was the first child of Permelia Ann Hairston and Joseph Sydney Noah. His only sibling was Oscar Edward Noah born in 1871. William, also seen as Willie, was about seven years old when his father died in Falls County. Ten years later his family moved to the Bethel School Community. 

William died only about a year after arriving in Erath County on November 15, 1884. It is said he took arsenic to control his epilepsy and died as a result of too much arsenic. 

Visit Find A Grave to see more of the Bethel Cemetery and learn a little more about the Bethel School Community. 

Click on the family tree to see an enlarged version. 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2018

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn.

#52ancestors: Post Seven: The Courtship of my Grandparents, Redic Bryan and Myrtie Hairston

The writing prompt for #52Ancesters was Valentine so I turned my grandparent's
wedding photo into a Valentine. They were married one week before Valentine's
Day in 1900. 

My grandparents lived in Erath County, Texas when they met. My grandfather, Redic E. Bryan was the son of Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton. They came to the Stephenville area in 1878. My grandfather was 8 years old. 

My grandmother, Myrtie Hairston, came to Erath County with her parents, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, in 1883. Myrtie was three years old. They lived in the Bethel Community (near Huckabay) along with extended family. 

I was told my grandfather first met my grandmother when he purchased a horse from her father. 

In 1899, I found the following and one other reference to Redic visiting Huckabay in the Dublin Progress. At the time, he was living in the town of Dublin (also in Erath County). Was he visiting Myrtie? He had Wylie relatives at Ex-Ray and Biggs family in the Huckabay area, but that "incidentally" doesn't make it sound like he was visiting family. 

Three mentions of his visits from Dublin to the Stephenville area were reported in the Stephenville Empire that fall.

The Bethel Community in Erath County no longer exists. It was very near
the Bethel Cemetery on this map - about a 10-minute ride to Huckabay. My grandfather
must have ridden the train to Stephenville in order to visit Huckabay. 

Redic and Myrtie were married on Wednesday, February 7, 1900. The following wedding announcements were found while searching newspapers. 

Found in the Erath Appeal:

R. E. Bryan and Miss Myrtie Hairston were united in the holy bonds of wedlock one day this week at the home of the bride’s parents. Miss Hairston is the only daughter of Mr. Phil Hairston of near Huckabay who is one of Erath’s best citizens and most prosperous and well to do farmers. Miss Hairston is bright, beautiful and attractive and commands the love and respect of all who know her. Mr. Bryan, the son of Esq. Terrell Bryan, is educated, robust and handsome and numbers his friends as legion. He has grown up in our mist and those who know him love him the most. The Appeal joins their host of friends in wishing them a long, happy and prosperous life.  

Found in the Dublin Progress:

Mr. Redic Bryan of Dublin and Miss Myrtie Hairston, of near Huckabay, were married at the home of the bride's parents Wednesday evening and arrived in Dublin yesterday evening on the Rio Grande train. 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2018

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn

The Duplin Progress (Dublin, TX). Vol. 12, No. 9, Ed.1, Friday, July 21, 1899.

The Duplin Progress (Dublin, TX). Vol. 12, No. 38, Ed.1, Friday, February 9, 1900.

The Duplin Progress (Dublin, TX). Vol. 12, No. 16, Ed.1, Friday, September 8, 1899.

The Erath Appeal, Vol. 2, No.29, Stephenville, Texas, Feb. 8, 1900.

The Stephenville Empire (Stephenville, TX). Vol. 28, No. 10, Ed.1, Thursday, October 5, 1899.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #36 Philip Chisum Lived in Erath County, Texas.

The solid lines indicate that the connection to the family is documented while
the dotted lines indicate that direct evidence has not yet been found to
make the connection. Click on the family tree to see a larger image

No Story Too Small

Philip Louis Chisum was the youngest child of James C. Chisum and Martha Elizabeth "Mattie" Hairston.  He was born in Falls County, Texas; however, there is some confusion about his birth date. According to his  WWI draft registration card, he was born on December 16, 1892.  His WWII draft registration gives him a birth date of December 15, 1881 and his headstone at the Morgan Mill Cemetery has a birth date of December 15, 1882.

It is not known what happened to Philip's father, but by late 1883, his family moved from Falls County to the Bethel Community in Erath County, Texas. In 1884, Philip's mother married John A. Thompson. John A. Thompson died in 1899 and in 1900 and 1910, Philip was found living with his mother and half-siblings in Erath County.

Philip Louis Chisum
Photograph from the collection of Nadine Waugh. 

On January 17, 1917, Philip married Nancy Jane "Janie" Keller Kolb, widow of Thomas J. Kolb and mother of children Orzo and Ola Frances Kolb. Philip and Janie spent their remaining years in the Morgan Mill area of Erath County. The 1940 census indicated that they owned land and Philip continued to farm.  Philip was described on his WWII draft registration as being tall and of medium build with brown hair and brown eyes.

Janie died on January 30, 1949 and Philip died on January 4, 1962. They are buried in the Morgan Mill Cemetery.

Diana

© 2014







Sources

Ancestry.com. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
Original data: Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982. iArchives, Orem, Utah.

Ancestry.com. Texas, Marriage Collection, 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records and Online Memorials. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26194095&ref=acom>.

"Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FXMR-PWG : accessed 21 Sep 2014), P. L Chisum and Janie Kolb, 07 Jan 1917; citing Erath, Texas, , reference It 1 pg 351; FHL microfilm 1428411.

"United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-27820-15891-34?cc=2000219 : accessed 21 Sep 2014), Texas > Erath > Justice Precinct 6, Morgan Mill > 72-16 Justice Precinct 6, Morgan Mill > image 12 of 33; citing NARA digital publication of T627.

"United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZX4-DFF : accessed 21 Sep 2014), Phily Louis Chisum, 1917-1918.

"United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11598-146375-24?cc=1861144 : accessed 21 Sep 2014), 004142597 > image 213 of 3625. Citing NARA microfilm publications M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090 and M2097, Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Justice Precinct 1, Erath, Texas; Roll: 1631; Page: 36A; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1241631.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 1, Erath, Texas; Roll: T624_1550; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 1375563.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Justice Precinct 2, Erath, Texas; Roll: T625_1801; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 7; Image: 193.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #35 Claud Clarence Thompson Left his Brother's Home And Was Never Seen Again.

The solid lines indicate that the connection to the family is documented while
the dotted lines indicate that direct evidence has not yet been found to
make the connection. Click on the family tree to see a larger image.

Claud had been drinking. Floyd, his older brother, told him that he could not live with Floyd and his family if he continued to drink. Claud left the home and was never heard from or seen again. Juanita, Floyd's daughter, told me this to me in 2001. 

No Story Too Small

Juanita's cousin, Nadine, wrote Uncle Claud Thompson left home when he was about 18 and has never been heard of since. Daddy tried to find him but never could even get a lead.

Another cousin, Marie, wrote The Thompson family had a brother named Claud Thompson that disappeared the year of WWII. He was staying with Floyd and Ora and left one morning and was never heard from again.

Floyd never stopped looking for Claud. Juanita said that asking his brother to leave upset him so much that he cried for two days. Nadine's father, Edgar Richard Thompson would look for Claud's name in telephone books each time that he visited a town outside his home in Erath County. 

According to his WWI draft registration, Claud Clarence Thompson was born on June 4, 1891. A farmer, he was tall and slender with dark hair and brown eyes. Claud was the son of Martha "Mattie" Hairston Chisum Thompson and John A. Thompson of Erath County, Texas. Claud's father died when he was a young boy. The family lived in the Bethel Community which appears to later become part of Morgan Mill. Claud can be found living with his mother on the 1900, 1910, and 1920 United State Census records of Erath County, Texas. After 1920, he has not been positively identified.

Juanita was a child when Claud disappeared so the time was probably the 1920s rather than the 1940s. Claud would have been in his late 20s or early 30s at the time of his disappearance. 

On the 1930 United States Census, there were over fifty Claud/Claude Thompsons born about 1891 in Texas. Many of these Claud/Claude Thompsons could be eliminated from my list of possibilities immediately, but some required research.

If Claud was transient, there may be no record at all. There were a few boarders or lodgers, living in Texas, listed on the 1930 census without families that could have been Claude. There were Claud Thompsons in California, Oklahoma and Denver that matched his age and place of birth.  A forty-two year old C. Thompson died in San Antonio on December 13, 1933 of tuberculosis. He was so sick when he was brought to the hospital that he was not able to give them much information.  

Additional Internet and library searches may turn up more clues, but there are so many possibilities!

Diana

© 2014

Sources

Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006. Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.

Ancestry.com. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Thompson, Marie (Fort Worth, Texas) to "Dear Diana" [Diana Quinn]. Letter. 12 October 2000. Bryan-Quinn Genealogy Papers. Virginia Beach, Virginia.

United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.

Waugh, Nadine Thompson (Stephenville, Texas) to "Dear Diana" [Diana Quinn]. Letter. 26 September 2000. Bryan-Quinn Genealogy Papers. Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

Year: 1900; Census Place: Justice Precinct 1, Erath, Texas; Roll: 1631; Page: 36A; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1241631.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 1, Erath, Texas; Roll: T624_1550; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 1375563.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Morgan Mill, Erath, Texas; Roll: T625_1801; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 17; Image: 453.

Monday's News: Bethel

My grandmother, Myrtie Hairston, moved to Erath County at the age of three in 1883. Her family settled in the community of Bethel, nine miles north of Stephenville, Texas, where her father purchased 160 acres from Robert W. Thompson.   The school at Bethel was on her family farm and she attended Baptist church services in that community. 

Bethel is no longer in existence. It appears to be farmland. A winding dirt road goes up a large hill to the Bethel Cemetery.  On the way to the cemetery is the former home of Mattie Hairston Chisum Thompson; overgrown with vines and weeds, it’s now home to birds and other wildlife.  The cemetery contains graves of some extended family.

The following article, about the Bethel Community in 1898, was found in the Stephenville Tribune.

Bethel Locals

Eds. Tribune. – A peoples party club was organized at this place last Saturday night with eleven members. P. G. Stephens was elected president and John Olive secretary. We meet again next Saturday night.

Old Bethel is coming out of the kinks. We have a fine school under the management of Prof. Dean Bruington, a fine literary society meets every Friday night, a pop club, a good Sunday school, singing and prayer meeting every Sunday night.

We have preaching by Rev. G. W. Childress first Sunday, Rev. Hudson second Sunday, Rev. J. J. Davis third Sunday, and Rev. Will Green fourth Sunday.

P. A. Hairston is on the sick list this week.

Charley Judon made a business trip to Thurber Friday, returning Sunday.

W. D. Mourey, who for some time past has been in Eastland county, returned Friday.

John Thompson has had an attack of rheumatism for some time.

M. W. Birdwell, our candidate for assessor, is still in the ring. We would like to see Bud nominated and elected.   X.Z.

                                                       From the Stephenville Tribune  - April 1, 1898

Note: P.A. Hairston was my great-grandfather. John Thompson was the husband of his sister, Mattie Hairston Chisum Thompson. Robert W. Thompson, who sold land to P.A. Hairston, was the brother of John Thompson. 

Diana

© 2012, copyright Diana Quinn