Gone Too Soon: Nell Hutson Johnston Dead at 31 Years

Not much is known about my maternal great-grandmother, Nell Hutson. Few records were created that name her. Her nephew, Pete White stated on Nell’s sister, Annie Pearl’s death certificate that she was born in Gustine.[1] Perhaps Nell was born there, too. Her tombstone lists her full birth and death dates: born 8 February 1888 and died 14 July 1919.[2] No death certificate has been found for Nell. Even searching line by line in the Comanche County death register found no record. Deaths had been recorded since the early century. Only a short and very uninformative obituary marked her passing and doesn’t even mention her first name, typical of the era.

Mrs. Tom Johnson Dead. Mrs. Tom Johnson died on Monday, July 14, at the family residence in Comanche and was buried Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Union cemetery at Gustine. The many friends of the family will learn with keen regret of Mrs. Johnson's untimely death, passing away as she did in the prime of life when so much of her life was yet in the future. We join the many friends in extending our sympathy to the sorrowing husband and relatives.[3]

What can we pull from this small death notice? So much of her life was yet in the future, it says. She was just thirty-one years of age. Much too young to die. With no death certificate to tell us the cause of death, we can only speculate. She had given birth to five children, with the last one eighteen months previous, so it was not likely due to childbirth – unless these five births weakened her. It is also possible that she caught the Spanish Flu. I searched through papers of that time period and found no articles about the flu.

She appeared as an eleven-year-old with her parents, Peter H. Hutson and Sallie in 1900 in Comanche County. Her siblings include Pearl, 16, Coreta, 4; Luther, 2, and Tennie, 1, who died later that year.[4]

She married Thomas Newton Johnston in Comanche County on 6 June 1907 by J.R. Fagan, a minister of the gospel.[5] Three years later, she and Thomas had the eleven-month-old Beryl living with them.[6] When Thomas registered for the draft, he named his wife as his nearest relative, Mrs. Nellie Johnson.[7]

Tom and Nell had six children:

1. Beryl M. Johnston, born 4 June 1909
2. Mildred Adeline Johnston, born 24 January 1911.
3. Tom J. Johnston, born 7 October 1912.
4. Hal Wynn Johnston, born 8 August 1915.
5. Luther Edwin Johnston, born 17 Jan 1918.

Nell Hutson Johnston, daughter of Peter H. Hutson and Sarah Helena Selman, wife of Thomas N. Johnston, and mother of Beryl, Mildred, Tom, Hal and Luther, was gone too soon. My mother never met her. She was never a grandmother. She was barely a mother. Beryl as the oldest was just ten years. Luther at the youngest never really knew her.

#52Ancestors: Week 9: Gone Too Soon

This is my sixth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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[1] "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1983324), no. 4924, Annie Pearl White, 1974; citing Texas Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics, Austin.

[2] Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com), memorial# 64910690, Union Cemetery, Gustine, Comanche Co, Texas, Nell L. Johnston, photo by Ken Jones.

[3] “Mrs. Tom Johnson Dead,” Comanche Chief, 18 Jul 1919.

[4] 1900 U.S. census, Comanche Co, Texas, pop. sched, Justice Prec. No. 2, ED 29, sht 4A & B, pg 133 (stamped) 65/65, Peter H. Hutson; NARA T623, roll 1622. For Tennie’s death, see Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64910658/tennie-o.-hutson), memorial 64910658, Union Cemetery, Gustine, Comanche Co, Texas, Tennie O. Hutson, 1900. Marker reads “Dau of P.H. & S.H. Hutson.”

[5] "Texas, Comanche County Records, 1858-1955," digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1831470)> Vital records > Marriage records, vol. 5, 1903-1908 > image 577 of 668, p. 563, Johnston-Hutson marriage, 1907.

[6] 1910 U.S. census, Comanche Co, Texas, pop. sched., Prec 3, ED 7, p. 108 (stamped), dwelling 8, Thomas N. Johnston; NARA T624, roll 1541.

[7] "U.S., WW I Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918," database and images, Ancestry, (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6482/ : 28 Feb 2023) > Texas > Comanche County > ALL > Draft Card J > image 95 of 130, Thos. N. Johnston, serial no. 1332, order no. 2106, Comanche County Local Board.

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