My Trails into the Past

Last week I wrote about a research trip to Texas and the many cemeteries I visited in Comanche County. One such cemetery, Union Cemetery, has the tombstone of my great-grandmother, Nell L. (Hutson) Johnston. It is an unusual tombstone. It is shaped like a tree trunk and has these words around a symbol: In Memoriam Woodmen Circle.” Nell L. Johnston was born on 8 February 1888 to Sarah H Selman and Peter H Hutson. [1] She married Thomas N. Johnston on 6 June 1907 in Comanche County, Texas. [2] They had six known children. She died after a sudden illness on 14 July 1919. [3] She was only thirty-one years old and left two children under five and three children six to ten years old. My grandfather was only 6. Tom would not remarry until twelve years later. Her obituary says very little. She died on a Monday at home and was buried on Tuesday in Union Cemetery. “The many friends of the family will learn with keen regret of Mrs. Johnson’s untimely death, passing away as she did in the p...

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. Olevia Jane Jones, my fourth great-grandmother, was born 22 February 1859. [1] Her parents were Benjamin W. Jones and Amanda A. Haley. [2] She was the fifth and middle child of nine. There is no census that lists all of the children together. In 1860, she was the youngest of five. [3]   B.W. Jones, 38, male, farmer, VA, $2842, $8323   AA Jones, 31, F, MS    MF Jones, 13 F, MS   WA Jones, 11, male, MS   TW Jones, 9, male, MS   EB Jones, 5, F, MS   OJ Jones, 1, F, MS   David Gillman, 20, male, dressier, MS By 1870, her father is gone, having died sometime and someplace during the Civil War, and only eight children are enumerated, as the elde...

This week I have been working on Hutson family, specifically, Peter Hayden Hutson. There is much discussion on what his first name was. Some say Payton.   However, all of the documents I have found either list his name as P. H. or Pete. He was known in the Gustine, Texas area as “Uncle Pete.” I wrote about Pete back in 2014 when I participated that year in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. That post is here . Since I wrote that post, I have learned a little more about him. On 13 April 1905, P. H. Hutson purchase a piece of property from R. L. Selman and his wife, Julia P.  This piece of property was located in Gustine, Comanche County.  He paid initially $350 and secured three notes to be paid in 1906, 1907, and 1908, which totaled $400. The land was two acres. [1] R.L. Selman was Pete’s wife, Sarah’s brother, Robert Louis  (1855-1931). The interesting thing about the land, was it wasn’t filed until 27 December 1919. So the next task is to try to figure out: What p...

Newspapers sometimes gives clues to events that one would otherwise not know about. Such was the case when last week I was searching Comanche, Texas and Stephenville, Texas newspapers for articles about my great-aunt, Beryl Johnston for my weekly Saturday Night Genealogy Fun blog post. One of the articles I found was about a court hearing to appoint Thomas N. Johnston temporary guardian for the children Beryl Johnston, Mildred Johnston, Tom Johnston Jr, Hal W Johnston, and Luther Johnston, minors. [1] The notice stated that on the 12th day of December, he was duly appointed Temporary Guardian and the appointment would be made permanent unless “the same shall be successfully contested at the next term of said Court, commencing on … 6th day of April 1924 [should be 1925] at the Court House…” So my first thought was, what had the children inherited? Usually under-aged children need a guardian to handle an estate given to them. Since their father was still alive, it must ...

Nell Hutson was my paternal great-grandmother.  She was born either 8 February 1888 as was written on her tombstone [1] or 1889 which is calculated from U.S. federal census records. [2] The best record that might have solved or put into light on this question is the death certificate. She died at the age of thirty-one on  14 July 1919 at home near Gustine, Texas. [3] There is an obituary about her death and burial (even though the paper spelled her name wrong), but no death certificate. [4] 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. Nell was born, probably in Gusti...