Epilogue - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge

Thank you to Amy John Crow and her blog series "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks", a challenge on No Story Too Small.  I finished the challenge and learned more about my ancestors than I did before.

I didn't want to end the Challenge with just the 52nd post. Something extra was needed - like a bow on a package, a cherry on top of the sundae.  How about a list befitting the end of the year?  I have two to wrap up 2014:

Top 10 Most-Read Posts 

1. Mrs. Mary Daulton Clark Identified Using Two Key Resources (#33)
2. Ethel May Kendall Hibsch, the First Family Historian (#48)
3. Henry M. Kendall, Orange Juice in his Blood (#47)
4. John Ernest Hübsch 1838-1909 (#1)
5. James Hutson Abandoned Family (#4)
6. Ida May Brown Kendall, My Mystery Woman (#10)
7. Comings and Goings of Adam Clark, 1842-1926 (#7) 
8. Thomas Brown, Native of Ohio 1844-1927 (#8)
9. Jane Clark Brown 1846-1918 (#2)
10. Cephas A. Eisenman 1874-1946, Lifelong Minnesotan (#9)*

My Top 5 Ancestors**

1. Ethel M. Kendall Hibsch and Alba W. Hibsch: my grandparents - I just need more time to get to know you and have a Root Beer float.
2. Jane Clark Brown: why did you really live in an insane asylum most of your life?
3. John Ernest Hübsch:  tell me about your hometown in Prussia and sailing to America.
4. Thomas Cresap: how did you survey the wilderness and were you as vile as they said?
5. Rebecca Cresap Ogle:  tell me about frontier life in Ohio and raising 13 children.

     +1 Alva Leo Hutson: let's talk about homesteading in early 1900s North Dakota over a bowl of  your ice cream.

Thank you for reading  about my ancestors throughout the past year.  I hope you'll continue to read my blog and remember to post a comment about your thoughts.  Much appreciated!

 *resulted in a cousin connection!

**of course I'd like to talk to all of my ancestors but this list includes the ones who especially piqued my curiosity.

Betty E. Hutson Hibsch, 1926-2000 (52 Ancestors #42)

This is another article for the series "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks", a challenge by Amy Johnson Crow on No Story Too Small.

Betty Evelyn Hutson was born 26 Oct 1926 in Fillmore County, Minnesota.[1]  She was the only child of Herbert C. Hutson and Bernice I. Eisenman Hutson.  She was my mother.

Covina High School 1945
Yearbook Photo
(Click on images to enlarge)

Most of her girlhood was spent in Marshfield, Wood County, Wisconsin.[2]  There, Evylin’s (as she was recorded in the 1930 census) father worked at an ice cream company.  They lived next door to Herbert’s parents, Alva L. Hutson and Ada L. Boruff Hutson, and brother Lawrence.  Alva and Ada had children over a span of 25 years so not surprisingly Betty’s playmates were her uncle and cousin.  In 1930, her father’s youngest brother Melvin was five years old.  He was Betty’s uncle.  Her father’s other brother, Lawrence, had one child, Alva A., age 1.  He was her cousin.

She was still recorded as Evelyn in the 1940 census.[3] The family lived at a different address in Marshfield now.  Her mother worked as a waitress at a restaurant; her father was a mechanic at a garage.  Thirteen year old Evelyn attended Jefferson School.

Jefferson School, Marshfield, Wisconsin
May 1939

In the early 1940s, she and her parents moved to Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona.  One of her father’s brothers lived there.  She applied for her Social Security card here.[4]  Next, they moved to Baldwin Park, Los Angeles County, California to work at one of the defense plants during WWII.  Like so many people in my family, Betty attended Covina High School, graduating in 1945.[5] Following high school, Betty attended business school to become a bookkeeper.

Betty Hutson, age 15, and Spotty
May 1942

On 8 Nov 1946, she married Robert M. Hibsch at the Chapel of Roses in Pasadena, California.  They had three children.  They lived in Baldwin Park and West Covina until relocating to Williams, Colusa County, California in 1960 then to Sacramento, California in 1961. Robert owned and operated gas stations and Betty kept the books.  Early in their marriage, she was an active member of the Rebekahs, including being an officer, and served as a Boy Scout den mother. 

She died at age 74 on 16 May 2000 of sudden cardiac arrest and was buried at the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery where Robert was recently interred.

Sources

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[1] Minnesota Historical Society Birth record 

[2] Year: 1930; Census Place: Marshfield, Wood, Wisconsin; Image 12, Line 76. Roll: 2619; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0016; Image: 84.0; FHL microfilm: 2342353. Ancestry.com.

[3] Year: 1940; Census Place: Marshfield, Wood, Wisconsin; Image 28, Line 68. Roll: T627_4540; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 71-17. Ancestry.com.

[4] Number: 527-28-6959; Issue State: Arizona; Issue Date: Before 1951. Ancestry.com.  U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current

[5] Covina High School, Covina, Los Angeles County, California. Graduation picture.  U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012. Ancestry.com

Hobert (Herbert) C. Hutson had a Big Green Truck (52 Ancestors #29)

This is another article for the series "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks", a challenge by Amy Johnson Crow on No Story Too Small.

His family nickname was Hobe[1].  Friends affectionately referred to him as Herbie or H.C. 

I remember calling him “Pop”.  He was my grandfather.

Herbert C. Hutson, November 1946.
From author's personal collection

I have no other memories of him as he died when I was very young. I asked my brother Martin what he remembered about Pop because he’s older than me.  He had vivid memories:

“He bought us our first bikes.  Pop took me for rides in his pickup truck for work and fun and let me shift the gears.  We went to downtown Baldwin Park for ice cream and to Carr’s Department Store.  He would just let me be with him and talk about what I was doing, school, etc.”

First bikes from Pop and Grandma Hutson,
Christmas 1955, Big green truck in background.
From author's personal collection

Pop’s given name was Hobart Clayton Hutson[2], the first child of Alva Leo Hutson and Ada Lurena Boruff Hutson.  On 23 Sep 1901 in Wayne Township, Mitchell County, Iowa he greeted the world.[3]  His boyhood and teenage years were spent in McKinney Township, Renville County, North Dakota in the uppermost region of the state very near the Canadian border.  His father homesteaded[4] there from about 1904 – 1920 and Herbert worked on the farm.[5] 

Herbert had many siblings as the Hutson family grew over the 15 year residence in North Dakota:

• Lyle Kenneth Hutson (1904-1973)
• Violet Olive Hutson (1905-1919)
• Florence Ella Hutson (1906-1991)
• Lawrence William Hutson (1909-1986)
• Lillian Opal Hutson (1910-1998)
• Esther Marie Hutson (1911-1995)
• Alvin James Hutson (Jul 1914-Oct 1914)
• Harold Alvin Hutson (1915-1987)
• Melvin Milan Hutson (1923-2010) (born in Minnesota)

The Hutson family moved to Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota sometime after the 1920 U.S. federal census when they were last recorded in Grover Township, Renville County, North Dakota.  The 1921 Rochester city directory listed them renting at 20 8^th NE.   In 1923, he was living with his parents at 716 Broadway N and was a laborer, possibly where his father worked at the W.L. Parkin Ice Cream Company.

Herbert married Bernice I. Eisenman about 1925.  They lived in Fillmore County, Minnesota when their first and only child was born on 26 Oct 1926.

His occupations included:  laborer[6], mechanic[7], and truck driver[8].  My Uncle B knew Herbie, as he called him, and recounted the story that he worked for a defense plant in Long Beach during WWII, probably Douglas Aircraft.  Herbie was of great value to the plant because he had a truck, a big, green truck that he drove to pickup and deliver mail and other items.  After the war, he would meet the streetcar and deliver the mail to the post office.[9]

Censuses, city directories, and voter registration lists helped track Herbert and Bernice. They lived with or very close to the Hutson family cluster until his father died in 1936.[10]

• 1925 - 311 6^th NW, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota.  Herbert and Bernice lived here after getting married and when their first child was born.  Herbert’s parents, Alva Leo Hutson and Ada Boruff, lived here also, as did Herbert’s siblings Florence, Lawrence, Lillian and Lyle (and his wife Pearl).
• 1930 - 912 South Central Ave., Marshfield, Wood, Wisconsin.  Herbert’s parents and brother Lawrence each lived in a house next to them.
• 1935 to 1940 – 404½ East Bakerville Street, Marshfield, Wisconsin.  The Hutson family cluster seemed to have scattered after the death of Alva.  From 1935-1940, Lawrence, Harold, Lyle, their wives and mother had relocated to Phoenix, Arizona and Los Angeles, California.
• 1941 or so – Betty, their daughter, got her Social Security card in Arizona so my assumption is that Bernice and Herbert lived with or near his brothers for awhile.
• 1948 – 214½ Crickett Lane, Baldwin Park, Los Angeles, California.  Herbert and Bernice came to California during the war years and worked at a defense plants.
• 1949 – 215⅝ N. Maine, Baldwin Park, Los Angeles, California
• 1950 – 4147¾ N. Maine, Baldwin Park

On 27 Dec 1955 Herbert died tragically.  He was at a bar in downtown Baldwin Park.  An argument ensued between him and two other men resulting in Herbert being asked to leave the bar.  The two guys followed him out and hit him with a board.  An ambulance took him to a Los Angeles hospital where he died from severe head trauma a couple days later.  Nobody would talk to investigators so the assailants were never caught and the case was closed.[11]   

From various accounts I've heard about Herbert, he always dressed neatly, wore a large belt buckle and drove a big, green truck with lights atop the cab.  He was described as friendly and just maybe drank a bit too often.

Rest in peace Pop; it's a shame I didn't get to have more memories with you.

Future Research

• Obtain birth and marriage records
• Learn where they lived in Arizona
• Contact defense plant archives, if available, for employment records
• Research newspapers in Los Angeles and Baldwin Park
• Contact living relatives of his siblings for more stories

Sources

---

[1] Source of nickname, Ron A

[2] Recorded in records as Herbert from 1930 forward

[3] Birth record from Mitchell County, Iowa

[4] 1906 homestead record of Alva L. Hutson  

[5] 1920 U.S. federal census

[6] 1915 and 1920 census records, family farm, North Dakota; 1927 city directory, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota

[7] 1930 and 1940 census records, ice cream factory, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota

[8] 1949 and 1950, unknown employer, city directory, Baldwin Park, Los Angeles, California-

[9] Remembrance of Uncle B

[10] Profile of Bernice Eisenman Hutson on Denise Digs Roots Blog 

[11] As told by Robert Hibsch, Herbert’s son-in-law, 26 Aug 2011.  A newspaper account has yet to be found.

William E. Hutson, Farm Hand and Thresherman (52 Ancestors #24)

This is another article for the series "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks", a challenge by Amy Johnson Crow on No Story Too Small.

Carol M. Highsmith, "Iowa Hay Rolls",
betw 1980 and 2006

Once again I'm profiling an ancestor from Bailey Village, Mitchell County, Iowa.  My great-great Uncle William Ernest Hutson[1] left a puny record trail.  This fellow became more of a research challenge for basic records than originally expected.  My other ancestors have spoiled me.

Like his older brother Alva Leo Hutson, William was born in the small village of Bailey in Wayne Township, Mitchell County, Iowa. The best indication of his birth date of 19 Mar 1882 came from his WW I draft registration card[2].  He was the second child of James Hutson and Ella Pillsbury Hutson Henderson.   William may not have known his father very well or at all based on statements in the divorce record about his father’s abandonment of the family. He was thirteen years old when his mother married again to John Henderson.   In some records, William was identified with the surname of Henderson.  William also had two half-brothers: Clyde Ellsworth Henderson and Lawrence K. Henderson.

William E. Hutson's signature on
WWI Draft Registration Card

The farms in Wayne Township served as employment for William.  He worked as a hired man on the David S. Hockens [Hawkins] farm[3] and the Richard W. Carter farm[4].   On his WW I draft registration card he listed his occupation as thresherman[5] on the Tom Gallup farm in Athol Township, Spink County, South Dakota[6].  This job site seemed rather curious since it was nearly 400 miles from Wayne Township[7].  William’s brother Alva had a homestead in McKinney, Renville County, North Dakota at the time so I mapped the distance between towns.   Not very close to stop by for supper.

Source: Google Map:  

William’s mother died in 1943.  Her obituary stated that William cared for her until her death in McIntire near Bailey Village.  He would have been about 61, she 84.   While not a reliable source, the obituary does suggest that William was still in Bailey Village in 1943.

The trail goes cold from there.

Did he remain in Bailey Village?  Did he ever marry?  When and where did he die?  Searches in Iowa, Minnesota, Arizona and California where his Hutson and Henderson kin lived have been to no avail.  William has now become my first “modern day” ancestor for whom I have not located some basic records.  So far, she said hopefully.

Photo Credit: Carol M. Highsmith, "Iowa hay rolls", betw 1980 and 2006; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011632246/ : accessed 17 June 2014)

Future Research

• Locate records for marriage, death and grave site
• Locate Hutson kin

Sources

---

[1] Steve Morse relationship calculator http://stevemorse.org/relation/calculator.html

[2] Registration State: Iowa; Registration County: Mitchell; Roll: 1643186; Description: Draft Card H; Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

[3] Year: 1900; Line 80. Census Place: Wayne, Mitchell, Iowa; Roll: 448; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0122; FHL microfilm: 1240448. Description: Enumeration District : 0122; Description: Wayne Township including McIntire Town.  Ancestry.com

[4] Year: 1920; Census Place: Wayne, Mitchell, Iowa; Roll: T625_503; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 152; Image: 310. Description: Enumeration District : 0152; Wayne Township including Bailey town, those parts of Meyer and McIntire towns in this Township.  Ancestry.com.

[5] Merriam-Webster.com:  “thresh” verb \ˈthresh, ˈthrash\:  to separate the seeds of corn, wheat, etc., from the plant by using a special machine or tool.  Thresherman, one who threshes.

[6] See Footnote 2

[7] Mileage by car based on 2014 Google map

Alva Leo Hutson, Farmer Turned Ice Cream Maker (52 Ancestors #16)

This is another article for the series in which I'm participating, "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks", a challenge by Amy Johnson Crow on No Story Too Small.

Alva Leo Huts

Stories about my mid-western roots continue here with the birth of my great-grandfather Alva Leo Hutson on 26 Oct 1879 in Wayne Twp, Mitchell, Iowa.  His parents were James Hutson and Ella Pillsbury.  He had a brother, William Ernest Hutson, born on 19 Mar 1882.

Alva and William spent their boyhood days in Wayne Twp. They were primarily raised by their mother.  Their father was seemingly an absentee for most of Alva’s and all of William’s life.  Ella divorced James in 1895 based on abandonment since July 1882 according to the divorce record.  She married John Henderson on 10 Dec 1895, the day after the decree was granted.  In the 1900 U.S. federal census for Wayne Twp, Alva was 21 years old and recorded as Alva
Henderson, son of John Henderson.  Alva had a half-brother, Clyde, born about 1897 to Ella and John.

Marriage and Children
On 19 Jan 1901, Alva married Ada Lurena Boruff (1881-1973) in McIntire, Mitchell, Iowa.  Their first child, Hobart Clayton Hutson (1901-1955) was my grandfather.  Shortly after his birth, Alva and Ada moved to Renville County, North Dakota.  Eight children were born there:

• Lyle Kenneth Hutson (1904-1973)
• Violet Olive Hutson (1905-1919)
• Florence Ella Hutson (1906-1991)
• Lawrence William Hutson (1909-1986)
• Lillian Opal Hutson (1910-1998)
• Esther Marie Hutson (1911-1995)
• Alvin James Hutson (Jul 1914-Oct 1914)
• Harold Alvin Hutson (1915-1987)
• Melvin Milan Hutson (1923-2010) [born in Wisconsin]

The Homestead Years

Homestead Proof for
Alva L. Hutson

I don’t know why he moved to McKinney, Renville, North Dakota but quite possibly it was because of the available land and/or because James Boruff (Ada’s father?) was there also.  By 1906, he filed a homestead application with proof that he had built a 16x24 foot house for his family.  He also built a barn of the same size, a well and had broken 60 acres of crop.  On 17 Feb 1908, he was awarded a patent of the southwest quarter of Section 10 in Township 161 [McKinney] north of Range 86 west of the 5th Principal Meridian, North Dakota, containing 160 acres.  The family lived on the homestead until 1920 when the census of January of that year recorded them as living in a rental in Grover, Renville, North Dakota.

The Ice Cream Years
Or, the "I wish I had know him then" years -- yum-yum!

Hutson and Son Ice Cream Truck

Later in 1920, the Hutson’s moved to Minnesota.  They lived in Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota for several years.  Alva was employed as a Mixer and Ice Cream Maker at the W.L. Parkin Creamery.  In 1930, Alva was living in Marshfield, Wood, Wisconsin where he continued in the ice cream business.  By 1934, he moved again, this time to Amery, Polk, Wisconsin.  There he was in business with his son Lawrence running their own ice creamery called the Super Ice Cream Co.  Unfortunately, he died suddenly In Amery of a heart attack on 20 Aug 1936.

Future Research:

• Obtain the sale documents for the farm in North Dakota
• Learn what crops Alva grew
• Determine if James Boruff of North Dakota was related to Ada Boruff Hutson
• Research North Dakota newspapers for stories about the Hutson’s and the area in general
• Obtain Alva’s birth record if available and death certificate; burial location
• Research business records, license, etc. for Super Ice Cream Co.
• Search for probate packet
• Other, suggestions welcome

Sources:
Dates of birth and death:  SSDI and Bible records
Marriage certificate: Osage County, Iowa Courthouse
Divorce Record: Osage County, Iowa Courthouse
Brother William:  WW I Draft Registration Record and Elaa's divorce record
Census records: Ancestry.com
Homestead record:  Bureau of Land Management

Copyright Denise Hibsch Richmond

James Hutson Abandoned Family (52 Ancestors #4)

That’s What the Divorce Record Said

James Hutson was my great-great grandfather and he’s one of my brick walls.  Solid as a rock wall.

I know he married my great-great grandmother Ella Pillsbury in 1878 in Mitchell County, Iowa.  The record said so.  But the record also spelled his surname as Houston.  All other records (census, divorce) and his descendants spelled the surname Hutson.

Ella was granted a divorce in 1895 after he failed to appear in court in response to a 30 day notice in the newspaper.  The basis of the divorce was abandonment so it stands to reason that the court awarded Ella sole custody of their children, Alva Leo Hutson, born in 1879, and William Ernest, born in 1882.  Both sons were born in Wayne Twp, Mitchell, Iowa.  Alva was my great-grandfather.  Side note:  Ella remarried the day after the divorce was granted.

The 1880 U.S. federal census for Wayne Twp, Mitchell, Iowa recorded Ella Hutson (but not James) as married, living in the household of W.C. Pillsbury (her father) with son L. Alva, seven months old, born in October. (I know, his age and birth month don’t match).  The census said that Alva’s mother and father were born in Wisconsin.



1880 U.S. federal census, Wayne Twp, Mitchell, Iowa
on Ancestry.com (click to enlarge)

And now the brick wall.  Admittedly, I haven’t searched for James Hutson in a couple years.  I was hoping for a cousin connection by getting his short story on the blogosphere.  Fingers crossed.  And I also need to create a research plan which will include (gasp) writing letters to archives, historical societies and libraries.