The divorce of Charley Hogue and his first wife, Malinda Jane Williams is not often discussed. But first… hello and welcome back to the Hogue Connection! This article is a re-post of the last one; I just had to do a few edits, so I apologize of it seems to be a repeat. Most of it is! I’ve been busy researching this post, but I have mentioned the subject matter before in my Red River Trails article. I think it’s time to explore this important family event a bit further and look at some specific ideas I have surrounding it. Maybe it’s just some unresolved curiosities of mine and that’s as far as it goes. We’ll see what you all think.
I believe there is confusion around two different (many more than that actually) women named Malinda Jane Williams. The first Malinda I’ll discuss is my great grandfather Charley Hogue’s first wife. As we will see, she married Charley on 6 May 1885.
Some Violent Behavior…
They were together until she had Charley arrested for assault and battery that she said occurred on 1 September 1901 in Courtney, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. He apparently called her “all kinds of vile names”, beat her, and threw her and their kids out of their home with only the clothes on their backs. A Deputy Martin arrested Charley on 6 September 1901. A date was set for Charley to return to Ardmore to appear before the judge on 24 September. He posted a $200 bond and paid a fine of $10 and court costs of $14.80. After paying his bill, Charley was released on his own recognizance.
Their marriage was indeed full of ups and downs. One tale of family lore notes that after one particularly rough moment, Malinda dumped hot lye on Charley’s crotch. Ouch! This may have been the same fight that led to his arrest. I’m not sure about that, but it’s worth a mention. At one point, Malinda told law enforcement that Charley had pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her. Charley said that he was merely taking the gun away from her. Here are some the newspaper reports on that:
Malinda Jane Williams…her Early History…
…in my estimation, is uncertain. I’ll get to that later, in Part II. Right now, I will present the facts of Malinda’s adult life that I have gathered to this point. Let’s look at some of the statements she made while deposed on 1 November 1901 in Ardmore, I.T., in her divorce filing:
This document is important because of the facts Malinda swears to in front of the Notary Public Fred Kinkade. We have her age, and a description of the children she had with Charley. Also, we have her description of the property they acquired together, after over 15 years of marriage. Unfortunately, It doesn’t list her maiden name or the place of marriage. Also not disclosed; she was pregnant with their third child. Here is a copy of the 1900 U.S. Census showing them living in Courtney:
A few items are recorded incorrectly here. Malinda’s birth date is not right. She would have been 37 (She said she was 32) at the time of the deposition. As we’ll see, she never really knew exactly how old she was. The census incorrectly lists the children; John William is recorded as a daughter, and Mary Caroline is noted as Caldona. Many folks on the internet list her as Caldonia or “Callie”. The rest of the children’s information is okay. Hogue is spelled wrong, but that wasn’t the first time, or the last! Charley’s brother John C.’s name was spelled this way on the 1900 census as well. Malinda is recorded simply as Linda J.
The Divorce is Final…
…on 13 January 1902. Previously, on the same day as her deposition, Malinda brought with her four witnesses to be deposed, too. They were J.P. Eubanks, M.B. Williams, M.T. Stewart and J.F. Kinsey, all from the Courtney area. I found all of these witnesses on the 1900 census, except Stewart, so I know they were close neighbors. Charley’s arrest record was included in her deposition.
The marshal sent out on 24 September to bring Charley in to appear before the judge was a man by the name of William Fletcher Thompson. He was usually known as W.F., and lived in Leon, I.T. W.F.’s brother John also lived in Courtney. Charley appeared before U.S. Commissioner S. B. Bradford in the district court in Ardmore. He plead guilty, and was ordered to pay $250 in alimony to Malinda and cover the court costs related to the settlement.
Malinda was now a court-decreed unmarried woman. Not for long, however. She soon married Marshal W.F. Thompson, and, after nearly five months as a homeless person, living with neighbors, pregnant Malinda (Edward Bell Hogue was born 17 Apr) and her two children had a place to go. Thompson had split up with his wife Eliza after 11 years of marriage. They were recorded together on the 1900 Census on 23 June 1900. So, sometime between then and 13 January 1902, W.F. and Malinda developed a romance. They would eventually have three children together. Tragically, Mary Caroline would die before 1910, as she was not listed on that census with the new Thompson family. There is no record of her death or burial.
The Later Years of Malinda Jane Williams…
Let’s look at the 1910 Census of Marietta, OK, the new home of Malinda and W.F. Thompson and family:
A lot has happened to Malinda in a relatively short period of time. She has three more children. One of the questions asked on this census is how many children have you had and, how many are still living? She answers 8 and 5 respectively. Her sons with Charley, John and Edward, are included in the five listed here. We know Mary Caroline passed away. The other two children may have been born and died within the time period of 1902 to 1910. In 1900, she answered the same census question as 2 and 2. She was married to Charley for over eight years before John was born, so those births could have happened then. W.F. was in the process of becoming a doctor during this time. What that process was, I don’t know. He is listed as a physician on the 1920 census and a veterinarian in the 1930.
Uh Oh, Not Again?
Unfortunately, something happened in 1912 and Malinda was once again homeless. W.F. Thompson married Leona Mapp in 1913. He retained custody of the children he had with Malinda and would have two more with Leona. By 1914, Malinda and Edward had relocated to Dalhart, TX, up in the panhandle. She married her third husband, Henry Gamel that year and was living with him in 1920. Well, not exactly. She was living in his house while he boarded with a neighbor. She told the census taker that she was a widow. Henry miraculously came back to life and was back in the house in 1930. This Malinda was a complicated woman, I think. Her son John was in that area, too. He married Ina Jewel Edwards in 1913 and moved up to nearby Conlen, TX, following Jewel’s family, around 1914 or so.
Edward Hogue married Jewel’s sister Velma Lee in 1922 and had two daughters with her. He died 7 Mar 1932 in Dalhart of influenza, with intoxication as a contributing factor. Malinda Jane Hogue Thompson Gamel died 18 Aug 1936 in Dalhart from complications of cancer of the uterus. She was diagnosed with this ailment about a year earlier. Both are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Dalhart, TX. Edward’s marker is not photographed yet, but thanks to Sheryl Hancock Hall, here is a pic from FindAGrave:
Some Reporting Errors?
I have no doubt that the Malinda Jane Williams described in this post is the first wife of Charley Hogue and the mother of three of his children. Her life was tumultuous for sure. It’s when we start digging into her early years that we find some inconsistencies. Malinda had a few of those after her marriage to Charlie, too. Here’s a list of her “official” age that she reported to various authorities:
1900 Census, Chickasaw Nation. I.T., 25 June 1900 – age 35, born Jan 1865
Deposition in Divorce Proceedings, 1 November 1901 – age 32, birth calculation Jan 1869
1910 Census, Marietta, OK, 26 April 1910 – age 41, birth calculation as Jan 1869
1920 Census, Dalhart, TX, 24 January 1920 – age 48, birth calculation as Jan 1872
1930 Census, Dalhart, TX, 17 April 1930 – age 59, birth calculation Jan as 1871
Death Certificate and Tombstone, 18 Aug 1936, Dalhart, TX – age 65, born 5 Jan 1871*
*Note – Henry Gamel (Husband #3) provided this information.
What was the correct spelling of her name? Melinda, Malinda, Millinda, Malenda (as on her tombstone), or just plain Linda. Or Jane?
Malinda Jane…mystery woman?
Okay, on the age thing, let’s throw out the high and the low, and say Malinda was born either in 1869 or 1871. I can see fudging it a bit either way…many folks did that in the 19th century. I mention the differences above because it makes it difficult to track her down before 6 May 1885, when she said she married Charley. I’m pretty certain this marriage took place in the Indian Territory. Evidence shows Charley arrived there with his family around 1880.
In my next post, we’ll look at the possible mix up of this Malinda Jane Williams and other ones with similar life statistics. Many folks have accepted her heritage going back to Conway County, Arkansas. She appears everywhere as the daughter of Morton “Dump” Williams in Lick Mountain. I’ll pose a few questions about that relationship that I don’t have answers to, or that don’t make sense to me.
Thanks to David Hogue for contributing the lye story. I appreciate you all for visiting The Hogue Connection and reading my article! See you here soon! You can return to the Home page here.