Hey, everybody! Welcome back to The Hogue Connection. Today, I’d like to take a look at one of our double cousins. What’s that? An example of double cousins occurs when siblings marry siblings of another family. The children of those marriages end up sharing 25% of their DNA with each other. Typical first cousins share only about 12.5%.
I’m going to twist the usual definition of double cousins a bit for this example. Let’s take a look at an Oklahoma cousin who not only descends from a Hogue but married one as well. There are lot of twists, turns, and tragedy in this story. You’ll have to pay close attention to it. As always, we’re all about shared inherited DNA here at The Hogue Connection!
Jodie E. Lawson (1888-1973)
Jodie was born 16 Jan 1888, probably in Courtney, Indian Territory, to Daniel Starling Lawson and Elizabeth Fowler. My grandpa Henry had fond memories of Jodie from when he was a young boy in Rubottom. He lived in that area for many years and is buried in the Rubottom Cemetery. Jodie’s history is a bit cloudy during his early years. As often happens, many of the trees on Ancestry.com have some of the wrong information. I’ll try to reconstruct it here.
Elizabeth Fowler was born in Alabama and came to Texas from Mississippi after 1881. She married Daniel Lawson about 1884 and had two children with him before passing away in 1889, when Jodie was only one. Daniel married his second wife, Nancy Ursula Blackerby, in 1890 and with her, raised Jodie, his sister, Myrtle and six more children. Daniel, who was a member of the Leon Masonic lodge with Charley Hogue, died in 1901. Both Elizabeth and Daniel are buried in the Illinois Bend Cemetery across the Red River from Courtney in Texas. Daniel, Nancy and family were recorded on the 1900 Census in Courtney. More twisted connections will develop with Daniel’s second widow later. Stick with me!
Daniel Lawson’s mother is…
Percy M. Hogue, daughter of Daniel Washington Hogue and Sarah G.W. Jackson Bates. Daniel Hogue was Sarah’s second husband and the older brother of William M. Hogue, my great-great grandfather. Remember that William M. married Sarah’s daughter Mary Jane Bates by her first husband, Andrew Bates. We’re just getting started with the twists and turns here!
Percy was born in Murray County, Georgia in 1850. She married Edmond Lawson in Roane, Tennessee on 31 July 1865, at the age of 15. Haven’t dug up too much about Edmond, except that he was born in Tennessee in 1838, and didn’t hang around long. The next move Percy made was to Texas after Daniel’s birth in 1866. She married her second husband in Montague Co., TX in 1869. More on that in a bit.
So, Back To Nancy Blackerby Lawson…
On 11 April 1905, Nancy married her second husband. His Name? Andrew Lee Hogue of course! Most folks knew him as Lee Hogue. Lee’s parents? Percy Hogue Lawson and her second husband, James Jesse Hogue. Known by most as Jesse, he was the son of William M. Hogue and his first wife, Sarah Strawn. This means that Percy and Jesse were first cousins, or, at least, first half cousins! So Lee Hogue, their son, is also their first cousin, once removed? Lee is also Jodie’s father’s half brother.
Now I’m confused.
Anyway, Nancy and Lee had a daughter, Clara, in 1906. Nancy had another child on the way when Lee died suddenly in November 1907. I haven’t run across any stories of the circumstances surrounding his death. He is also buried in the cemetery at Illinois Bend, TX. Their son, Buford was born 21 June 1908.
So, Nancy Ursula Blackerby Lawson Hogue, makes it through the death of two husbands and basically raised ten children entirely on her own. She did not remarry after Lee’s death and lived with or near all those kids until passing away in Albany, TX in 1949.
Let’s Get Back To Our Double Cousin Jodie…
After going through all that turmoil in his young life, Jodie falls in love and gets married on 4 Dec 1910. As a side note, some of the Ancestry family trees, and FindAGrave, too, have Jodie’s name as Joseph E. Lawson. He filled out his draft card in 1917 and signed it as Joe E. Lawson. His headstone reads Jodie, though.
Anyway, Jodie marries his wife, Flora Mae Hogue in Rubottom. Flora’s parents were long time Love County residents Sherman and Roxie Hogue. Sherman was a son of William M. and Daniel W’s brother, James L. (Leonard) Hogue. So, guess what?
Jodie and Flora are third cousins, once removed.
Jodie and Flora remained in the area for many years. They raised five children of their own and Flora’s daughter Onie Stansbury, whose father died while Flora was pregnant with her. I did a relationship calculation with one of Jodie and Flora’s grandchildren, and we are either fourth cousins or fourth cousins once removed depending on which line you trace.
Hank Always Said…
Grandpa always knew he and Jodie were cousins. He just didn’t know how and definitely didn’t know about the double cousins thing. I’m not sure I could explain it to him now if he was still around. I’d probably have to draw some kind of diagram for him. I thought about doing that for this post, but there were too many crossing lines! Also, Henry always pronounced Jodie as “Joda” and his sister, Fannie Mae, as “Fanna Mae”. The things you remember.
Once again, thanks for visiting The Hogue Connection and stay tuned for further cousin adventures. You can return to the Home Page here. Also, any of you Lawson cousins that happen to read this story, please chime in if you can add to it!