By Michael L. Hogue Hey everyone! Welcome back to The Hogue Connection! It’s been a busy summer and a while since I’ve posted. Today, we look at Family Focus #4, checking out another descendant of William M. and Mary Jane Hogue. This article zooms in on the life of Cordelia Leona Hogue, Charley’s next oldest sister. There were six children born to this union, and Cordie (as she was known to most), was number three.
Born in Blount County, TN…
The 1870 census of Coytee, Blount County, was a very important document, as I have said before. This was the first time I found Charley living with his parents. It is not error-free, however. It lists Cordelia as the fourth in age, after Charley. She was born here 8 Mar 1864; Charley didn’t arrive on the scene until 15 January 1865. Remember that this family moved around quite a bit, mainly between Blount County and Stecoah, NC.
1870 Census, Coytee, Blount County, TN
Finally, in 1880, everyone moved together (except oldest child Josie) to Courtney, Indian Territory. Please read more about that move, here, in my article RED RIVER TRAILS. Cordie’s history helps confirm the moving date of 1880 as you will soon see. Cordie Hogue would end up having 8 children with three different partners. Two of these men remain very mysterious to this day. With the help of some existing genealogies and the 1907 Territorial Census of Seminole County, I was able to get things sorted out.
The First Relationship with Cline…
Cordie’s first child, Mary Carol, was born near what later would become Purcell, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, on 12 Feb 1881. I have not been able to find any marriage records this far back in the I.T. There is one index available, but the earliest dates listed are around 1895. For most of her life, Mary went by Donnie or Donna. We found out the last name of her father later, on a Social Security filing. She was listed here (below) as Mary D. Cline. Her first marriage license in 1898 had her identified as Mary Clines.
If the Hogue’s got to the Indian Territory in 1880, Cordie became pregnant as early as June of that year. Her and this Cline fellow headed to the northern edge of the Chickasaw Nation to settle down. I can’t find any further info on Cline. Not even his first name! Records are scarce on the internet, but I do know that Cordie married her second husband sometime around 1884.
Husband #2, Tommy Owens…
Again, this man was identified via a Social Security application that mentioned Cordie Hoge. I must assume that this is our Cordie. There are a few Tommy Owens’ scattered about in various censuses and family trees, but none are a worthy match. Cordie had two children with Tommy. Newton A. Owens was born in the Indian Territory on 17 Dec 1885. His sister, Lillie, was born 11 Oct 1888.
Here in Family Focus #4, we get lucky by finding all these folks living near each other in 1907. The Territorial Census of 1907, taken when Oklahoma became a state, of Seminole County, lists three Hogue siblings living here. William, Cordie and Nellie were all in Enumeration District 922. Here’s a picture of Cordie’s page:
1907 Territorial Census of Seminole, OK
Notice that there is no Tommy Owens listed. Cordie married to husband #3, Wilburn F. Foster (shown here as Lloyd) in 1892 in Holdenville, I.T. and had five children by him.
Hughes County, OK 1909
Family Focus #4…A Roll Call of the Children…
Mary Carol “Donnie” Cline (1881-1962) – First and only child with Cline. Donnie married Frank Willard (1872-1917) in 1898 in Lamar County, TX. They had three children: William “Buck” (1901-1981), Walter A, (1907-1988) and Melvin (1917-1963). After Frank’s death, she married John Martin Snider (1867-1936) and had three more children with him: Netta L. (1920-2011), John E. (1923-1992), and Naomi (1926-2008). Later in life, Donnie warried twice more, to Someone named Hutchins around 1940, and J.L. Cook in 1948 at the age of 66. She died in 1962 and is buried as Donie Willard Snider in the Non Cemetery, Hughes County, OK. She rests next to her first husband. Her FindAGrave memorial is here.
Newton A. Owens (1885-1974) – First child with Tommy Owens. Newton married Eler J. Miller (1886-1972) in 1906 in Muskogee, OK. They had five children: William A. (1907-1950), Ernest P. (1912-1999), Elridge M. (1914-1992), Roy W. (1916-1985), and Ailiene (1920-2014). He is buried next to his wife in Elmwood Cemetery, Wagoner, OK, here.
Lillie Owens (1888-1990) – married Thomas “Manuel” Evans in 1906, also in Muskogee, OK. They had eight children: Luther (1909-1990), Cordie May (1914-1992), Bonnie L. (1916-1983), Lonnie (1920-1985), Marvin T. (1921-1991), Lorene L. (1924-2012), Marie (1926-2017), and Earl W. (1930-1931). Lillie passed away in 1990 in Holdenville, Hughes, OK and is buried in the Holdenville Cemetery, next to her husband, here. Her FindAGrave bio has some errors, but the location is correct.
Family Focus #4 Roll Call, continued…
Roy Lee Foster (1893-1963) – oldest child with Wilburn F. Foster (1864-1931). Roy married Minnie May Martin (1900-1953) in 1919 in Hughes Couty, OK. They had six children: Milindia Mae (1920-1999), Cordelia (1923-1953), George (1924-1986), Lester (1927-2010), Dessie (1927-2004), and another daughter, born 1932 who may still be living. I can’t find a death record for her. Roy passed away in the V.A. Hospital in Memphis, TN in 1963 and is buried in the Non Cemetery, here.
Benjamin Franklin Foster (1895-1954) – married Carrie Lee Garner in Hughes County, OK in 1914. They had one daughter, Beatrice (1915-2004). Ben passed away in Stuart, Hughes, OK in 1954 and is buried in the Non Cemetery, here.
Linzy Lewis Foster (1899-1969) – married Minnie Jane Wallace in Hughes County, OK in 1919. They had six children: Stella L. (1920-2007), Clarence F. (1921-2014), Evelyn L. (1925-2011), Lois D. (1928-2016), Ada L. (1932-2020), and Wilma (1942-2009). Linzy was the only one of Cordie’s children to leave the area, moving to Reedley, Fresno, CA between 1942 and 1950. He died there in 1969 and no burial info is available.
Family Focus #4 Roll Call, continued…
Oscar F. “Dutch” Foster (1901-1984) – married Ada E. Lee in Hughes County, OK in 1926. They had four children: Virgil M. (1928-2014), Norma J. (1934-1951), and David L. (1938-2000), and Mary E. (1941-2016). Dutch died in 1984 in Holdenville and is buried in the Holdenville Cemetery, here.
Alford F. Foster (1904-1993) – married Julie Luvenia Shropshire in Hughes County, OK in 1927. They had ten children, three of whom are still living. At least I could not locate death records for them, which is great!: – Wilburn L. (1928-1966), Ruby Ann (1929-2019), Leonard F. (1932-2012), Marie (1933-2014), John Henry (1934-2012), Alfa Lorene (1937-2024), son, born 1938, daughter, born 1941, Dorothy (1943-2019), and a daughter born 1945. Alford, often referred to as Alfred, passed away in Ada, OK and is buried in the Non Cemetery, here.
Cordie Lived Almost 50 Years in Hughes County…
After Wilburn died in 1931, Cordie lived in their home in Stuart for the remainder of her life. She kept busy in the social scene around Holdenville. There is evidence that she wrote a column for the paper for a few years about local activities until turning it over to her granddaughter (also named Cordie Foster). All told, she was the mother of eight and grandmother to 46! She was visiting her son Dutch on the morning of 6 Aug 1941 in Holdenville when she died suddenly around 9:30AM. She was buried next to Wilburn in the Non Cemetery, here.
Cordie Foster Obituary, 6 Aug 1941
Many Fosters and allied families are buried in the Non Cemetery. Non is a strange name. The post office there opened in 1901, but prior to that, residents tried to name the town Cannon. There already was a Cannon, OK, so they simply shortened the name to Non. Strange, but true!
As always, if any of my Hogue cousins can fill in the gaps, please drop me a line. Thanks for tuning in and reading my latest article, Family Focus #4 and taking a closer look at the family of Cordelia Leona Hogue. We’ll see you here on the next post! If you would like to return to the home page, go here. Here is a picture of a young Cordie. Thanks to my cousin Mike Morgan for sending me this one!
