Red River Trails

The Migration of The William M. Hogue Family

by 

Michael L. Hogue

I – Prologue

All four of my grandparents, Henry Jackson Hogue (1914-2009), Crystal Faye Larner (1919-2007), Irene Idell Depriest (1912-2006), and Roy Lee Murray (1911-1956), were born in Oklahoma. At that time, Oklahoma was a new addition to our nation, having gained statehood in 1907. In fact, none of my great grandparents were born there; their migration began in other parts of the country. This new state grew quickly because many people came there in pursuit of their version of the American dream, and, to take advantage of the cheap and fertile farm land provided by this this new frontier.

My Grandparents

L to R: Henry Jackson Hogue (1914-2009), Crystal Faye Larner (1919-2007), Irene Idell Depriest (1912-2006), and Roy Lee Murray (1911-1956)

As it turned out, Oklahoma became a crucial stepping stone for the greater migration west. My family ended up in California, for reasons to come later, in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. In fact, many Hogue cousins followed suit and moved there as well. And it wasn’t just Hogues; many Californians have Oklahoma as part of their family heritage. In the Thirties, Oklahoma suffered a net loss in population of 440,000 people, with about 250,000 moving to California. The peak of this migration occurred between 1937 and 1938.

My dad, Charles William Hogue (1937-2003) was born at the Santa Clara County Hospital in San Jose, California on March 18, 1937. His parents, Henry and Crystal Faye, named their first-born child after each of their fathers and soon went home to their rented apartment in San Martin, CA. Henry had a job working as a general laborer and mechanic on a ranch, making about $15 a week, just down the road in Gilroy, CA. The family would remain in this area until moving the short distance north to San Jose in the mid-sixties.

Faye Larner was still living with her parents on April 1, 1935, in Dill City, Oklahoma. She married Henry on January 27, 1936 in nearby Cordell at the age of 16. Faye told the person issuing the license that she was 18. Henry and his family moved to that area from his birthplace, Rubottom, Love County, Oklahoma around 1929. What events, or conditions, led Faye to the decision to make this enormous change in her life? Her father, according to my Grandpa, was not easily convinced to let her go. She gave up the rest of her childhood to run off to California. I know this kind of thing happened often during this era in America’s history. The Depression took a toll on many families. Some parts of Oklahoma were suffering under an extended drought. Poverty was running rampant.

So, we can see that California seemed like a promised land to so many people. In fact, Faye’s parents would follow many of their children west to California in the early 50’s. It was not a wonderful experience for many; “Okies” (a term I don’t particularly like to use) were shunned and called bums and hobos, especially in the Los Angeles area. Those who had skills got jobs, but some had to go on relief before they could settle in. Many migrants ended up in Arizona, or in the San Joaquin Valley, following the fruit harvest which provided the necessary work to survive.

As difficult as it may have been, the move west was obviously important to our family. It was a key event that furthered the existence of it. It was also not the first time a migration of this magnitude occurred in the history of our branch of the Hogue clan. In this project, I will examine the important moves in our history and try to analyze why these things happened and what impact they had on the future move west.

I will build this story on the life of William M. Hogue (1823-1886), his ancestors, and descendants from his two marriages, and try and make sense of it all from a genealogical perspective. I hope to clarify many things and pose questions about others. We are still learning here; perhaps more clues will evolve that can further a deeper knowledge of our family’s history. William M., mainly because of the information gleaned from one important document in his life’s history, has become the cornerstone of not only our family’s history, but of the investigation of facts I have gathered thus far.

William’s father, William G. Hogue (1790-1866), my great, great, great grandfather, stayed in a very localized area for most of his life. William M. was the first to make a major move out of that area, and, as we will see, did it rather late in life. Some of the same questions arise; why was this migration necessary and what events led to the decision to move? The very nature of the study of genealogy invites speculation. However, I hope the facts and family lore I have assembled up to this point, and the timing involved, will paint an accurate picture of our history in a way that makes logical sense.

When I was young, I thought Hogue was a rare name. I’m sure there were no other Hogue’s at any school I attended growing up, except in elementary school once my younger brothers were old enough to attend. Now I find that there are thousands of Hogue’s across the country that are direct descendants of William G. Hogue. One webpage I’m familiar with, in fact, is not complete, but lists over 1200 descendants from William G. alone. I hope there are many more Hogue relatives out there getting ready to start their own search for their ancestors. Perhaps they have better records than our branch of the family did, and would be willing to share and compare notes. This need for understanding the actual events of our family history still motivates me to find out the true story of our heritage.

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 II – Introduction

  Genealogy

An account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms; regular descent of a person, family, or group of organisms from a progenitor or older form i.e. pedigree; the study of family pedigrees; an account of the origin and historical development of something.

 My Beginnings in Family Research

I first became interested in genealogy around 1987. My grandfather, Henry Jackson Hogue (1914-2009) had a lot of knowledge to share about his childhood, but knew very little of his family history. His father, Charles Sherman Hogue (1865-1917), passed away just before Henry’s third birthday. I was intrigued with the idea of uncovering the past and finding out all I could about our family. My wife, Jane, had just given birth to two new Hogue’s, our twin daughters, and we found ourselves housebound to help them past the point of being babies.

Jane’s uncle, Harold Wayne Timmerman (1918-2005), was working on the genealogy of his family at the time, as was our brother in law, Bob Vinson. I had a little guidance getting started, at least, and was eager to dive in. Remember that genealogy in the eighties meant writing a lot of letters and making trips to the library or the nearest LDS ward church. There was no online research then; the Internet was only in its formative stages. I also thought it would be helpful to take a correspondence course, Genealogy 101, Intro to Genealogy, that was being offered by Brigham Young University.

Armed with an address book, camera, and a pad and paper (word processors were not readily available, either), I started gathering all the information I could from the living relatives I could interview directly, either on the phone, or in person. Soon the bounty of my efforts came flowing in. Many “cousins” answered my queries and started to provide much needed info on many of the older Hogue ancestors and home places.  I learned how to order microfiche available through the National Archives, and contacted many historical societies that had query boards used by other family history buffs.

I found myself growing more and more impatient with the lack of results from my research as time went on, however, and decided to take a road trip down to the closest branch of the National Archives in San Bruno, CA. I lived in Reno, NV at the time and talked my youngest brother, Scott William Hogue (1962-2013) into coming along. We made a surprise visit to Mom and Dad’s in Sunnyvale, CA as well. At these regional branches of the Archives, you could go in free of charge, and browse records and pay a small amount for copies if you found something worthwhile. I mention this trip only because it was so crucial in advancing our family history.

We had already obtained a copy of a page of the 1910 Federal Census of Love County, Oklahoma that showed the family of Charles Sherman Hogue (known to most people as Charley) living in that area. This family location confirmed what we already knew, namely, that Henry was born in Rubottom, OK in 1914. In this census listing, Charley reported to the enumerator that he was born in Tennessee. Scott and I decided to look for Charley and his family in the 1870 census of Tennessee, county by county.  Remember that there were few indexes done of censuses back then; this would have to be a reel-by-reel, tedious search that would take many hours.

We tried the divide and conquer method, with each of us looking at different film and moving west as we completed them. It was towards the end of the day, and Scott simply said, “I found him.” He had finally located Charles and his family in the 1870 Federal Census of Blount County, TN. The age matched, as well as the names of some of his siblings that Grandpa knew of. Thus, another generation could be added to the family tree; my great, great grandfather, William M. Hogue (1823-1886) and his second wife, Mary Jane Bates (1839-1908).

This first major research victory has really fueled the family research fire in me for nearly 30 years. Even today, the possibility of the big discovery that is somewhere ahead, maintains my interest long after my closer relatives have passed. I’m motivated to keep looking for clues and to try different, more modern avenues, like using the resources available on the Internet and DNA testing, to further establish the “truth” about our family history; not on only the Hogue line, but all related surnames. That excitement is really what prompted me to tell this story in the first place.

 Methodology for This Writing

I am not a professional genealogist, nor do I claim to be the main expert on our branch of the Hogue family. I am interested, however, in using this project to clarify some things that have been recorded by many other folks out there from the first articles I put together with my cousin Patrick Hogue of Weed, CA in the late eighties. His branch descends from a brother of William M. Hogue; Pat and I met many years ago, via the U.S. Mail and collaborated and theorized on much of the data we discovered, both in person and over the phone. I give him credit for posting some of the earlier articles I wrote about William and Charley once the whole Internet thing got rolling. In fact, the photos of William and Charley that many people now use on their public trees are pictures I copied from the originals back in the day.

I realize now that much of that family tree information we brought to the table then has changed a bit. Many, many different people have used it to build their own family trees. Some of that info is now inaccurate, not only because of results based on DNA testing, but, due in part to a bit of youthful inexperience.

I wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight, or as straight as I can within the world of genealogy.

Let’s face it; no one’s family history is as interesting as your own. It’s difficult to listen to someone talk about their genealogy without wanting to switch the subject to your own story.  I’m writing this article for all the descendants of William M. Hogue and will make every effort to maintain that focus throughout. If you are a member of another branch of Hogue’s entirely, or have a completely different surname, I still hope you can glean something of interest from it.

If you have done any family research on your own, you know that the study of genealogy is filled with a great deal of circumstantial evidence. In fact, its success really depends on it. Our branch of the Hogue family was terrible when it came down to basic record keeping. Family bibles and baby books not filled out completely, important documents missing, photos with no names written on the back, etc. It is easy for me to understand why; basic living and survival sometimes gets in the way. We are forced to look at the circumstantial and make assumptions or educated guesses to piece things together.

My goal here is to be as accurate as I can in building the story of our family using the facts available. This doesn’t mean that I won’t throw in some reasonable guesses and theories along the way; you can call it my poetic license if you will. I hope, in the end it all makes sense. Of course, if I’m way off on something, I want to be called on it and proven wrong. My hope is that this is yet another avenue that allows us all to learn more about our family.

As far as names go, I will try to keep things a consistent as I can with the people and places going forward. For instance, William M. Hogue can be found in records and public genealogies as William Hoge, William Hougue, Jr., and William M. Hogue. I will use William M. Hogue, mainly to distinguish him from his father, William G. Hogue (1790-1866). Courtney, OK was known in the day as Courtney Flat or Flats. Now it is on the map (just barely) as Courtney, so that’s what we will call it here. I plan on keeping things as simple and as basic as I can. I will not rehash family group sheets in the text of the story, but will provide a clear pedigree at the end so everyone can see who is related to whom.

Since I’m not a big fan of footnotes and subscripts in the middle of a story, I will list all my sources for this information at the end of this project. I think you will find I have this all documented very well, including actual face to face interviews I’ve done over the years, along with the collection of death certificates, marriage licenses, and other documents whenever possible, along the way.

Religion, The Masons, and Genealogical Societies

I’ll come out and say it right here, I’m not really fan of any organized religion. Religion has, however, played an undeniable and important role in not only the genealogy of our family, but of many families throughout the world. Religion is the reason these United States came into being in the first place; many pioneer settlers came here, sight unseen, to avoid varied types of religious persecution in their own home countries. Religion provided a calm from the storm for many families who took the risks to move west from established settlements in the east.

As an amateur genealogist, I must give credit where credit is due, and acknowledge the contributions the LDS church has made to gathering and presenting information needed to prove family histories. The Mormons, are members of a religion founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Smith, claiming to be a prophet, dictated the Book of Mormon from behind a sheet in a cabin, to selected followers, saying he translated it from writings on golden tablets given to him by an angel in a cave. This was not too long after spending time in prison for fraud. Smith was later shot to death, in prison, by a bunch of unbelievers in 1844. Brigham Young then took over the leadership of the church and led the Mormons to their promised land, near the Great Salt Lake in the Utah territory.

Without spending too much time on the history of their religion, Mormons believe their dead relatives can be baptized and sent to heaven if they can prove that they are in fact descended from another Mormon. By using this baptism of the dead, or vicarious baptism, they can assure that families will be together forever, even in the afterlife. This is the reason they are so involved in the collection of genealogical information. Most of it can be accessed for free through their website, Familysearch.org, or through a paid membership with their very close business partner, Ancestry, Inc. Without this strange Mormon dogma, we might still be writing letters and going through rolls of microfiche on loan from the National Archives.

The Masonic Lodge was also important to the survival of the Charley Hogue family. I’ll go into more detail later, but the Masons throughout history have been called a religious group or some sort of secret society that is difficult to become a member of. In fact, they regularly encourage anyone to become a Mason. I visited the Oklahoma Grand Lodge in Guthrie back in the eighties and found them very helpful. They were very accommodating, producing many records pertaining to Charley and his family, and had no problem with me taking copies of them.

Genealogical Societies can be very helpful, especially those who have active query boards, which, unfortunately, are few and far between these days. In the early nineties, the Oklahoma Genealogical Society (OGS) introduced a new program called “First Families of the Twin Territories”. If you could prove your ancestors were in either the Indian Territory or the Oklahoma Territory before 1907 (when Oklahoma was admitted into the Union), you received a membership into the program, along with a certificate and pin. My research enabled Henry and I to obtain a membership. I also learned quite a bit from the folks at the Love County Genealogical Society, which has apparently folded since, or possibly merged with the OGS.

 A Word About the United States Federal Census

Genealogists rely heavily on information from these documents. The government started counting people every ten years in 1790 and has continued to do so up until the latest census in 2010. You get a mixed bag of data from these census forms, depending on the year. It wasn’t until 1850 that we started to see more digging being done, like birth states of parents and occupations. Before that point, it was merely a tally of folks at each household sorted by age. The 1940 census was released in 2012 and even has family income information on it. The 1950 census will be released in 2022. Unfortunately, and this is especially so for the Hogues, most of the 1890 census was lost in a fire.

As important as these census reports are, they are subject to many errors. Many names are either misspelled or illegible, which cuts the effectiveness of the indexing system. The enumerators often had bad days, and got pages out of order, guessed wrong on the kids’ gender, or just flat out missed people entirely. The citizens themselves often took liberties with the information they provided, often intentionally. We have had to work within the system, such as it is, and do the best we can to analyze what’s there, or isn’t there. For example, William M. Hogue is nowhere to be found in any census in 1860 or 1880.

Keeping all this in mind, the federal census has become the backbone of most genealogical research, and is readily accessible to most people in today’s age of extreme connectivity. I have relied heavily on it doing the research for our branch of the Hogue family over the years. I feel it is a very valuable tool, and have learned a great deal about deciphering these reports and extracting the pertinent information. I still however, find a great deal of misinformation on these reports, and must balance what is found with how things fit when it comes to timing and location.

Many of Charley’s siblings had the wrong birth dates on their death certificates, for example. This forced me to reconstruct the family dynamics as best I could by comparing all information available, including census reports of family locations and actual tombstone engravings. Many of our Hogues either had a difficult time remembering how old they were, or fudged things to the good a bit later in life!

I thought it would be important to lay some ground work on my approach to family research before continuing any further. I feel a basic understanding of genealogical research is important for everyone to know, and, that knowledge might also encourage readers to start developing their own family trees. Let’s get on to the story at hand!

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III – The Earliest Hogues

As I mentioned briefly early on, one of the reasons for this project relates to the correction of erroneous data from my first foray into our family history. There were many common names and home places that led me to tie our ancestors into the family of William Hoge and Barbara Hume of Mussleborough, Scotland, who first settled in Perth Amboy, NJ in the 1640’s, later moving to Virginia. At the time, circumstantially speaking, it made a lot of sense. There is a great deal of information on this family and it allowed me trace our surname back to the original immigrant from Scotland.

About five years ago, I learned this is a false notion.

I volunteered to participate in the Hogg DNA Project, run by Dr. Dwight Hogge, and submitted a mouth swab of DNA for testing. This is quite an expansive project, making every effort to record all Hogg’s and related surnames and classify them into family groups. There are thousands of us Hogg’s out there for sure! My DNA has a similar marker pattern with a group of people descended from John Hogg, our earliest known ancestor, as well as identical markers with known descendants of William G. Hogue who also participated in the DNA project.

I was excited about the results, in a way. There is more research to be done! As easy as it may be to tie into an existing family line, I was happy I was now able to approach the research from a different angle entirely. So far, however, I’ve found that some family researchers may not be taking the DNA angle seriously and have not changed their trees to match it. This doesn’t make sense to me at all and needs to change. So, although we do not have the firm European connection yet, I hope to find out more about that going forward.

A basic explanation of how DNA testing is important to genealogists relies on the differences of the X and Y chromosomes. Females have two X chromosomes, while males have an X and a Y chromosome. The Y chromosome is passed from father to son and remains intact without alteration, throughout the generations. The markers contained in the Y chromosome can be used to match similar DNA to other relatives, indicating a common ancestor, and give percentages of probabilities to the degree of being related.

Many companies out there today offer autosomal DNA testing as well, which works for males and females, but cannot go back as far, possibly four generations, or 120 years. It concentrates on similar DNA between cousins and is not concerned with the sex determining chromosomes. Most people use this type of testing to determine their ethnic background.

My brother, Barry, submitted his DNA to Ancestry, Inc in 2015, mainly to obtain an ethnicity estimate. It came back with the results showing that our DNA matches others tested in the following percentages: 88% from Great Britain, Ireland, and western Europe, 11% other European, and 1% Native American (from a known ancestor in our maternal line). I feel we can be certain that our Hogues came from The British Isles, especially if you study world migration patterns of the not-so-distant past.

I recently submitted my saliva to 23andMe to see how those results would compare to the Ancestry report.  Basically, the results confirm my brother’s report; I’m 99.5% European, which really is no surprise!

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The Scots-Irish Connection

A bit of a world history lesson is needed before we go much further; things that happened in the British Isles in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries greatly shaped the original immigrants of our family. We don’t have an exact date or individual named as the first Hogue (or Hogg) to come to America, but these times in history give us a logical place to begin our search.

We’ll start with a brief look at King James VI of Scotland, also known as King James I of England and Ireland. James, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the great-great grandson of King Henry VII, was well positioned to take over the monarchy of all the British Isles, which he accomplished in 1603 after the passing of Elizabeth I, who died without children. James was most famous for overseeing a new translation of the Holy Bible, completed in 1611, still used today and known as the King James Version.

James was a busy man from the very beginning of his reign. The English had just defeated the unruly Irish in the Nine Years’ War which ended in 1603. He needed to come up with a plan to keep control of this important part of his kingdom and to ensure that the Irish insurgents remained at bay. The idea, known as the Plantation of Ulster, began in 1609, with the English government confiscating land from Irish nobility who had just been run out of northern Ireland. This land was offered to protestant Scots from the lowlands of Scotland and to English colonists at low prices.

Many Scots began to migrate to Ulster; the English colonists were not all fond of the way of life there and many went back to England. The Scots, however, were mainly farmers using the same techniques as their Irish counterparts, and began to coexist well here and integrated themselves into the Irish society. I am simplifying things quite a bit; this part of Ireland was in turmoil for decades and would continue to be just that for many years to come. After over a century living together in northern Ireland, these Scots became known as Ulster Scots in Britain and, later, Scots-Irish in the English colonies in America.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, things started to unravel in northern Ireland. Many new Scots had come to Ulster in the 1690’s to flee the famine ravaged Lowlands back in Scotland. The population of Scots-Irish in the area was climbing rapidly, giving them a numeric advantage in Ulster, though they were still very much a minority in Ireland proper. Religious persecution was at its peak; if you weren’t a member of the Anglican Church of Ireland (most all Scots-Irish were Presbyterian), you were heavily discriminated against with higher rents and taxes. England had a firm grip on the textile industry as well, forcing Irish wool to be shipped to England and keeping the prices low in the process.

In 1715, the first of many great migrations to the English colonies in what was to become the United States of America began. Between this year and 1775, just before the Revolutionary War broke out, over 200,000 Scots-Irish immigrated west across the Atlantic. Many of these people came over as indentured servants, paying for the transport of them and their families by promising to work for whoever sponsored them, usually for four or five years. Most of these voyages were successful, too; a high percentage of the new immigrants made it safely to the new land, healthy and ready to work.

The typical route to America often started at the larger port of Belfast and finished by landing in Philadelphia, although a few other smaller ports were used on either end. Many Scots-Irish first settled in southern Pennsylvania, and preferred to stay on the outer edge of the frontier to take advantage of lower land rents and less governmental or religious scrutiny. They soon moved south into the valley of Virginia, and then eventually into the Carolinas. Their strong work ethic and family ties resulted in the development of many important and respected leaders in their newly settled communities.

Once the new immigrants repaid their debt of passage, many continued to farm as they were accustomed, using the methods developed in Ulster and Scotland, before that. Most rented farming lands from current landowners and managed to prosper and raise growing families in tight knit communities. They seemed more concerned with their immediate survival than with the accumulation of material wealth.

Our branch of the Hogues likely followed this same immigration pattern in their journey from Ulster in northern Ireland to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sometime between 1720 and 1730. Our first ancestors in America probably had the surname of Hogg, but there were many families in Scotland, Ireland, and England with similar names and different spellings. There is quite an extensive history of the surname Hog tied to all three areas of Great Britain.

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John Hogg (1732-1795)

While we don’t have any information about his parents or siblings, my Y-DNA markers best match the modeling of John Hogg’s established lineage, based on other ancestors of his who have participated in the Hogg DNA Project, or existing family histories. Unfortunately, there is little evidence of John’s origins until he appeared in North Carolina, sometime before the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He may have been born somewhere along the known migratory route, say in colonial Virginia or Pennsylvania, or in Great Britain and migrated across the Atlantic to meet up with established relatives. We just don’t have any facts to go on.

For now, I am going to pursue the possibility that John was probably born in colonial Virginia around 1732 (although this is not proven) and, along with his wife Mary, eventually settled in Bute County, North Carolina, which was formed in 1764, in the 1760’s or 1770’s. This fits in well with the migration patterns discussed earlier. In 1779, this county was split in two and ceased to exist, becoming Franklin and Warren Counties.

On 15 March 1780, John Hogg was granted 334 acres of land on the waters of Great Crooked Creek in newly formed Franklin County. A few older Bute County records show John involved in some court matters pertaining to building a road in this area. Other land records show that John sold off his acreage in two parcels; 175 acres to John Martin in 1782 and 159 acres to John Crowley on 17 Sep 1795. In his will dated 23 October 1795, filed in Franklin County, most of his children are listed, including his son, and our next ancestor in the line, John Hogge.

John Hogge (1767-1837)

Unfortunately, we know very little about our next ancestor, either. He is also the best fit based on the DNA evidence from the Hogg study and timing. Once again, based on census data, John was instrumental in starting our family’s gradual move west. We believe he married his first wife, name unknown, probably around 1795. He is shown in the 1810 census in Randolph Co., NC, the 1820 census in Rowan County, NC, and the 1830 census in Davidson County, NC. All three of these counties border each other in the center of the state, near the current area of Winston-Salem.

Sometime after 1830, John and his second wife, Elizabeth, followed his two youngest sons to York District, SC. There were other Hoggs in this area, so I believe our Hoggs wanted to distinguish themselves from the existing family by adding an “e” on the end of their surname. On 26 Mar 1836, John Hogge filed his final will and testament. He passed away here 2 Jan 1837 and this probated document shows his and his children’s surname as Hogge. His possessions listed in the will were few, and did not mention his owning any real estate, but having some debtors that needed to be satisfied upon his demise. His wife Elizabeth received most of the property and livestock, but he did manage to leave a total of fifty cents to our next ancestor, my third great grandfather, William G Hogge (as spelled in the will), who, at the time, was living in Burke County, NC.

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William G. Hogue (1790-1866)

William G. Hogue (I’ve seen Gideon and George used as his middle name, but never on official documents) was most likely born, based on his father’s residences, in Franklin County, NC, and lived there during his early years, but moved west to Burke County sometime after 1820. He married his wife Hollin in Rowan County, NC around 1815. Rowan County was huge when it was established in 1753, having no western boundary. It began to shrink with time, however, and the western part became Burke County in 1777. Another western chunk became Iredell County in 1788, and an eastern section was turned into Davidson County in 1822. I have yet to find evidence of their marriage.

We have very little data on William G’s wife Hollin. One of my previous North Carolina contacts had heard that William and Hollin’s oldest daughter, Piercy, was ½ Cherokee. Since we have not discovered any Cherokee blood in the Hogue male lineage, this would suggest that Hollan was a full blood Cherokee. Proof of this has yet to come to light. William G. was recorded on the census of 1830 in Burke County, NC as Wm G. Hogg, and in the 1840 census in the same county as Wm G. Hogue. After this census, our surname remained Hogue, apart from some misspellings by the occasional government official.

Sometime between this census and 1843, William G. and family made their first appearance in Cherokee County, NC, living there briefly before moving on to Murray County, GA around 1844. His oldest daughter, Piercy had relocated to Cherokee earlier, after marrying John L. Crisp in Burke County in 1835. Eventually, the rest of the children followed their parents to Georgia, including the oldest son, John. John returned to NC in 1844 and is recorded in the census of Cherokee County as John Hoag. Asbury, one of his sons, was listed as being born in Georgia in 1844. John also was recorded on a bill of sale 7 May 1844 in Cherokee County and a deed on 7 Jun 1853 for 100 acres of land on Turkey Creek.

While William G. and William M. were living near each other in Murray County, Daniel Washington (next youngest child to William M) settled in nearby Chattanooga Valley, Walker County, GA, next door to his brother-in-law Carey Jackson; all of them recorded in their respective 1850 census reports. As we will see later, William M had reason to leave Murray County in 1859. William G. was soon on the move again as well, returning to Cherokee County before 1 June 1853. We discovered this date from the entry of his land grant request with the state of North Carolina.

William G. Hogue in the U.S. Census

The state’s Land Grant system was established before statehood and is difficult to pin down as far as what the proper procedures were. Basically, you could claim a piece of land of any size and enter a warrant for it, paying a small fee, usually at a few cents per acre. I have yet to find any requirements of grantees having to live on the property before receiving a deed, like land acquired under the Homestead Act of 1862. There was, however, a mandatory waiting period before a person could take possession of the land to make sure no one else had claimed it previously.

One of the difficulties of genealogical research is the availability of some records. For instance, the Cherokee County Courthouse in Murphy, NC, suffered through three major fires, in 1865 (burned by Federal troops), 1895, and in 1926. Many records were destroyed and follow up documents are impossible to find. Luckily, the land grant info was recorded at the state level in Raleigh, and was recently released online. Many of the other documents I refer to in this section were also discovered online, but are very hit or miss.

The land grant warrant entered by William G. Hogue (actually Hogge on this document) on 1 June 1853, was for about 50 acres (the warrant description of the land was measured in “poles” which were equal to 16.5 feet) on Stecoah Creek, about one mile southwest of the Little Tennessee River, in the far northwestern corner of Cherokee County. William did not live on the land right away, however, and moved west to Blount County, TN, where he was recorded on the 1860 census, with the extended family of his youngest son, James Lynn (Leonard). It is possible that land grants weren’t conveyed until the fees were paid and we pretty sure that William did not have the funds available in 1853. In any case, the land grant was finally issued ten years later, on 2 Feb 1863.

William G. Hogue Deed Records

It’s quite possible that William G. and family moved back to Cherokee County in late 1862 in anticipation of this land grant; James Lynn was recruited into the Army of the Confederacy on 23 July 1862 at Fort Montgomery, NC which was near present day Robbinsville. Based on James Lynn’s war record, there were some unusual occurrences going on with the Hogue family at his time. Although noted as in service on 31 Dec 1862, James Lynn was away without leave 1 Jan through Mar 21, 1863, deserting his post for good in Sevier County, TN on 26 Mar 1863. He later volunteered for the Union army, alongside two of his brothers and a nephew.

On 23 Oct 1863, after a payment of $5.38, the deed for William G.’s fifty acres on Stecoah Creek was recorded with the state. Interestingly enough, William entered into a bond agreement with a fellow named Rufus Pendley on 12 Aug 1863, before the deed was recorded. In this bond, William received a payment of $100 from Pendley, and in turn, agreed to sell Pendley the “100 acres where Hogue now lives” to Pendley for $500. If William could provide clear title, in other words, pay back the $100, the bond would be void; if not, Pendley would get the land. This makes it sound like William did not have the cash to make the entire land deal move forward, so he had look for a neighbor to help him out with the investment. And, all records I have seen indicate that there were only 50 acres of land in the grant, not 100.

W.G. Hogue/Pendley Bond

After putting these dates and tidbits of information together, I believe William G. Hogue passed away in June or July of 1866, on his property at Stecoah Creek. The bond he entered with Pendley was verified and registered with the county on 25 July 1866. I also believe William was unable to pay back the money, and Pendley was given title to the land in default of the bond. His wife, Hollin, was recorded in the 1870 census of Graham County, NC, as blind and as a widow, residing with her daughter Piercy Crisp and family in the Stecoah township.

Although believed to be buried in this area, after years of tedious search (there are over 7500 graves listed in Graham County), I was unable to locate either William G’s or Hollin’s gravesites. I always believed that they may have unmarked graves, for instance, or stones that have since weathered or broken.  Family history decries this idea, however, as it seems that many of our Hogue ancestors were somehow able to come up with some pretty decent markers for their departed loved ones. New discoveries, however, have produced some interesting clues to investigate.

In 1942, the Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, (a New Deal program signed into law by Franklin Roosevelt to improve infrastructure and to help pull the area out of the Depression), produced plans to dam off the Little Tennessee River near the town of Fontana in Graham County to produce hydroelectric power to support the war efforts during World War II. This dam, 480 feet high and 2365 feet wide, was completed in 1944 and created Fontana Lake in the process.

Engineers on the project knew that the level of this new lake was going to end up at about 1715 feet, which was higher than many of the cemeteries and grave locations in both Graham and Swain counties. A survey was completed to ascertain what graves would need to be relocated near their original sites. It turns out 1,047 grave sites needed to be moved, along with 1,311 families and over 60 miles of roadways, resulting in the purchase by the TVA of 68,292 acres of land necessary to accomplish the feat.

Grave relocation required the TVA to contact known family members to obtain permission to move their loved ones’ coffins elsewhere. They were very efficient and detailed in their process and kept excellent records of all procedures, including contracting engineers and health professionals to complete the work. I have no doubt the survey was completed in an efficient and proper manner.

TVA Cemetery Relocation Records

The survey, on 13 Feb 1943, turned up two graves at the location of William G’s land grant. It called the grave site the Hogue Cemetery (Private) and described it as “located on the left bank of and 0.2 mile from Stecoah Creek and 0.8 mile upstream from its mouth at Little Tennessee River.” See number 40 on the map above. These graves were at an elevation of 1687 feet and seemingly required relocation. One note also indicates that the graves would remain above the high-water levels of the new lake. The graves were marked, but without monuments. The land was owned at this time by R.B. Slaughter of Robbinsville, so an effort to purchase to site was started by the TVA. They also made the attempt to locate the nearest relatives, to no avail; most descendants of William and Hollin had either passed away or moved out of the immediate area, and no one came forward to identify or claim the graves.

With that, the decision was made not to relocate the graves, likely causing them to be flooded by the rising waters of the new Fontana Lake. Once again, luck was not on our family’s side. The man completing the survey thought the graves were of “Infant Hogue” (#1 and #2) and recorded them as such, but we may never know if this is accurate. Recent lake levels in the summer hover at around 1695 feet, so the graves remain about eight feet below the surface most of the year, although not too far from the shore. It is entirely possible that there are graves on the property that were missed completely by the TVA crew, including the long-lost graves of William G. and Hollin Hogue. For now, we will have to go with the theory that these were in fact infant graves; many of the Hogue families were still having babies at this point. More investigation, by boat, probably, is needed.

While William G.’s land purchase was a long time coming, it turned out to be relatively short lived. His sons William M. and Leonard would soon go on to make their own land deals in Graham County, including Leonard’s purchase of a land grant of 320 acres on nearby Panther Creek in 1886. Unfortunately, Leonard passed away 5 Mar 1893, leaving no will. His wife, Lucinda, had to go to court to settle debt, and ended up with an estate valued at less than $400 that did not include any real estate. To this date, I have not found any information indicating that the Hogues still own property in this area.

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IV – The Smoky Mountain Triangle

I created the description of this area of the country to make it easier to identify locations and some migration patterns of our family group before they made the move West. It is not as mythical or mysterious as, say, the infamous Bermuda Triangle (although some quirky things happened there), but it is a simplified way to locate our family within the context of their familiar place names.

The state of North Carolina, one of the original thirteen colonies, became the 12^th state admitted to the newly formed union in 1789. In the early 1500’s, more than 25 native American tribes made their home here. One of the first English colonies was established in Roanoke. The first attempt at settlement occurred in 1584 but failed, and a man by the name of John White finally succeeded in doing so in 1587.

Although no major battles in the Civil War occurred in North Carolina, the state sent more Confederate recruits into war than any other state at the time. Just after Reconstruction, the reservation for the Eastern band of the Cherokees was established in 1878, out of part of Cherokee County, which was established in 1839, from a western section of Macon County. Graham County was also formed from Macon County in 1872.

Georgia, also one of the original colonies, began to be settled by the English in the 1730’s after decades of war with Spain to establish rightful ownership. Originally prohibiting slavery, the colony eventually changed its tune in 1749, and was admitted to the Union as the twelfth state on 2 Jan 1788.

A large county in the extreme northeastern corner of Georgia was established in 1830, known as Cherokee County. Eventually it was divided into ten separate counties, the largest of which, Murray County, was formed in 1831. Our ancestor Julius Bates, the grandfather of Mary Jane, built his palatial home here near Eton, in 1832.

Native Americans were also huge part of the early history of Tennessee. They ruled the roost and learned to put up with Spanish explorers in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. White settlement soon followed and, once again the natives, mainly Cherokees, were driven farther west. White settlers established provincial governments, and the population grew quickly. The area was first established as a territory, but soon became the sixteenth state of the Union, on 1 Jun 1796.

Before statehood, in 1795, Blount County was formed after two original counties of the territory, Knox and Jefferson, were split. It is named after the first appointed governor of the territory, William Blount. Residents of the county voted against secession from the Union in 1861, but were out tallied by the remainder of the state and became part of the Confederacy anyway.

My idea in creating the Triangle was to line out a geographical area that included the previously mentioned counties: Graham County, NC, Murray County, GA, and Blount County, TN. While Graham County was formed from Cherokee County in 1872, the period I’m focusing on is between 1844, which is around the time the Hogues moved to Murray County, and 1880, when they made the move to near the Red River in Indian Territory and North Texas. I chose the bigger towns in these counties to connect the sides of the triangle, which would be: Maryville, TN (Blount), Robbinsville, NC (Cherokee), and Eton, GA (Murray). These are straight lines, as the crow flies, which creates a triangle that encompasses about 1000 square miles of area. It is not exactly pinpoint accuracy, but, when you consider the area of the United States is about 3,800,600 square miles, it does keep our family locations within a well-defined area.

The town of Morganton, NC, located in the center of Burke County is about 235 miles, using current roads, from Eton, GA. We are not sure of reason behind the move, but William G. relocated his family from near here after 1840. There was a gold rush in that part of Georgia in 1828, but by 1844, most of it was panned out, and the focus on mineral wealth moved west to California. Still, even 235 miles back then had to be a challenge. It was a definitely a major step for the family.

It seems that most of our family history has been gleaned from many archived documents through careful study. If there were any family records or bibles, they must have ended up with the older children in the family. Many of the family’s place names were observed in these documents like: Ducktown, TN in Polk County, Maryville, Chilhowee and Brick Mill, TN in Blount County, and Robbinsville and Stecoah, NC in Graham County. Highway 411 crosses the Georgia/Tennessee border in Murray County, past Cleveland TN to the west, and follows the west side of the Appalachians northeast into Blount County.

Our ancestors were farmers for many years, and not very prosperous to say the least. Few of them owned land, and basically were tenant farmers, raising mainly cotton (a huge cash crop during these times) and paying rent with the meager income they earned from selling what crops they had after feeding themselves. The difference between tenant farming and sharecropping is important to note. Sharecropping, it seems to me anyway, was merely an extension of slavery, without calling it that. Sharecroppers, usually Southern blacks, were set up on existing farms with living quarters, farm animals, and all the implements needed to be successful farmers. Landowners took most of the crops, giving a “share” to those who did the work.

Tenant farmers, on the other hand, rented a piece of property from the landowners and probably paid them cash on a regular basis. They were responsible for building their own homes, purchasing the tools and equipment necessary to work the land, and developing their own crops and livestock to bring to market, or for the family to consume just to survive.

For example, on the Agriculture Schedule of the Murray County Census in 1850, William G was recorded as having a 25-acre rented farm valued at $100. Farm implements were valued at $11. Livestock, also valued at $100, included 1 horse, 2 milk cows, 6 “other” cattle, 2 sheep and 9 pigs. Also counted were 250 bushels of Indian corn and 50 lbs. of butter. Far from the size of commercial farms in the 21^st century, these small farms were typical of the time, and kept the families that worked them alive. Next door, Jackson Strawn’s farm was 320 acres and valued at $1400.

The lands found in the Triangle were composed of fertile soils and had abundant water supply, which made things a little easier on the people that worked them. This “Triangle”, as it will be referred to henceforth, along with their hard work, provided the home place for our branch of the Hogue family for about 40 years, from 1840 to 1880.

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V – The Early Life of William M. Hogue

In this section, we will look at William M.’s life from birth until he made the big move out west in 1880. William M. Hogue was born about 10 June 1823, probably in Burke County, NC to William G. Hogue and his wife Hollin. He was the third oldest of seven children. Sometime in the early 1840’s, he volunteered to fight in the Second Seminole War (1842) in Florida, which was part of the grim history behind the forced migration of thousands of Native Americans along the “Trail of Tears”, eventually to the Indian Territory, later Oklahoma. There are no records of his service, but he returned in time to follow his parents and three of his siblings to Murray County, GA, around 1844. On 3 May 1846, he married his first wife, Sarah Strawn and quickly started a family, raising five children, the youngest born in 1853. Sarah and his oldest son, Jackson M. Hogue (b. 8 May 1847), as we will see later, would turn out to be huge influences on the Hogue’s move west.

William M’s brother, Daniel Washington, had married Sarah G. W. Jackson Bates on 16 Apr 1845 in Murray County. This is important for a couple of reasons. Sarah’s first husband, Andrew Jackson Bates, died of an unknown disease in late 1843 at the young age of 31, his estate going into probate in January of 1844. Andrew was the son of Julius and Temperance Bates, important land owners in Murray County. Julius (my third great grandfather), originally from South Carolina, had come to Murray County in around 1834, just after the Cherokee Land Lottery of 1832 and had acquired several thousand acres of land in the area. Also, significantly, Andrew and Sarah had three daughters, Martha Elizabeth, Mary Jane, and Sarah Ann.

As previously noted, Daniel was listed on the 1850 census of Walker County, GA, with his wife Sarah, 8 years his senior, and a mixed family of their children, Carey (named after Sarah’s father who lived next door), James, and Martha and Mary Jane Bates, her daughters from her previous marriage. Sarah Ann was recorded living next door with her grandfather, Carey Jackson.

Things began to unravel in Murray County for the new family of William M. Hogue and Sarah Strawn. Sometime before the 1860 census, William M. flat out disappeared, leaving Sarah and the children behind to live near her mother and younger siblings. Her father, Jackson M. Strawn, had passed away in 1852, which left her mother, Elizabeth, alone to raise the rest of the Strawn children. Daniel Washington and family, were in Chattooga Co, GA, southwest of Murray County, on the Alabama border in 1860. Future incidents indicate that William M was not too far away from Daniel at this point, somewhere in the southern part of the triangle, but nowhere near Sarah and the rest of the Strawns.

The particulars of exactly what happened in Georgia in the late 1850’s is unknown. Mary Jane Bates was recorded living with her mother Sarah and stepfather Daniel in Chattooga Valley, GA on 4 Aug 1860. Sometime between this date and November, William M. Hogue came in and spirited the much younger Mary Jane Bates (15 years his junior) away, moving across state lines, traveling about 75 miles, to somewhere near Ducktown, Polk County, TN. It was here their first child was born, Amanda Josephine (Josie) Hogue, on 5 July 1861.

Although this information did not come out until after his death, William and Mary Jane were married in Cleveland, Bradley County, TN on 31 Dec 1861. I believe William and family moved to the Chilwohee area of Blount County just before William G. returned to Cherokee Co., NC in 1863. Daniel and his family relocated here about this time as well. They continued to increase the size of their household; William Andrew (b. 1862) and Cordelia (b. 1863) were born in this farmstead. In the spring of 1864, Mary Jane became pregnant with her fourth child. It was a crazy time for our country as the Civil War was in full swing, and both sides were looking for recruits.

William enrolled for service in the Union Army on 26 July 1864 and was mustered in 5 Aug in Loudon, TN. He was assigned to the Mounted Tennessee Volunteers, Company C, 3^rd Regiment. It was unusual to have Union Army troops in TN at that time, and they really didn’t see much action. There is more to the story, but we will go into that later. William served alongside his brothers, Daniel and James L., and nephew Carey in the same regiment. William mustered out 22 Dec 1864 in Maryville, TN, and returned to Brick Mill, TN just before the birth of my great grandfather, Charles Sherman Hogue on 15 Jan 1865.

The William M. Hogue family, his second one, remained in this part of Blount County until after the birth of their last child, John Calvin Hogue, born 4 Dec 1874. In 1875, they moved to be near the Hogue family that remained in Stecoah, Graham Co., NC. William’s brother Daniel remained in Blount County and farmed in the Maryville area until his death on 28 Sep 1878, aged 50.

Evidence shows that William M and family returned to Graham County in a bit of a shaky financial situation. William entered into a chattel mortgage deal (a loan secured by “moveable” property) with neighbor D.F. Johnson on 25 May 1878. In this agreement, William received a $6.00 loan secured by one red cow, a yearling, and a calf. There are no other documents relating to this transaction, so the debt was either repaid or the livestock was sold.

Next, on 29 Jul 1878, William entered into an agreement with county commissioner and Justice of the Peace, David E. Hyde, to purchase 50 acres of land, part of Tract #410, District #11, in the Stecoah Township, not too far from his father’s former property. While this property was valued by Hyde at $400, he agreed to sell it to William for $200 and carried a note back for it. David Hyde also officiated the marriage of William and Mary’s oldest child, Amanda Josephine (Josie), to John Harvey Jenkins (1858-1945) on 2 Aug 1878, at William Hogue’s new home in Stecoah, according to Graham County marriage records.

Once again, things became undone. On 3 Oct 1879, barely 15 months after he signed the deal on his property, William agreed to sell his interest in the title of the 50 acres over to S.M. Edwards, for $150 cash. I believe it was after this transaction, that William and Mary Jane, based on information to come later in this story, left the Triangle with their family (except newlywed Josie), and headed to the Red River area of Indian Territory and North Texas sometime within the next year or so, probably in 1880.

VI – The Indian Territory and North Texas

             I thought it would be important, at this juncture of the story, to set the stage with some background information of the Indian Territory and Montague County, Texas. I mentioned earlier that the “Trail of Tears” ended up in the Indian Territory, a part of our nation that would later become the state of Oklahoma in 1907. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was a federal policy that was enacted to force all Native Americans at the time to move west of the Mississippi River. This idea originated during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, and picked up steam afterword by other administrations, in order to “civilize” the white dominated areas along the east coast, and to take care of “the Indian problem”.

By 1835, when the phrase “Indian Territory” was first coined in print, the area set aside for Native Americans was the size of the current states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and part of Iowa, combined, with part of it extending into the Dakota Territory. The “Five Civilized Tribes”, Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws and Seminoles, could purchase much of this land in the territory from the federal government, while other immigrant tribes were resettled on reservations in the yet to be organized territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

Unfortunately, for the Indian tribes, the land allotted to them was rich fertile farmland and very desirable to white settlers headed west. The federal government began their all-out assault to diminish the size of these holdings moving forward. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 encouraged more white settlement in these areas, setting off a second wave of forced migration, which moved even more tribes into the area of what would later become Oklahoma. In 1859, with the state of Texas threatening genocide toward Native Americans, several more tribes found refuge in the other districts of western Indian Territory.

White settlement of the west slowed to a crawl during the Civil War, but post-war railroad building across the Great Plains got things going again by encouraging homesteading in Kansas and Nebraska. The federal government, in 1867, began phase three of forced migration by relocating the remainder of the Plains tribes from Kansas and Nebraska to Indian Territory lands. Resistance among some of these tribes resulted in periodic warfare until 1874. Finally, the last of the Kansas and Nebraska tribes were resettled peacefully in the Indian Territory, including Geronimo’s dedicated Apache followers, the last to be defeated, only to be held in a reservation near Ft. Sill as prisoners of war.

When the feds opened “unassigned land” to the Land Run of 1889, thousands of white settlers stormed in to claim their 160 acre parcels with the backing of The Homestead Act of 1862. The reduction of Indian lands continued with the implementation of the Organic Act of 1890, which created the Oklahoma Territory out of part of them. A governor was appointed and a territorial assembly and a judicial system was set up, making way for the possibility of statehood within the federal government once the population increased enough. This didn’t take long; the population of the territory went from 60,417 in 1890, to 722,441 in 1907, when Oklahoma became the 46^th state of the union.

Technically, when our family arrived in the area during the 1870’s and early 1880’s, whites were not allowed to own property in the Indian Territory. With limited law enforcement, Native Americans were subject to the advances of anyone with money or a slick idea to improve their lives in the area. Some whites came in and took Indian wives right away, giving them legal property rights. Many rich white settlers came in with the promise of deals offering to create towns and commerce areas for the simple exchange of land.

I had that happen on the maternal side of my family. My great grandfather, John Franklin Depriest, was allotted 60 acres of land in 1895. He claimed he was 1/8 Creek (actually 1/16th) and lived at the time in the Creek Nation, in what would later become Okfuskee County. He was not a good manager, unfortunately, and eventually had to sell his land (which included a large grove of pecan trees) to whites before moving the family to Arizona in around 1935. On my only visit to the old homestead, I couldn’t help but notice several oil wells pumping away near the property.

Without going into a lot of detail on its well documented history, Texas first became an important region of white settlement as far back as 1580, then, as its own independent Republic in 1836, and, finally, was granted statehood in 1845. White migration rapidly increased after statehood, with many people rushing to the fertile cotton lands of east Texas. In 1860, the population was 604,215, with over 30% of it slave labor working in the cotton fields. Obviously, Texas seceded from the union to join the Confederacy in 1861.

Located just south of the Red River in north Texas, Montague (pronounced Mon-tayg) County was established in 1858, and, being more interested in preserving a prosperous life there for themselves than preserving the union, voted against secession. Unfortunately, Texas seceded anyway and government troops from the area were withdrawn to fight in the populated areas back east (Texas was mainly a supply state during the Civil War). This left the residents of the newly formed county wide open to brutal Indian attacks for the next several years.

In 1870, there were only 890 residents here. Rogue bands of Comanche and Kiowa Indians terrorized the area of Montague County until organized efforts to eliminate yet another “Indian problem” allowed the Governor of Texas to declare in 1878 that the area was no longer a frontier; Montague County was now free of Indian atrocities, and wide open for homesteading and white settlement. By 1880, the population increased to around 11,000.

There was plenty of land available in North Texas, abundant with game and grazing grasses, perfect for starting a cattle ranch or farming. The famous Chisholm trail passed through here on its way to Dallas, and, because of this, many residents began to concentrate on cattle ranching, taking advantage of the abundance of grasslands for livestock feed. A popular watering hole soon developed in an area about one mile south of the Red River, a town known as Spanish Fort.

The settlement grew quickly here, near the remains of an old Taovaya tribe (a branch of the Wichita’s) fortification built in 1750’s to defend the tribe against repeated attacks from the invading Spanish armies through Mexico. The Spanish Fort post office was established in 1877, and by 1885, its population reached 300. Soon Spanish Fort gained a rather sordid reputation as a place for drinking, gambling, and carousing. It didn’t take long for word to spread that the little town was a rough place to be. It was reported that over forty murders took place there during the cattle heyday; indeed, on one Christmas morning, three men were killed before breakfast. Outlaws hiding out in the Indian Territory crossed the Red River often to obtain supplies at Spanish Fort, stirring up trouble which further disrupted the growth of the small town.

Once the railroads connected the southern part of the county with larger cities like Dallas, the population center moved there, away from Spanish Fort, to towns like Montague, Bowie, and St. Jo. The cattle business soon went away as well, replaced by the much more popular cash crop of cotton. The population of Montague County climbed to 25,122 by 1910, but decreased once farming was replaced by the oil industry in 1919. Despite the construction of a brand-new brick high school in 1924, the population and vitality continued to decline into the 1960’s, when it deteriorated into the ghost town it is today.

About one mile north of the Red River, back in the Indian Territory, more specifically in the southern part of the Chickasaw Nation, towns and camps were beginning to grow as well. These small areas of activity were just getting going just after the Civil War, with settlements starting in Watkins, Belleville, Leon, and Burneyville, to name a few.

One of the prominent Chickasaws at the time was Overton Love. He came to The Indian Territory from Mississippi in 1843 and acquired 8000 acres of Red River bottom land about 6 miles southeast of the future location of Marietta. He was an astute entrepreneur, owning several houses and businesses while living in this area. Eventually appointed judge here, he passed away in Marietta in 1906, age 83, just missing the statehood celebration. Love County was named in his honor.

Another important settler in this area was Henry DeCourtney, born in Virginia in 1826. Henry enlisted in the army in 1845 and spent many years working in different forts in the area, from Fort Smith, AR to Fort Washita in the west. In 1869 or 1870, Henry separated from his wife and children, leaving them in Fort Arbuckle, and settled near the small town of Watkins, about 20 miles west of Marietta and at the end of Mud Creek. He either acquired his property by doing a favor for a local Indian, or through one of his stepsons who had married an Indian nearby. Stories of this account vary.

He was successful for a time; building a cotton gin and operating one of the four ferries that were used to cross the Red River into Texas. His log cabin and farm at Watkins soon grew into a camp, then a small town, and he renamed it Courtney, after himself. From here on out he was known as Henry D. Courtney. At one point, Henry survived a bullet wound to his face, which never really healed after 20 years, but ended up developing gangrene from a small wound in his finger. He died 16 Dec 1898 and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Courtney Cemetery.

William Penn Rubottom was another early settler in the Chickasaw Nation. Born in 1852 in Arkansas, William married Matilda E. Sorrells (who was 1/8 Choctaw), and settled on several hundred acres of land that would soon become the town of his namesake. William owned the cotton gin here, as well as the blacksmith shop, a grist mill, and the building that housed the area’s general store.

William would soon donate land for a Baptist church, as well as the land for the Rubottom Cemetery. Unfortunately, he became one of the first interments there on 3 Dec 1901. When he got word of some local cattle ranchers moving their herd across his land, he rode his horse out, confronted the cowboys, and was shot and killed.

Peter Byron Arthur, born 29 April 1856 in West Virginia, came to the Indian Territory in 1876 from Missouri. He was essential in establishing the town of Leon and was especially important in founding Masonic Lodge #16 here in 1883. He was the Grand Master of this lodge many times, and was also given charge of the Grand Jury duties in the U.S. District Court in Ardmore.

In April of 1883, Peter came upon a wagon; a man a short distance from it was digging a hole. Not knowing what was happening, Peter hid behind a tree and watched. When it became clear that the man was digging a grave, he came out and helped him. The family was passing through the country, when the man’s wife died and he had stopped to bury her. This was the beginning of the Leon Cemetery. Peter Arthur was a key ingredient to the survival of our Hogues, as we will later see.

The larger towns in the region, namely Marietta to the east and Ardmore to the northeast, were developing much more quickly, mainly because of their proximity to the railroads. Ardmore grew especially fast, mainly due to the discovery of rich oilfields on its outskirts in 1888. Also, the new Territorial government began establishing itself here in 1890. Federal jurisdiction of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations was being handled by the overused local courts in Paris, TX and Fort Smith, AR, and in March 1889, by a federal court set up in Muskogee.

On 2 May 1890, the federal government enlarged their jurisdiction by adding two more courts to the Division 1 court in Muskogee: Division 2 in South McAlester, and Division 3 in Ardmore. Division 3 would later become known as the Southern District U.S. Court. The court in Ardmore used three previous leased locations downtown until a couple of local businessmen financed a new two story building, built in 1898, on the corner of West Main Street and B Street NW. This building was used until 1915, with the old jail just to the west, which was replaced in 1904. The courthouse and jail were about 26 miles from Courtney, as the crow flies.

In 1898, the feds assigned a new U.S. Commissioner to the Ardmore District Court by the name of Judge Simeon Briggs Bradford, born 19 Jul 1847, in Illinois. Also, newly assigned to the Court, was Deputy Marshal Buck Garrett (later to become Ardmore Chief of Police and in charge of legendary Oklahoma lawman Bud Ballew), and the three other Deputy Marshals Harper, Martin, and McCarty. This crew would be given the daunted task of keeping law and order in what would become one of the last vestiges of the Old West.

Ardmore would soon become the center of gambling, vice, murder, and, once statehood came about on 16 November 1907 (because with statehood comes the federal policy of Prohibition), the illegal consumption and sale of alcoholic beverages. Corruption and underground crimes grew at an alarming rate, spurred by the influx of new workers to the oil fields.

No doubt about it, life was tough in these parts, and things didn’t come easy to most folks, especially tenant farmers. The want for something better in life drew our family to this area, though. National news was filled with promises of cheap land, abundant resources, and the possibility of a better life. I believe all this came to be through the actions of dedicated and headstrong ancestors of some of our cousins, Sarah Strawn Hogue, the first wife of William M. Hogue, and her family.

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VII – The Life of Sarah Strawn Hogue Anderson

          Sarah Strawn was born in Murray County, GA on 25 July 1828 to Jackson M. Strawn (1803-1852) and his wife Elizabeth. At the age of 17, she married William M. Hogue on 3 May 1846. Sarah and William had five children together, all born in Murray County: Jackson M., b. 8 May 1847, James Jesse, b. 14 Oct 1849, Mary Adeline, B. 1851, Louis, b. 1852, and Martha, b. 1853. When William left her and the children in late 1859, she was forced to move back home with her mother, as recorded in the 1860 census of Murray County.

            Similarly, other strange events were occurring at the same time in this county. Maybe it was in the water. I have not seen the backup on this story, but, I found a query on the internet that related to information about James M. Strawn of Murray County, born around 1830. Sarah’s brother, James Strawn, aged 22, was recorded with his family (including wife Lucinda) on the 1850 Murray County Census living in between the two Williams.

The person inquiring about James had the following facts, based on previous research and family legend. He married Lucinda Cross on 6 Dec 1847 in Murray County and had five children with her. The youngest, George Washington Strawn, was born around 1857. Right after this, James left Lucinda and the state of Georgia, ending up in Titus Co, TX, recorded there in the 1860 census. He remarried a Celia Ann Spencer and had at least four children by her, including the oldest John, born around 1858. Celia divorced James in Montague County, TX, and the next day James married Martha P. Carlton and had a couple more kids by her. The last known whereabouts of James is in 1895 in the Indian Territory, trying to sell some land that he allegedly owned near St. Jo, Montague County.

I feel the strong family connection between Sarah and James, is one of the reasons she left Georgia, once again thinking things would be better out west in the new promised land. Sometime before 1 Aug 1869, Sarah moved to Montague County, settling about 2 ½ miles from St. Jo. She is recorded in the 1870 census living with a Dr. Alan Gordon and his family. No occupation was listed for her, which seems strange. At this time, she also begins homesteading a piece of property, 160 acres, probably near Dr. Gordon’s, on the waters of Farmer’s Creek. The Federal Homestead Act of 1862 allowed free citizens to obtain tracts of land by living on it, and making improvements to it for five consecutive years; the state of Texas, in a move to encourage settlement, only required three years of occupied development. She may have been living on the property and improving it, but was tallied by the enumerator as living with Dr. Gordon.

On 3 Aug 1872, she appeared before the county clerk with two witnesses testifying to the fact that she did indeed homestead this piece of property and became what is known as a “bona fide settler” of it. On 6 Jan 1874, Sarah marries her second husband, Hugh Anderson in St. Jo., and the deed to her property was finally recorded on 6 Aug 1875.

The 1870 census of Murray County shows Sarah’s daughter and third oldest child, Mary, living with her mother Elizabeth, not too far from Sarah’s brother, Jackson M. Strawn, Jr. Mary and Elizabeth soon head to Texas; Mary marries Albert A. Hammond there on 23 Feb 1873 in Montague County.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s oldest son, Jackson M. Hogue, is raising a growing family. He married Jane Brakebill on 5 May 1868, and lived near Jane’s family in Whitfield County, GA. In 1872, Jane gave birth to their third child, Mollie, a sister to Willie and Hattie. In around 1874 or early 1875, Jackson and Jane, with three young children in tow (ages 5,4, and 2) decide to move to Texas to live on Sarah’s ranch. While son James Jesse would follow soon after, her other two children by William M, Louis and Martha fall out of the picture entirely; no other mentions of them occur again.

Once again, life in the new promised land proved to be short lived. Jane Brakebill Hogue passed away in April of 1876. Family legend says her body was taken back to Georgia and buried there, but this seems cumbersome and unlikely. Her grave site has yet to be found. About 4 months later, on 20 Aug 1876, Jackson marries his second wife, Elizabeth E. Hancock, and moved with her across the Red River into the Indian Territory, leaving his three children with Sarah. Hugh Anderson died on 27 Jan 1879. Sarah is found on the 1880 census of St. Jo, Montague County, TX, living with her grandchildren, the oldest, Willie, now 11 years old., and next door to her son James Jesse.

Family legend notes say that Jackson became a Deputy U.S. Marshall in St. Jo for a time. This may be a  possibility, but I’m not sure he would have kept that job on the north side of the river. Jackson and Elizabeth lived near what was to become Courtney, I.T., and raised 9 children. Jackson M. Hogue developed dropsy, or what is now known as edema, and passed away 13 Sep 1892 in Courtney, not owning any land, but having about 80 head of cattle. He is buried in the Boggess Cemetery in St. Jo, Montague County, Texas.

The farming life turned out to be not so easy for Sarah, so, with the assistance of her children, she decided to sell the land and move into the Indian Territory. By now, Mary Adeline’s husband, A.A. Hammond, former blacksmith, had become a prominent member of the Montague County government, and could help Sarah locate a buyer. S.L. Davenport agreed to purchase all 160 acres for the price of $1200. While Sarah received payments on the property until December of 1886, she signed over the deed on 25 Dec 1883.

Sarah Strawn Hogue Anderson then moved north of the Red River near Marlow, Indian Territory, and lived with family members, including Jackson’s oldest son William, until she passed away there 22 June 1893, aged 65. She is buried in Bear Creek Cemetery just east of Marlow.

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VIII – The Final Years of William M. Hogue

             We can see now that William and family had plenty of reasons to move west; a chance to perhaps own land for the first time, some family had already settled in the area, and, there was the possibility of making a clean start and possibly improving their life. Leaving the Triangle would be difficult, but if Sarah and Jackson, could do it, why couldn’t they? The Indian situation had calmed down quite a bit, although there were still plenty of bad outlaws out there. The Civil War had been over for fifteen years, and many war-torn areas had been repaired during the Reconstruction, which ended in 1877.

Now 57 years old, William may have felt like it was now or never. His youngest child, John Calvin, was almost six and old enough to not be too much of a hindrance. Their possessions, and their money were slight, at best, but once they made the journey, they thought, riches would come along soon enough. I believe Jackson sent along many stories up to his cousins still in the Triangle, possibly even visiting them on occasion. We are not sure how the information got back to them, but, William and Mary Jane analyzed their options and decided to make the move, probably in the spring or early summer of 1880. So, they loaded up and headed west; William, Mary Jane, age 40, William Andrew, age 18, Cordelia, aged 17, Charles Sherman, aged 15, Nellie, age 6, and John Calvin, age 5, seemingly well prepared for their long journey.

What were the logistics involved in making a move like this? In the 1850’s, a stagecoach line was established that ran from St. Louis, MO to San Francisco, CA, but this was costly ($200 per person) and a rough ride, lasting over three weeks. Soon, train travel became a big deal in America with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1862, and had a huge impact on the American transportation system. There were almost 15,000 miles of railways in the South by 1880. Family legend says that William’s nephew, Daniel Washington (known as Sherman Hogue, son of James L.) moved his family from Graham County, NC to Sulphur Springs, TX by train in 1890, before buying wagons and cattle, and moving into the Indian Territory.

I don’t see our Hogues taking the train, though. Since they were moving seven people and whatever their household goods amounted to, they probably used some sort of horse or oxen drawn covered wagon. Although this mode of travel was not as prevalent as it was in the days of the Gold Rush and Oregon Trail, it was still common to observe people using wagons and wagon trains to move west up into the early part of the 1900’s.

Maps showing established roads in 1880 are difficult to research, but it is known that many trails and wagon roads were becoming well used and developed by rapid western expansion.  Moving west to Chattanooga, TN from Stecoah, NC was not much of a challenge, and from there, old roads existed that created a direct route west. The old Bell Route from the Trail of Tears days ran from Chattanooga to Memphis. The Overland Stage Route bridged Arkansas between Memphis and Fort Smith.  Some miles west of Fort Smith, you could hook into the Texas Road, which was part of the Shawnee Trail used to move cattle from Dallas, TX to Baxter Springs, KS. This would eventually get you to Colbert Station, IT, where you could either ferry across the Red River or move about 100 miles west along the river to the Courtney area, part of the Chickasaw Nation. This was a trip of about 1000 miles and, at 20 or 25 miles a day, forty or fifty days of travel to the promise of a new life in the west.

We have no family history or records that describe the trip William and his family made in 1880, so, much of it is left to our speculation. Luckily, William filed a Declaration for Original Invalid Pension in 1882, which not only pinpointed his location, but gives us a great deal of information pertaining to not only his Civil War service, but to the last few years of his life. These declarations were filed by some of the Hogues and Hogue widows and provide us a great deal of knowledge relating to important times in their lives. The Office of Pensions was established in 1833 to handle claims related to the War Of 1812. Pensions were only considered for Union Army veterans and their widows and paid out about $8-10 a month, increasing to $12 a month in 1907. Confederate veterans were finally allowed to apply in 1959, which was probably a little late for most of them. The counties of residence in each state handled the paperwork involved with these declarations.

Location of residence is an important thing to keep in mind here. In 1880, the Indian Territory was self-governed in that it was not part of an existing state, but would eventually be folded into Oklahoma when it was granted statehood in 1907. Although most of William’s paperwork involved in his invalid pension was completed in Montague County, he most likely lived in the Indian Territory, near what was to become Courtney, Love County, at statehood. I believe this for two reasons; first that his son Jackson moved to Courtney in 1876, and secondly, it is highly unlikely that he would have anything to do with his first wife Sarah, and I’m sure she felt the same way about him.

At this point, I’d like to proceed by presenting the information learned from William’s declaration, realizing that it will take us back in time to 1864, but the story is an important part of his struggles in his new home. Also, remember, too, that William was far from an invalid in 1880; he had just moved his family 1000 miles in a wagon. Let’s assume that the William Hogue family arrived in Courtney, Indian Territory in the fall of 1880, and settled in next to his son Jackson and his second wife Elizabeth. The J.M. Hogues have two kids by now, and one on the way, the first of William’s grandchildren known to him.

William’s declaration was originally filed on 11 Mar 1882, in St. Jo, Montague County, TX, personally appearing before W.A. Williams in the County Court there. He told the clerk he was a resident of “six miles from Spanish Fort” (easily near Courtney). He said he was 58 years old and was described as 6 feet 1 inches in height, with a dark complexion, dark hair, and blue eyes. He claimed he was “in a skirmish in Macon Co., NC, on or about 12 Nov 1864, and that “the sight in his right eye was destroyed by a gun shot fired by the enemy”. He went on to testify that he was not treated in a hospital, but was treated by a Dr. Ross Laine in Brick Mill, Blount Co., TN upon his return home. He also stated his occupation at that time to be a farmer. Witnesses to this testimony were Reuben Burge of Spanish Fort and his daughter Mary Adeline’s husband, Albert Hammond of St. Jo.

Many documents are attached to the original declaration. The next document is a letter from the Adjutant General’s Office of the War Department, dated 3 July 1883. It took 17 months to get the first government response to William’s original declaration. This letter, from a Deputy Adjutant General, verified William’s dates of service as noted in a previous section. It went on to say, unfortunately, that records fail to show that Company in action on that date, that there was no evidence of the “alleged” wound, and that the Books of Organization of this volunteer regiment were not on file. Quite a blow to the cause, I’d say.

Meanwhile, of course, William and family continued to farm and eke out a subsistence level living, probably raising cotton, corn, and wheat. We already know that Jackson was in the cattle business, so they were probably raising feed crops as well. Remember that Henry D. Courtney had moved into the area and established it as Courtney Flats in 1882, renaming the existing town of Watkins after himself. A post office wasn’t established there in 1886, however. The news from the letter of response from the feds forces William to return to County Court on 21 Aug 1883 and respond in front of the Justice of Peace, John Rowan. He didn’t add much more to his story at this point; only to say that most of the witnesses he attempted to contact were dead, and that his injury was not visible for normal treatment. He claimed the injury was caused by bark flying from a tree he was standing next to that was hit by a bullet, resulting in only a blemish, but causing enough damage to make him lose sight in the eye. This document was listed as additional evidence.

William returned to Montague County Court one more time on 10 Sep 1883, for what would be his last stand in obtaining a pension for him and his family. The event was recorded as additional evidence once again via a claimant’s affidavit. What follows is a direct quote from that affidavit, spelling and grammar uncorrected: “that I was engaged in a fight with the enemy on Tululy Creek in Macon Co., NC (Franklin is the county seat of said county) on or about the last of December, 1864. I was in the command of Col. Kirk and of Col. Devine’s Regiment. We were ordered from Knoxville, TN to go to NC to break up a camp of Indians and Rebels forted in Cheoah. In the skirmish with the enemy in the mountains and while firing from a small tree a minie ball struck the side of a tree knocking bark into my eyes, causing me to completely lose the sight of my right eye and injuring the other at the time. We were not at that time in what is called a general engagement or a general battle and history may not give any record of said fight. I cannot recollect dates at this time but give the time as near as I can under oath.”

William did not have many things quoted to him in his life, at least that were recorded, anyway. I thought I would take these statements directly off the document in question so we could get an inside look at his thoughts and recollections of his time in the Civil War. Unfortunately, it was to no avail. William returned home to Courtney and never heard from the federal government again in regards to his Declaration for Original Invalid Pension. Mary Jane would make a few attempts after his death to collect, but also ran into a dead end.

William M. Hogue lived he rest of his life in southern Indian Territory, along the Red River, hopefully enjoying farming life and being around more of his and Jackson’s children. We really don’t know what brought him happiness and joy at the end of his life, but I hope it was being with family and peaceful living. He passed away March 6, 1886 at the age of 62, in Courtney, Indian Territory. He is buried in the Bourland Cemetery, just west of Courtney in Belleville.

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VIIII – The Early Life of Charles Sherman Hogue

             Charles Sherman Hogue, known by most people as Charley, is my great grandfather. He lived in what was to become Love County, Oklahoma for most of his life, from 1880 to 1917. I was lucky to have interviewed a few people back in the 1980’s who knew Charley, and, will share some of their stories later in this chapter.

Charley was born on 15 Jan 1865 near Brick Mill, Blount County, TN. To recap his early life, Charley lived with his family in Blount County until 1875, and then Graham County, NC until they all moved to the Indian Territory in 1880. As a teenager in that rough and tumble environment, I’m sure he was kept plenty busy with the farming life (between tasks assigned by

his father and half-brother, Jackson). Schools were not established in the Indian Territory until his own children were old enough to attend.

The first indication that Charley was grown and on his own, came with the marriage to his first wife, Malinda Jane Williams, on 6 May 1885. Marriage records were not kept in the Indian Territory until 1895, but we learned this date directly from the words of Malinda herself, in a document I’ll refer to later. This also corroborates info recorded in the 1900 census of the Burney Township, IT. Charley is listed there as “C.S. Hoag” with his wife Linda J., and their two children, Johnnie and Caldonia (known from here on out by her real name, Mary Caroline). They had been married fourteen years at this point. There are mistakes in this reporting, however. First, it lists Johnnie as a daughter, when, in fact John William was Charley’s first and oldest son. Second, it lists Malinda’s birthdate as Jan 1865 (same as Charley’s), when we know now that she believed her birthdate to be 5 Jan 1869. This means she was 16 when she married Charley, which, while not out of the realm of possibility, raises further questions and speculation.

Most public genealogies have Malinda’s parents listed as Morton Wisdom Williams and Matilda C. Polk of Lick Mountain, AR near Conway, with both passing away in Arkansas in 1888. Malinda is listed on the 1880 census with them there at age 10. My question is this: How does a young teenage girl end up in an unpleasant place like the Indian Territory without moving there with her parents? It seems unlikely, even during this time in American history, for this to happen. In fact, Morton was granted a homestead for 160 acres of land near Lick Mountain on 10 Sep 1883. So, while this evidence alone would strongly suggest that Morton and Matilda and family never left Arkansas, they quite possibly could have moved the Indian Territory and back between 1880 and 1887. However, this seems unlikely to me.

The 1900 census of the Burney area does show a few other Williams families nearby. I also located a Williams family in the Montague Co., TX census of 1870, with several children, born in AR, headed by a man named Wisdom, from Illinois. Charley and Melinda’s oldest son, John William, lived in the area of north Texas for most of his life, passing away in 1976 and fathering 5 children with his wife, Ina Jewel Edwards. Melinda lived until 1936 and was married at least two more times. Perhaps the information on these family trees comes from actual family records and testimony, but I still have my doubts about her recorded lineage. I think further research needs to be done regarding the ancestry of Malinda Jane Williams.

Charley and family farmed cotton and corn here for several years. Steady population growth in the area resulted in the construction of four or five new cotton gins to service the influx of new farmers. Towns grew, and although life was difficult, things seemed prosperous. In 1893, Masonic Lodge No. 16 was established in the town of Leon, southeast of Courtney. One of the leaders of the new lodge was Peter Byron Arthur, who had moved to the area in 1876 from Missouri. According to dates printed on his Masonic apron, which is in my possession, Charley was initiated into the lodge on 12 Jan 1893, raised to Master Mason on 17 Nov 1894, and maintained a strong relationship with the Masons for the next twenty years or so.

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Family Brawl Pics

As typical for our branch of the Hogue’s, things again went haywire for our family, this time in the late summer of 1901. Most of the next part of the story was taken directly from court records, including a deposition by Malinda, recorded in the Southern District U.S. Court of the Indian Territory in Ardmore. On 1 September, Charley and Malinda got into a fight, with Malinda testifying that Charley beat and bruised her with a stick and threw her and the children out of the house. She stated that over the last five years, Charley was “cruel and abusive toward her”, “called her many vile names” and that his temper was “ungovernable.” Malinda filed a complaint against Charley on 6 September; he was arrested in Courtney by Deputy Sheriff Martin and hauled off to jail in Ardmore, IT, on the charge of assault and battery. Malinda claimed Charley had tried to shoot her, and, taken from the newspaper article, “that he did beat and otherwise mistreat her.”

According to that report in The Daily Ardmoreite of 10 September, Charley told the deputy that they had indeed separated, but denied ever trying to shoot her. On one occasion, “he took a pistol away from her,” according to the article. As it turns out, this is the only statement recorded by Charley during the ensuing ordeal. Charley immediately posted the required bond of $200 and was released, after being scheduled to appear before U.S. Commissioner S.B. Bradford in U.S. District court to face his charges on 24 Sep 1901. Likely unbeknownst to both parties, Malinda was pregnant with their third child.

On Charley’s court date, he appeared before Commissioner Bradshaw and was arraigned by the prosecuting council, apparently without an attorney of his own. He plead guilty and was found so by the Commissioner after he listened to the evidence and arguments presented by the prosecutors. Charley agreed to pay a fine of $24.80, which included court and marshal fees, and was released. If he spent any time in jail, it was likely only to wait to appear.

Malinda, along with her children, most likely lived with neighbors (she was never to live with Charles Hogue again) while she proceeded in her efforts to obtain a divorce. Charley had thrown her out with no money and only the clothes on her back, and, did not allow her to take any of the other household goods with her. She was able to convince a big-time Ardmore law firm, Cruce and Cruce, (founded by the future second governor of Oklahoma with his brother), to take her case pro bono, after taking the pauper’s oath. She filed her petition for divorce on 30 Sep 1901.

On 22 Oct 1901, Charley was served a summons for a complaint in equity to begin divorce proceedings in the case of Malinda J. Hogue vs. Charles Hogue by the Leon City Marshall, William Fletcher Thompson. W.F. Thompson turns out to have a big role in the next few years of Malinda’s life, as we will soon see. Malinda rounds up four close neighbors and goes with them to Ardmore to give depositions on 1 November 1901, in the office of Notary Public Fred Kincaide at First National Bank.

The neighbors, J.P. Eubanks, age 52, M.B. Williams, 38, E.T. Stewart, 34, and J.F. Kinsey, 53, all indicated that they had lived near and had known the Hogue’s for several years. All of them (no doubt coordinated by the Cruce & Cruce attorneys) deposed pretty much the same story: namely, that Melinda is a fine, upstanding, responsible woman that should get custody of her children, and, that although they never witnessed Charley being violent toward his wife in person, the talk of the neighborhood was that he indeed had those tendencies. A big part of the depositions was also used to determine Charley’s net worth to settle the divorce process.

By now, it’s obvious that Charley had plenty of cash on hand, as he could post bond and pay fines and court costs out of pocket to avoid jail time. His estate was valued as such:

3 horses valued at                                               $112.50

                         2 cows and 2 calves valued at                              $40.00

                         13 hogs valued at                                                  $50.00

                         200 bu. of corn valued at                                     $150.00

                         10 bales of cotton valued at                                 $400.00

                         Assorted farm and household

                          implements including a wagon,

                          sewing machine, and furniture                           $300.00

                                                     Total estate estimate                $1000.00

 

On 31 Dec 1901, Master in Chancery John Hinkle filed his master’s report (as noted in the 1 Jan 1902 Daily Ardmoreite), and, recommends to Judge Hosea Townsend that Malinda be awarded alimony of $250.00, custody of her children, and have all rights restored to her as an unmarried woman with the dissolution of the marriage. Charley was also responsible for all associated court costs, her attorney fees, and a $5.00 filing fee for the Master’s Report. The Judge agrees with this report and declares the decree final on 13 Jan 1902. Charley was ordered to pay before the beginning of the court’s next term in May of 1902.

There is no indication that Charley didn’t pay, just no receipt shown in the records that he did. He received his copy of the court documents on 24 Oct 1902, delivered by the new U.S. Marshal Ben H. Colbert, a former Rough Rider, recently appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt. At last, this ordeal is over. Amazingly enough, to me anyway, Charley was not once asked to give his opinion of the case against him or an official deposition; perhaps he refused to do so. It seems he just took whatever came his way to be done with it. I am not one to justify domestic violence by anyone in any century, but, to me, his behavior indicates of the questionability of the character of Malinda Jane Williams Hogue.

Their new son, Edward Bell Hogue, was born on 17 April 1902. It was around this time that Malinda left Courtney, taking her kids to Leon, and soon married the previously mentioned City Marshall William Fletcher Thompson, sometime later in 1902. He had recently divorced his first wife, Dollie, and her and their two children had moved up near Orr, I.T. Dollie died there in 1909. The 1910 census of Marietta, Ward 3, shows the new family together, with three new children listed along with John and Edward. W.F. Thompson’s occupation is now listed as physician and M.D. Malinda also tells the enumerator that she had given birth to eight children, and that five were still living. We know that Mary Caroline passed away in the Marietta area sometime before that census in 1910, and that Malinda was still living with five children at that time. It’s likely she may have lost two children in the Indian Territory between 1886 and the birth of Johnny in 1894. Malinda’s age is shown as 41, which matches her deposition, with a birth year of 1869.

In 1912, Malinda’s life becomes unraveled again as W.F. files for divorce and forces her out, keeping the three children by her, and marrying his third wife, Leona O. Mapp in 1913. She most likely follows John as he moves north to Jefferson, Love Co., where he marries his first wife, soon leaving the area and moving to Dallam County, TX. Here, around 1918, Malinda marries husband number three, Henry Gamel, a carman for the Chicago, Long Island, and Gulf Railroad in Dalhart. Edward remained with his mother and John, thinking his mother was stable here, moved his new growing family to Wichita, TX.

The 1920 Census of Dalhart, Dallam Co., TX lists Malinda and Edward living by themselves on Chicago Ave in a house they own. Henry can be found a few blocks over, on Trinidad Street, as a lodger with a fellow carman at the railroad. Edward has obtained employment as a carman as well. Malinda is listed as “at Home” and widowed (although her husband is apparently alive and well nearby), age 48, which would put her birthdate now as in 1872. It appears things are still not as rosy as Malinda had hoped at this stage of her life.

Henry Gamel had led an interesting life up to this point, as well. His mother was ¼ Choctaw and made every effort to enroll her and her family into the Choctaw nation, but, she and her children were eventually denied, probably because of her frequent moves in and out of the Indian Territory just trying to survive. Henry’s first marriage did not last, and he fathered no children, but managed to keep a stable job at the railroad, eventually earning retirement status. The 1930 census of Dalhart has the family back together, Edward (who had himself been married and divorced in the interim) still living there, but now as a car wrecker at an auto salvage yard. Henry took an after-retirement job as a janitor in a school. Malinda, now with a birthdate of 1871, was still not working outside the home.

Edward Bell Hogue passed away on 7 March 1932 at the age of 29, his death caused by influenza, with a contributing cause of intoxication, according to his death certificate. Malinda Jane Williams Hogue Thompson Gamel passed away 18 Aug 1936 after suffering for a year with uterine cancer. She is buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Dalhart. Henry Gamel lived to the ripe old age of 93, passing away on 2 Feb 1966.  His obituary, in the 4 Feb 1966 edition of the Amarillo Globe, states that he was survived by a niece and nephew, two step-daughters, and two stepsons. He is buried next to Malinda in Dalhart.

As a side note, the informant in the deaths of Edward and Henry, just happened to be one of those stepdaughters, Annie Hailey, Malinda’s youngest daughter by W.F. Thompson. Annie had married her husband Floyd, also a carman for the railroad, in Dalhart in 1926, at the age of 16.

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X – The Final Years of Charles Sherman Hogue

On 22 Feb 1903, Charley married his second wife, Lenora Gatlin Noble, in United States Court, Southern District, Ardmore, Indian Territory. Nora had married W.J. Noble on 04 Aug 1897 in Clay County, TX, but soon left her new husband, who was a railroad employee, and followed the Gatlin family to Rubottom, IT, located in between Courtney to the west and Burneyville to the east, pregnant with her son Andrew Frank (Frankie, b. March 1, 1900).

Our line of Gatlins had immigrated from England in the early part of the 1600’s and settled in the area of Craven County, North Carolina. The family of Gatlins kept moving west as well, moving first to Davidson County, TN, near Nashville, and then on to Tippah Co., MS. Nora’s parents, Mark and Analiza, finally ended up in the Indian Territory, near Rubottom. Nora was one of thirteen children, but most of them followed their parents, so there were Gatlins a plenty in the neighborhood.

Charley and Nora set up a household in Rubottom now as well and started raising a family of their own with the birth of Leonard Richard on 15 Dec 1904. Many other Hogues had come to the Indian Territory, too, including cousins from Georgia and North Carolina. Charley’s brother John and his family lived nearby with their mother, Mary Jane. His sisters Cordie and Nellie, as well as his older brother, Billy, settled a bit farther north, near Purcell, IT. Charley had established a reputation as one tough customer by now, as well as being known as a respected citizen and strong family man, although his first wife might have had a different opinion on that issue. Stories about Charley became family legend, and I’d like to relate some of those now, gleaning them from people who knew the man. As a side note, you may find these stories out there on the world-wide web somewhere; these recollections are taken from a previous paper I did on Charley in the 1980’s.

Lonnie Williams, born in the IT in 1897, remembered Charley well. In 1987, when I visited Rubottom for the first time, one of the folks associated with the Love County Genealogical Society gave me Lonnie’s number and told me to give him a call. Lonnie lived in Rubottom his entire life, except for the time he spent in Europe serving in WW I. The visit went very well. Lonnie was very accommodating and had his wife rustle up some ice tea for us. He did mention a concern he had about strangers visiting, though. “It’s a good thing you called first before comin’ up the driveway or I might’ve shot ya!”

He remembered Charley (“Old Man Charley Hogue” he called him) as a big strong man who worked very hard to raise a good family. He recalled one instance, around 1910, where Charley became the mediator in a near gunfight between his brother John, and an irate neighbor. Apparently, this neighbor had beaten his wife and thrown her out of their house (perhaps a familiar scene?). John wouldn’t stand for this and confronted the man in a field near Charley’s place. Both men squared off with rifles and threatened to kill each other at point blank range, each with a rifle muzzle in his face. Charley saw what was going on and ran to the scene, getting between the angry men, grabbing the rifle barrels and pushing them skyward. Charley calmly told the two that no one was shooting anybody and that they could continue their fight elsewhere. Both relinquished and the confrontation ended peacefully.

Jodie Lawson (my grandfather, Henry always referred to him as “Joda” Lawson), a Hogue cousin in the area, lived with John and family in 1910, and in the Rubottom area until his death in 1973. Not only was Jodie’s mother a Hogue, but his wife was one as well! He told Henry that he remembered Charley as a man that wouldn’t think twice about hurting a man if he had to, but was the gentlest person he had ever seen when it came to dealing with his horses. Since his father, William M. was in the mounted infantry in the Civil War, I’m sure Charley’s skills as a horseman went way back to his childhood. I doubt if Charley ever owned an automobile; traveling by horseback was still the main mode of transportation then.

Grandpa also told me a story about his father that sounds more legendary that factual, but is worth repeating. Someone told Henry that once Charley beat a man to death with his bare hands, holding the man down and ripping his eyes out and filling the bloody sockets with dirt before finishing him off. That story might make you think twice about eating all the food on your plate at the dinner table at least.

Henry’s older brother Clarence told me a story about his father that also stretches the believability scale a bit. Occasionally, Charley would work part time for a blacksmith in Courtney by the name of Sam Roberts. One day, Sam had just pulled some hot metal from the forge and called Charley over to help. He placed the white-hot iron on the anvil and gave his instructions, “Take that hammer and whack it as hard as you can!” Charley did exactly as he was told, breaking the piece of iron, and the anvil, in half on impact.

I had the opportunity to interview Henry’s cousin, Bessie Heywood, daughter of Charley’s brother John C. Hogue, at her house in San Jose, CA. She had many stories to tell and allowed me to use my 35mm camera to take pictures of some of the old photographs she had around, including the one of her grandfather, William M. Hogue. I know that Bessie spent a great deal of time around the Charley Hogue family. She was born in 1904 in Rubottom and was known to be a little cantankerous as a young woman. As Grandpa used to say, “Bessie Mae Hogue, meaner than an old junkyard dog.” Despite this reputation, I must say that Bessie was nothing but nice to me, a provided a great deal of family history and folklore.

Bessie related a memorable story about a Charley Hogue family dinner she attended around 1915. Both families may have eaten together often, since they usually lived near each other, once John and family moved back from Seminole County, OK after the death of mother Mary Jane Hogue in 1908. The family was just settling down for supper when Charley noticed his reading glasses were missing. Past history dictates that Charley could easily be a little edgy and short of temper, so he quickly reached out for the closest child, this time Clarence, and began to interrogate him as to the whereabouts of his glasses, thinking the kids were up to some kind of prank. He wailed on the screaming youngster for a few seconds until Nora managed to get his attention, informing Charley that his glasses were on top of his head, where he usually kept them when not in use. He reached up and felt them there before returning Clarence to his chair and commencing with his meal, without even offering an apology. Bessie always thought her father John was strict, but he couldn’t compare to Uncle Charley.

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It was around this time that Charley picked up a couple of side jobs, in addition to his job as a farmer and a father raising a family. He went to work as a contractor for the U.S. Postal Service, running the mail on horseback between Rubottom and Grady, a distance of about 15 miles, and also helped the newly formed Love County government by overseeing the road conditions in that area. Again, records about anything like this are scarce, but, these facts have grown out of related family history. On a side note, Rubottom’s post office was established on 29 Aug 1902, and its first postmaster was William A. Gatlin, Nora’s oldest brother.

As noted earlier, the Masonic Lodge was a very important organization in the life of Charles Sherman Hogue, and would play a huge role in the survival of our family long after his passing. At this point, Peter Byron Arthur, the man responsible for the establishment of the Lodge and much of Leon, re-enters the story. We know that Peter held many different jobs as a community leader, including secretary of the Lodge and enumerator of the federal census. The Lodge probably had about forty members in its heyday; Charley rode into meetings on horseback, even at night, and was a member in good standing for over 20 years, until December of 1914, when he was demitted from the Lodge for the nonpayment of dues ($1 per year).

Unfortunately, years of hard work from living the life of an immigrant farmer began to catch up with Charley, and the final weeks of his life can be well told through the recollecting eyes of Bessie Heywood, and through family lore passed to my grandfather, Henry and his brother, Clarence. Charley’s decline most likely began to accelerate in the fall of 1916, before his 52^nd birthday in January of 1917, and continued into that summer.

Nora became pregnant with her and Charley’s seventh child around November of 1916. They lived in what Grandpa called the “Big House” in central Rubottom, the place of Henry’s birth on 3 Aug 1914. After a cold winter of bad weather and too many road inspections, Charley developed what was thought to be a kidney infection sometime in the early summer of 1917.  Nora was also having problems with her pregnancy, and was soon forced into bed, for fear of harming herself or her unborn child. Things went downhill quickly for our family from here.

The bad winter was followed by an equally difficult summer; hot, humid, and with large populations of annoying insects of every type. Charley was quite ill now, and because of the kidney infection, or possibly heart issues, had developed what was known in those days as dropsy, or edema. His body was retaining water and began to swell to almost twice its original size. Remember that dropsy was also the cause of Charley’s half-brother Jackson’s death in 1892. He lay alone in a room on one side of the house, waiting for the inevitable outcome.

Nora could not care for him, as she lay bedridden as well in room on the other side of the house. She was afraid to even move for fear of losing her child or endangering her own health, even at this, the end of her pregnancy. One evening, many of the local women came by the Big House to visit and offer what help they could, knowing that new life, or death, lay just around the corner. Bessie, now about 13, was there as well, visiting with her mother. Bessie always like to primp whenever possible; she wore a nice dress and always had her hair neatly braided. She stood at the foot of the bed, staring with concern at her Aunt Nora, hoping the best for her. Unfortunately, she also provided a likely target for a woman under a great deal of stress. Nora raised up out of bed the best she could and snapped at Bessie, saying “You just think you’re somethin’ special, don’t you?!” Bessie was not expecting that outburst and quickly left the room.

Charley passed away in his home in Rubottom on 24 Jul 1917, his skin splitting open like a broken blister in spots, and his internal organs finally giving out from dealing with the strain of the extra fluids in his body. The local men came by then, many of them cousins, friends, and brothers, to pay their last respects and prepare him for burial. His body was left on the deathbed, face covered with a white cloth, while the men constructed a coffin for it, in the form of a simple casket customized to fit his oversized form. They buried him up on the hill in the Rubottom Cemetery, in the same plot as his daughter Mary Ann, who died at birth in 1905. Nora was unable to attend the funeral, still ill and weak after giving birth to another son, on 16 July 1917. She named him Charles Sherman Hogue, in honor of her departed husband.

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XI – The Hogue’s Survival in Oklahoma

Times were tough for Nora Hogue and her family for the rest of the year after Charlie’s passing. They had to move from the Big House into a smaller two room house close to the main road into Marietta. Leonard, her oldest son was only 13 at the time, hardly old enough to take charge of the familial responsibilities. Frankie Noble probably handled much of the chores by now, being a bit older at 17. It was at this time that Peter Arthur decided to intervene on behalf of Nora and her family.

On 26 Jan 1918, Peter interviewed Nora and asked if she would consider giving her children up for adoption. The children, Leonard, 13, Fannie May, 10, Clarence, 8, Buford, 6, Henry, 3, and Charles, 6 months, would be moved to the Grand Masonic Lodge in Guthrie, OK, 150 miles away, north of Oklahoma City, and well taken care of there. Nora could not fathom the idea of being without her family, and politely refused, asking if there was any other help available.

Remember that Charley was dropped from the Masonic rolls for nonpayment of dues three years earlier. Records show his membership was reinstated on 7 July 1917, just two and a half weeks before his death. It is apparent to me that Peter did not want to see anything happen to Charley’s family and somehow arranged for this reinstatement to occur. He may have approached Charley’s fellow Masons at the Leon Lodge to ask for help, but it is not clear what exactly happened. I believe Peter Byron Arthur used his influence, pulled some strings, and arranged for Nora and her family to receive outside assistance from the Grand Lodge of $20.00 per month. He wrote several letters to the Grand Lodge describing our family’s bleak existence and managed to keep these payments coming for many years, until just before Nora eventually moved to California. Peter Byron Arthur passed away in 1949 at the age of 94 and is buried in the Leon Cemetery, which he helped establish in 1883.

Tracking down the residences of Nora Gatlin Noble Hogue and her family gets a bit confusing after Charley’s death. With young children, and a teenage Frankie in tow, they had to move several times within the next 15 years or so just to survive. Back in 1987, I was able to spend some time with Grandpa drawing up a crude map of the Courtney/Rubottom area. The map wasn’t to scale, but with it, we could mark the approximate locations of most of their homes, at least up until they were all in California. Henry was 73 years old then, and had a good memory. Linking that with the census reports gives a decent picture of their remaining time in Oklahoma.

After Nora declined putting her children up for adoption, the family moved about 25 miles to the west, near Ringling, Jefferson County, to the Wright Township. They followed John Hogue and his family, and brought along Nora’s mother, Ana E. Gatlin. Ana was in her late 60’s now and had been widowed since 1908; she probably felt past her prime as a lone farmer, and possibly thought she could help her daughter and the kids by living with them. They pitched a one room canvas tent on the same property as John’s, added a wood stove and crude fence, and called it home. They were recorded here on the 1920 census.

Sometime in 1923, the two families split up, with John and company moving north, returning to Seminole County, and Nora, Ana and the kids moving back to Courtney. They lived the same tent here for a while, probably until 1925, when they could rent a small two room house near the road that ran between Belleville and Leon. It was around this time when the family dynamic began to change dramatically. The lone sister in this outfit, Fannie Mae, married James “Eb” Robeson in Rubottom in 1923. In 1926, Leonard married Alice Doughty, and in 1928, Clarence married Cleavie Boales. Ana Gatlin moved up to Pittsburg County to live with her oldest daughter, Nancy Jane “Jennie” Stipe with her third husband and a couple of her kids from her second marriage. Frankie stayed in the Love County area somewhere; he cannot be found listed on any census after 1920. He married Gladys Boswell in Love County after 1930, and moved back up to the Cordell area, living there until sometime after 1935.

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The 1930 Census of Cordell Township, Washita County, shows Leonard as the head of household, farming, and living with his wife Alice, new son Kenneth, his mother, Nora and brothers Buford, Henry and Charles. Here they lived in another two-room house. Alice had family in this area, which was about 175 miles to the northwest of Rubottom, the same county where my grandmother, Crystal Faye Larner was growing up with her family. Clarence was the first of our Hogue’s to make the move to California, and is listed in the 1930 Census living with his wife Cleavie and her parents in El Nido, Merced County, California. They also have had their first son, Gayther, born in there in 1929. For Leonard and family, the pull to California was strong, and they headed west by the end of 1931.

By now, it’s worth mentioning, all of this travel was by car; the days of William M.’s covered wagon had long since gone by the wayside. Roads had improved to the point that although travel was still cumbersome and slow compared to travel in the 21^st century, the idea of being a “pioneer” was not as crucial to westward expansion. Highways were two lane asphalt with very little shoulder, and there were two routes, including a southern route that could be used in winter months. You could travel to California’s Central Valley, yet another Hogue promised land, a distance of about 1500 miles, in three or four days if you pushed it. I remember Grandpa talking about a Model A Ford and a Hupmobile as the first vehicles he became acquainted with. I don’t recall him mentioning the exact car used in this next migration; another thing I should have written down.

So, Nora, Buford, Henry, and Charles move back to Love County, into another two-room house near their last home in Courtney. They continued to farm on rented land here, mainly growing cotton. Although it seems like cotton was everywhere in the southern part of our country, raising it could be a challenge at times. The lands along the Red River were fertile, for the most part, but certain varieties of cotton were temperamental here. In addition, insects could invade the ripening bolls and cause seed rot, which would ultimately discolor the fibers and make them less than desirable for sale.  Buford was now the man in charge and had a lot to learn.

My first cousin, once removed, the late Willis M. Hogue, the only child of Charles Sherman Hogue II, answered a letter I sent him in the late 80’s, asking for help on family tree info. He turned out to be a veritable gold mine, sending me a few of the personal items he was left when his dad died in 1985. These items included the original hand painted portrait of Charley (in a wood frame, with rounded glass), his Masonic apron, his family bible (with an unknown lock of hair, but no family data entered), and Nora’s watch and pigskin clutch.

Amazingly enough, the items in Nora’s small purse help document her last months in Love County, and give us a bit of perspective of life in Oklahoma during The Great Depression. First, the purse also contained a receipt for a note, drawn on Love County National Bank of Marietta, for fifteen dollars. The Note was drawn by J.A. Eakins on 11 April 1932, due and payable on 1 Nov 1932.

Second, the purse contained Nora’s voter’s registration certificate for Precinct No. 22, County of Love, State of Oklahoma, dated 23 Jun 1932. In it, she is described as follows:  Farmer, Age 52, Race, AM (American, I guess), Color, White, Politics, Dem, Color of hair, black, Height, 5ft, 3in, Weight 105, Color of Eyes, Dark. Witnesses were J.A. Eakins and Dan Chitwood, who I believe were married to a couple of Nora’s sisters.

Third, she signed an agreement with the Love County Burial Association in Marietta on 11 Feb 1933. She paid a one dollar deposit and regular assessments of 50 cents (I have receipts for assessment numbers 48, 40, 50, and 52) to guarantee her a $100 funeral paid by the association. Beneficiaries were Buford, Henry, Charles, and her mother, Mrs. A.E. Gatlin. I hope this is what paid for Ana’s funeral when she passed away on 5 Feb 1934.

Fourth, contents of the purse also included two receipts from the B. C. Newton Cotton Gin of Marietta. Both receipts were made out to Buford Hogue. The first, probably from a crop of November of 1932, was for 180 pounds of cotton @ 3 cents per pound, a total of $5.40. The second receipt, dated 18 Nov 1933, was for a net 180 pounds, out of 2180 pounds, of seed rot cotton @ 3 cents a pound, also a total of $5.40. I can only hope these weren’t the only receipts for their crops of those years.

The other items in Nora’s clutch were a small brass fountain pen, a receipt from Roy Knight’s Grocery store in Dill City, OK, a woven hair cover, probably used for Sunday church, and a small, mysterious bundle. Wrapped in a quilting square of cloth, and tied with another smaller piece used as a string, is a 1907 Indian head one cent piece. I wish I knew the significance of that penny. We know that Nora was into quilting; she gave my parents a quilt top for a wedding present that my wife finished into a beautiful quilt some years later.

We now know that Nora and family persevered turbulent times in Rubottom, Love County, Oklahoma up until the final bits of their sharecropped cotton was turned into the gin in November of 1933. Even though they were to leave behind kin, namely Frankie, Fannie Mae, and many cousins, it was time to make another crucial move in family history. According to my Grandpa, Henry, this is when they made the journey to yet another promised land, the Golden State of California.

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XII – Heading West – The Hogue’s Move to California 

          By the time Ana Gatlin’s obituary was published in the newspaper in February of 1934, Nora, Buford, Henry, and Charles were in Porterville, Tulare County, CA. I recall Henry saying that there were Gatlin cousins here, but I don’t have specific information about that. He also said they lived farther north, near Brentwood, Contra Costa County after their arrival. The 1940 census had added a new section, designed to track migratory habits of Americans, that asked people to declare where they lived on 1 Apr 1935. They reported as follows:

Nora and Buford – Rural Alameda County (not far from Brentwood)

Leonard and family – Rural Santa Clara County

Henry – Gilroy, Santa Clara County (his wife, Faye, was still in Oklahoma)

Charles has yet to be found on a 1940 census. He married his wife, Alta Faye Teafatiller back in Love County in 1939, before coming back out to California. Their son Willis was born in Gilroy in 1942. Again, tracking the moves of our family remains difficult. Henry’s story about this time in our history is what I will go by, with a few suppositions, from here on out.

Nora, Buford, Henry, and Charles decided to go back to Oklahoma for the Christmas of 1935. They visited both Fannie Mae in Love County and Frankie in Washita County. Henry met Faye on this trip, fell in love, and talked her into getting married. Charles probably stayed with Fannie Mae and met his future bride, staying in the area for a while until they got married. Henry and Faye marry in January, then return to California shortly thereafter, ending up in Santa Clara County.

In a postcard written to Peter Arthur on 29 Sep 1936, Nora tries to extend her assistance from the Masonic Lodge. The card reads as follows, not corrected for spelling or punctuation:

Gilroy Calif sep 29, 1936

Mr P.B. Arthur I will drop you a card to let you no

we are goin to Porterville this week so you can rite

me at Porterville Gen Del I have been looking for a

letter from you letten me no what they did nothin

I guess but hope they do somethin for I fell as thogh

I had lost all the frend I had but hopen for the better

these few lines leaves us all well but me I have

rumitise pretty bad. hope you are well and injoyin

life from a frend Nora Hogue

I copied this card from Charley Hogue’s file at the Grand Lodge in Guthrie, OK. It was addressed to Mr. P.B. Arthur, Leon Okla. Someone had written in ink, on the front of the postcard, a finger pointing at No 5 (probably the fifth note from Nora) and the word “Finis?!”. This communication was an interesting, but sad, end to the relationship between the Masons, Peter Arthur and Nora Hogue.

Nora, and probably Buford, did not stay in Porterville long. The 1940 census finds three Hogue households living in the Burnett township, Santa Clara County, CA. Burnett was in what is known now as the area of Coyote, Santa Teresa, and Morgan Hill, about 13 miles north of Gilroy, 20 miles south of San Jose. They were listed right in a row, Leonard and family, Nora and Buford, and then Clarence and family. Henry lived a bit farther south in San Martin, an unincorporated part of the Gilroy township, with Faye and Charles William Hogue (my dad), then 3 years old.

From 1880 to 1940, a period of 60 years, our Hogues worked hard to survive some turbulent times and make the moves necessary to secure the future of many generations of ancestors. Of course, they didn’t think about it that way. They were just getting by; always trying to figure out how to make things better for themselves and their children. Their lives, at least after World War II, would soon move into their glory days, finally, reaping rewards of a good life after a long, perilous journey.

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XIII – Epilogue 

By 1950, most of the Charley Hogue family were settled down in the Gilroy area, with good jobs, and set about raising their own children. Nora Gatlin Noble Hogue lived in San Martin for nearly 20 years, well taken care of by her boys that stayed near her. She passed away 24 Dec 1959 in Gilroy, after suffering a stroke, at age 79.

Frank and Gladys moved south into the Central Valley and lived in Tranquility, CA until he passed away from emphysema in 1972. I got to visit with him and his wife in 1971 when Henry and Faye brought them by house one afternoon. He was sick then, but still a pretty lively little man. He always celebrated his birthday every four years, believing he was a leap year baby, born on 29 Feb 1900. I found out later that we don’t observe leap year on the turn of a century; we didn’t in 2000, for example. I have his birthday recorded as 1 Mar 1900 for that very reason. Poor guy missed out on about 48 birthdays.

Leonard and family eventually settled in the Central Valley as well, outside of Fresno in the small town of Caruthers. He passed away there at the age of 63 in 1968. Fannie Mae and family eventually moved to San Martin, CA, along with her in-laws, around 1941. She passed away here in 1980, at the age of 72. Clarence and his family remained in the Gilroy area for many years; he died just before his 90^th birthday in 1999. I got to spend an afternoon with Henry and Clarence around 1991 and enjoyed it a lot.

Buford lived with his mother until her death, and then alone, in San Martin, until his death in 1966 at the age of 52. He was a heavy drinker, and that is what eventually killed him, dying of cirrhosis of the liver. He attempted one or two relationships, but no marriages were ever recorded. Charles Sherman Hogue II, who also took on the nickname Charlie, retired from his job as Fire Chief and moved his family out to the central valley to Atwater, CA. He lived there for a few years until brain cancer took his life in 1985, aged 68.

My grandparents, Henry and Faye, moved north to San Jose around 1962 or 1963, purchasing a mobile home there. They lived in a couple of different parks, but remained there for most of their life. Grandpa was a union mechanic for many years, until a work injury forced him into retirement around 1979. After a heart attack and bypass surgery sidelined him for a bit in the mid-eighties, Henry and Faye cruised around in their mini motor home until they felt like they got too old for the road. Grandma’s deteriorating health, mainly due to osteoporosis, resulted in their move from San Jose to the Sacramento area to be near my uncle. Faye passed away 10 Nov 2007, aged 88, in Folsom, CA. Henry also died in Folsom, on 4 Apr 2009, aged 94.

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Source Information – John Hogg

 

1790 United States Federal Census, Year: 1790; Census Place: Franklin, North Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 7; Page: 38; Image: 36; Family History Library Film: 0568147.

North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Wills and Estate Papers (Franklin County, North Carolina), 1663-1978; Author: North Carolina. Division of Archives and History (Raleigh, North Carolina); Probate Place: Franklin, North Carolina.

North Carolina, Will Abstracts, 1760-1800 (Ancestry.com Operations Inc).

Dodd, Jordan, Virginia, Marriages, 1660-1800 (Ancestry.com Operations Inc).

 

Source Information – John Hogge

 

1810 United States Federal Census, Year: 1810; Census Place: Randolph, North Carolina; Roll: 38; Page: 167; Image: 00314; Family History Library Film: 0337911.

1820 United States Federal Census, 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Battalions 2 and 4 or Lexington Side, Rowan, North Carolina; Page: 360; NARA Roll: M33_81; Image: 203.

1830 United States Federal Census, 1830; Census Place: Davidson, North Carolina; Series: M19; Roll: 120; Page: 206; Family History Library Film: 0018086.

South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Records of Estates; Author: South Carolina. Court of Ordinary (York District); Probate Place: York, South Carolina.

South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), York County, South Carolina Wills; Author: South Carolina. Court of Ordinary (York District); Probate Place: York, South Carolina.

 

Source Information – William G. Hogue

 

1830 United States Federal Census, Year: 1830; Census Place: Burke, North Carolina; Series: M19; Roll: 118; Page: 112; Family History Library Film: 0018084.

1840 United States Federal Census, Year: 1840; Census Place: Burke, North Carolina; Roll: 355; Page: 286; Image: 582; Family History Library Film: 0018092.

1850 United States Federal Census, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data – Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Year: 1850; Census Place: Murray, Georgia; Roll: M432_78; Page: 263B; Image: 535.

Selected U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880, Census Year: 1850; Census Place: Murray, Georgia, Farm.

1860 United States Federal Census, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data – 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records, Year: 1860; Census Place: District 17, Blount, Tennessee; Roll:        M653_1241; Page: 140; Image: 285; Family History Library Film: 805241.

1870 United States Federal Census, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data – 1870 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records, Year: 1870; Census Place: Stecoah, Cherokee, North Carolina; Roll: M593_1130; Page: 338A; Family History Library Film: 552629.

Cherokee County, North Carolina, Microfilm Call Number 5.108.160.48N, Frame 52, William G. Hogue Land Grant Entry, 1 Jun 1853, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.

Cherokee County, North Carolina, Deed Book “J”, Page 470, Record of Land Grant Deed #2651 to William G. Hogue, 23 Oct 1863, file available online through the state Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.

Cherokee County, North Carolina, Deed Book “K”, Pages 57 & 58, Bond of William G. Hogue to Rufus Pendley, 5 Jul 1866, came to hand 25 Jul 1866, file available online through the state Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.

Cemetery Index Map, Fontana Dam Project, Tennessee Valley Authority, Jan 1942, 432 B 503 R2

Cemetery Relocation Final Report, Fontana Dam Project, Tennessee Valley Authority, Page 12

Hogue Cemetery Map (#40), Fontana Dam Project, Tennessee Valley Authority, 19 Nov 1942, 432 A 50240

 

Source Information – William M. Hogue

 

1850 United States Federal Census, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data – Seventh             Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Year: 1850; Census Place: Murray, Georgia; Roll: M432_78; Page: 263B; Image: 535.

1870 United States Federal Census, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data – 1870 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.:   National Archives and Records, Year: 1870; Census Place: District 3, Blount, Tennessee; Roll:  M593_1515; Page: 99B; Family History Library Film: 553014.

Georgia, Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828-1978. 2013, Author: Ancestry.com; Publisher: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Publisher Location: Provo, UT, USA

U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865. National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, compiled 1890 – 1912, documenting the period 1861 – 1866; NAI: 300398; 2011, Author: Ancestry.com; Publisher: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Publisher Location: Provo, UT, USA

Declaration for Original Invalid Pension, #445466, William M Hogue, et al, 1882. Copy obtained from National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C., circa 1990; in possession of Michael L. Hogue.

Web: Oklahoma, Find A Grave Index, 1834-2018, 2012. Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data – Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 29 February 2012.Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cg

 

Source Information – Jackson M. Hogue

 

1850 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data – Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the), Year: 1850; Census Place: Murray, Georgia; Roll: M432_78; Page: 263B; Image: 535.

1860 United States Federal Census (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Year: 1860; Census Place: Georgia Militia District 1013, Murray, Georgia; Roll: M653_132; Page: 100; Family History Library Film: 803132.

1870 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data – 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Record), Year: 1870; Census Place: Militia District 631, Whitfield, Georgia; Roll: M593_183; Page: 87A; Image: 77888; Family History Library Film: 545682.

Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Militia District Number: 874.

National Archives and Records Administration, U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 (Ancestry.com Operations Inc).

U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), National Archives and Records Administration; Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, compiled 1890 – 1912, documenting the period 1861 – 1866; Catalog ID: 300398; Record Group.

Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.).

Web: Texas, Find A Grave Index, 1761-2012 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.).

Personal Recollections of JoAn Brewer Graham, 1989. As recorded by Michael L. Hogue.

 

Source Information – Charles Sherman Hogue

 

1870 United States Federal Census, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data – 1870 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records, Year: 1870; Census Place: District 3, Blount, Tennessee; Roll: M593_1515; Page: 99B; Family History Library Film: 553014.

1900 United States Federal Census, 2004. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data – United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 18; Original data – 1870 U.S. census, population schedule. Year: 1910; Census Place: Courtney, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory; Roll: 1850; Enumeration District: 0174; FHL microfilm: 1241850.

1910 United States Federal Census, 2004. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data – Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records, Year: 1910; Census Place: Burney, Love, Oklahoma; Roll: T624_1261; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0167; Image: 78; FHL microfilm: 1375274.

Personal Recollections of Bessie May Hogue Heywood, 1989. As recorded by Michael L. Hogue.

Personal Recollections of Clarence William Hogue, 1991. As recorded by Michael L. Hogue.

Personal Recollections of Henry Jackson Hogue, 1986-2009. As recorded by Michael L. Hogue.

Personal Recollections of Lonnie Williams, 1987. As recorded by Michael L. Hogue.

Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995, 2016. Author – Ancestry.com; Publisher – Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Publisher Location: Lehi, UT, USA

Web: Oklahoma, Find A Grave Index, 1834-2018, 2012. Author – Ancestry.com; Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data – Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 29 February 2012. Original data: Find A Grave.

Criminal Docket of S.B. Bradshaw, U.S. Commissioner., 1901. Original data – court records of Judge Bradshaw, filed Sep 6, 1901, U.S. District Court, Ardmore, Indian Territory. Records of National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

Deposition of Melinda J. Hogue, U.S. District Court, Ardmore, I.T., 1901. Original data – taken from divorce papers, M.J. Hogue vs. C.S. Hogue, U.S. District Court, Ardmore, Indian Territory. Original filing date, Nov 1, 1901. Records of National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

 

Other Sources used in Red River Trails

 

Susan L. Webb and Sandra L. Thomas, “Love County,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org

Handbook of Texas Online, David Minor, “MONTAGUE COUNTY,” accessed December 17, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm16.

William H. Mullins, “Okie Migrations,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org

“Indian Pioneer History S-149, Interview 8597”, Field Worker: Jennie Selfridge, September 22, 1937, Leon, Oklahoma, Contributed by Candace Gregory, September 2002.

“An Overview of the Southern Emigrant Trails”, Southern Trails Chapter, Oregon-California Trails Association, 524 South Osage St, Independence, MO 64051, Copyright 2009.

“About the Fort That Was Not Spanish”, Red River Historian, copyrighted by Robin Cole-Jett, copyright 2003-2017, redriverhistorian.com.

”Stink Bug and Cotton Rot Problem Solved”, NeuroGenetics and Other Scientific Updates Blog, from research by Gino Medrano and Alois Bell, ARS, College Station, TX, USDA/ARS.

David E. Conrad, “Tenant Farming and Sharecropping”, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org

Lake Fontana, NC Reservoir Area Cemetery GPS Mapping Project, Paul M. Kankula, Project Coordinator

“History of Stecoah Schools and Churches”, Graham County Website, www.grahamcounty.net

North Carolina Digital Collections, State Archives of North Carolina, 109 E Jones St, Raleigh, NC 27601, (919) 807-7310, http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/home/

Tyler Blethen and Curtis Wood, Jr., “From Ulster to Carolina – The Migration of the Scotch-Irish to Southwestern North Carolina”, NC Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources, Raleigh, NC, 2013.

Scott Black, “Help Save Our History-the Story of Courtney Flats”, his website, www.courtneyflats.com, copyright 2014-2018.

“Baptism For The Dead”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_for_the_dead, Wikipedia article, multiple sources, 2018.

Newspaper Sources

The Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Oklahoma), Wed, Nov 7, 1906, Page 7

The Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Oklahoma), Wed, Jan 1, 1902, Page 8

The Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Oklahoma), Tue, Sep 10, 1901, Page 8

The Muskogee Phoenix (Muskogee, Oklahoma), Sun, Sep 15, 1901, Page 3