LoGenWriMo #2: Dock Hans Hester (1851-1922)

George W. Hester (1857-1937), left, and Dock Hans Hester (1851-1922), right.
Photo from collection of the late Sue Berryhill Brown of Amory, Mississippi.

Dock Hans Hester was born, according to family sources, 4 March 1851 in Monroe or Itawamba County, Mississippi to John H. and Nancy (Cockrell) Hester.[1] Family tradition through one of his brother’s lines states he was named Dock Hans Duggar Hester in honor of the doctor who delivered him.[2] The Hesters resided in the lost corner of Monroe County, Mississippi, resulting in census enumerators’ failure to count them in both 1860 and 1870. To enter the area by road, one most go into Itawamba County, and then re-enter Monroe County. When enumerators on what is now State Highway 371 and State Highway 25 reached the county line, they considered their work done. They probably did not know about the area, and the Hesters probably liked residing in such a secluded area because of their reputation for consuming alcoholic beverages.

Dock married Mary Ann Harris, the daughter of Walton A. and Margaret (Mosely) Harris, 20 November 1877 in Lee County, Mississippi.[3] They lived in Boyds Precinct, Monroe County, Mississippi in 1880 where Dock farmed.[4] Their home remained in Boyds Precinct, located in Beat 5, east of the Aberdeen and Richmond Public Road in 1900.[5] He lived along the Cotton Gin and Fulton Road in Boyds Precinct in 1910.[6] They lived along the Nettleton and Amory Road in Boyds Precinct, County Beat 5, in 1920.[7] Because of interstitial nephritis with an enlarged prostate gland and retention of urine, he died 21 August 1922 in Monroe County.[8]

Dock and Mary Ann were parents of:

1. Georgia Ann Hester (1878-1914)
2. Mattie Lou Hester (1880-1946)
3. Charles Anderson “Buddy” Hester (1883-1964)
4. Boyd H. Hester (1886-1887)
5. Freddie W. Hester (1888-1899)
6. Hattie Pearl Hester (1892-1930)
7. Ellie Beldon Hester (1894-1909)
8. Gillie Mae Hester (1897-1993; twin)
9. Lillie Faye Hester (1897-1897; twin, aged 9 months at death)
10. “Little Baby” Hester (unknown dates)

Note: Dock Hans Hester is my great-grandfather. This is the second LoGenWriMo entry.

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[1] Gillie Mae Hester Lantz (Amory Manor Nursing Home, Amory, Mississippi), conversation with Lori Thornton, about 1990; notes made from the conversation no longer extant. The tombstone at Hester Cemetery provides support for the year. Hester Cemetery (Monroe County, Mississippi; Clay Hill Road off Highway 371), D. H. Hester marker, photograph by Lori Thornton, about 1990. Gillie’s husband Irving was the informant on the death certificate, providing an alternative year of 1853. Although a specific date was not recorded, his age was recorded as 69 years, 4 months, and 8 days, making the alternative date 13 April 1853. This date provided by an in-law who provided “don’t know” to several questions seems unlikely. The 1880 census suggests a date between June 2, 1853 and June 1, 1854. The 1900 census states March 1857. The 1910 census suggests a date between April 16, 1855 and April 15, 1856. The 1920 census suggests he was born between January 2, 1856 and January 1, 1857. He likely was born in March, but the lack of early censuses for Dock makes it almost impossible to nail down an exact year of birth. A March 1855 date is unlikely since his brother Pink was born in December 1855. The March 1856 date is impossible because of Pink’s birth date. His brother George W. “Bud” was born in July 1857, making the March 1857 date impossible. It, therefore, seems most likely he was born in either 1851 or 1853. I selected 1851 based on his daughter’s recollection and the tombstone.

[2] I first encountered this when comparing notes with Sue Berryhill Brown, a descendant of Dock’s brother Mitch in the late 1990s. The 1900 census calls him “Dock D.” which may lend some support to the addition of “Duggar” to his name. Alexander Duggar and James Duggar lived in Itawamba County and are the only adult Duggars in the Itawamba-Monroe County area where the family lived. Alexander was employed as a farmer and James as a shoemaker. Broadening my census search failed to return additional prospects. This family tradition cannot be verified at this time.

[3] Lee County, Mississippi, Marriage Book 3: 516, D. H. Hester and Miss M. A. Harris, 1877; Circuit Clerk’s Office, Tupelo; photocopy in my possession.

[4] 1880 U.S. Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Boyds Precinct, Supervisors District (SD) 1, enumeration district (ED) 139, page 294 (stamped), dwelling/family 115, Dock Hester family; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2018); citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 658.

[5] 1900 U.S. Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Boyds Precinct, Supervisors District (SD) 1, enumeration district (ED) 81, page 268B (stamped), dwelling/family 14, Dock D. Hester family; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2018); citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 821.

[6] 1910 U.S. Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Boyds Precinct, Supervisors District (SD) 1, enumeration district (ED) 124, page 72 (stamped), dwelling/family 1, Dock H. Hester family; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2018); citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 752.

[7] 1920 U.S. Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Boyds Precinct, Supervisors District (SD) 5, enumeration district (ED) 78, page 257B (stamped), dwelling73, family 81, Dock H. Hester family; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2018); citing National Archives microfilm publication T625, roll 887.

[8] Mississippi State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate no. 13341, Dock Hans Hester (1922); microfilm, Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Jackson.

A Vietnam Casualty

As I read the online newspaper, I discovered distant cousins tried to rename the road on which my maternal grandparents lived for most of their married life (and my grandmother's parents before that). Descendants of Carlos Leroy "Bo" Tartt, a person about the age of one of my brothers who was a casualty in the Vietnam War, wanted the road named in honor of him and for the family who resided on the road.¹ Carlos was the son of Clarence L. Tartt and his wife Marvelle Jean Lyle Tartt.² They lived on Blackcat Bottom Road, just below what was B and B Cleaners back in the days I was growing up.

I was curious as to whether or not I could tie Carlos in with my grandmother's "Aunt Dollie" who married James M. Tartt on 25 August 1881 in Monroe County, Mississippi³ and then his brother Enos on 12 December 1893 in Monroe County⁴ or not. I decided to explore.

Clarence appears in the 1940 Monroe County, Mississippi census as the ten-year-old son of Edgar and Sadie Tart.⁵ Edgar appears on the 1900⁶ and 1910⁷ censuses as the son of John Chesley Tart, Jr. and his wife M. Alice. In the 1870 census, John C.  Tartt, Jr. along with brothers Enos and James appears as the son of John Chesley Tartt and his wife Elizabeth "Liza" Conwill.⁸ This means that Carlos was not directly related to me through Dollie. Dollie's children, however, would be related to this Vietnam "hero."

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1 Emily Tubb, "City Rescinds Name Changing of Blackcat Bottom Road," Monroe Journal (Amory, Mississippi), 14 July 2016 (http://djournal.com/monroe/2016/07/14/city-rescinds-name-changing-blackcat-bottom-road/ : accessed 16 July 2016).^↩
2 Clarence L. Tartt, obituary, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, Mississippi), 25 Feb 2009 (http://djournal.com/news/obituaries-feb-25-2009/ : accessed 14 July 2016).^↩
3 Monroe County Mississippi Marriages (1821-1921) (s.l.: s.n, n.d.), Vol. 2, p. 261; Evans Memorial Library, Aberdeen, Monroe County, Mississippi; also Monroe County, Mississippi, Marriage Book ___, J. M. Tartt and Della A. Hester, 25 August 1881. A photocopy of the marriage record is in my possession, but it is not cited properly so I am unable to provide the book and page number. Something to add to the "to do" list.^↩
4 Monroe County, Mississippi, Marriage Book __, E. A. Tart and Dolly Tart, 12 Dec 1893. A photocopy of the record is in my possession but is not properly cited with book and page number.^↩
5 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Beat 5, SD 1, ED 48-31, p. 438B (stamped), sheet 12B (written), visit 217, lines 50-55, Edgar Tart family; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9MR-JG29 : accessed 14 July 2016); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T627, roll 2050.^↩
6 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Boyds Precinct, SD 1, ED 124, p. 72A (stamped), dwelling 5, family 5, lines 21-26, John C. Tart family; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RKM-9Q33 : accessed 14 July 2016); citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 752.^↩
7 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Beat 5, East of Aberdeen & Richmond Road, SD 1, ED 81, p. 270B (stamped), sheet 3B (written), dwelling 58, family 58, lines 87-95, J. C. Tart Junior family; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-XCHQ-FHQ : accessed 14 July 2016); citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 822.^↩
8 1870 U.S. Federal Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Township 12, Smithville post office, p. 218B (stamped), sheet 64 (written), dwelling 414, family 467, lines 6-15, John C. Tartt household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DC67-1VK : accessed 14 July 2016); citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 741. ^↩

SNGF: Ancestors I Met

Randy has challenged us to name the ancestors we had an opportunity to meet in tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

Since I don't want to name living ancestors, I will omit my parents, but that is 2.

The only others I met were my 4 grandparents. That's what I get for being born so long after my brothers!

Paternal Grandparents:

James Thomas "Tom" Thornton (1893-1977). He lived in Monroe County, Mississippi his entire life.

Nona Josiah "Jodie" Fowlkes (1894-1974). She lived in Monroe County, Mississippi her entire life as well. Interesting story of how she got her middle name. Her father died the night before she was born so she was named for him.

Maternal Grandparents:

Irving Lee Lantz (1885-1971). He was born in McLean County, Illinois and moved to Monroe County, Mississippi in late 1896. He actually did not have a "real name" but the family just called him "Mose" or "Moses." Before he moved to Mississippi, he named himself after a traveling salesman who came by his father's dry goods store in Carlock.

Gillie Mae Hester (1893-1993). She lived in Monroe County, Mississippi her entire life. She was a twin, but her twin Lillie Faye died at nine months of age. "Nanny" as all of us grandkids called her had been kicked in the eye by a horse as a child, and there was noticeable damage around her eye area from that childhood injury. She lived a long life, but she didn't quite make it long enough for Willard Scott to recognize her.

So - I met a total of 6 of my ancestors. That's fewer than Randy. My older brothers only met one of their great grandparents, but both were probably too young to remember the encounter as they would have been aged 2 years 5 months and aged 5 months respectively.

I'm glad Randy's genealogy fun was quick and easy tonight because I've got to finish the laundry and get started packing. My presentations for FGS are all finalized. I hope to meet some of you. I'll be the one running around most of the time.

Great Great Grandma Nancy

She didn't exactly "Smile for the Camera," but here is my Great Great Grandmother Nancy Jane Cockrell Hester donning her "granny hat." She is my maternal grandmother's father's mother.

Vandalism Discovered

We were in the general area of the Hester Cemetery in Monroe County, Mississippi where my great grandparents and great-great grandparents are buried today so we decided to stop and see if the new fence had been erected. There's an old fence there, but family members had collected money to have a new one installed. It was obvious as we drove up that the old fence was still there, but I told Mom and Dad that I was going to walk in anyway. I wasn't quite prepared for what I discovered. All of the pottery markers were broken, and most were not even there now. Two of the sturdier monuments had been toppled off their base. Some of the older granite markers were broken that had been intact the last time I visited. When we got back to my parents' house, we called the cemetery's caretaker and asked whether or not he was aware of what we had seen. He was not. I hope that he called the sheriff's department to report the vandalism. When I get back home tomorrow, I plan to dig out my sketch of the cemetery and the photos or the CD of photos that I had taken so that we can do some comparisons. I will send the photos to the sheriff's department, if needed. I hope that the vandals are caught, but I have no idea how long they had been this way. I was pretty upset when I made the discovery. Mom came on out and walked around with me.

Bride & Dog

I'm told that this is a photo of my grandmother, Gillie Mae Hester, on her wedding day, 5 Aug 1917. She married my grandfather Irving Lee Lantz on that date. This photo has always made me wonder if her dog served as her wedding attendant. I used the scratch removal tool to get rid of a crease in this photo. (Actually, there is another arm to the side of the dog, so that was probably her real attendant, her mom, a cousin, or a guest.)

It's amazing to me that my grandmother even met my grandfather. He was quite a bit older than she was. They lived in different parts of the county. My mom tells me that he was delivering mail during that time and that is how they met. It's still difficult to fathom that he, a resident of Aberdeen, was delivering mail to an Amory route which would have been about 20 miles between the two homes. (It's about 16 miles between the two towns.) I guess they drove further to work in those days than one would think.

The marriage lasted for 54 years until my grandfather's death in 1971 at the age of 85. "Nanny" died in 1993 at the age of 96.