FHWC: Out of Comanche County

Maggie, Kit and Zula

Mom once asked Grandma how long it took to travel by covered wagon. My mom was working on a historical romance novel, and Grandma was a great source of information for how things were in the "old days". Grandma said they could cover about 25 miles a day.

As previously mentioned, boll weevils drove many of the cotton farmers out of Comanche County in search of more conducive land. The next time Grandma's family pops up on the US census is in Hunt County, about 200 miles Northeast. But something terrible happened along the way.

Tragedy in Mansfield

Rebecca, Zula, and baby (probably J.D.)

On October 7, 1917, Grandma's one-year-old baby brother, J.D., had to see a doctor in Mansfield, Tarrant County, Texas, just outside of Fort Worth. But to no avail.

A week later, on the 15th, J.D. died of "bowel trouble with brain complications". He was buried the following day in Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Mansfield (that cemetery is now located in Cedar Hill, Dallas County).

Granny Rebecca was the informant for the death certificate. Well, actually, there are two death certificates for J.D., 29418 and 29415. 29418 does not have burial information, whereas 29415 does. And I found them quite by accident because the name is spelled Norwell instead of Nowell on both documents.

From these two death certificates we learn that J.D. was 1 year, 1 month, and 16 days old, born on 30 Aug 1916 in Comanche County, Texas, that he was breast-fed, and he first saw the doctor that signed his death certificates (I can't make out his name) 8 days before his death. It is also stated that his father, George Nowell (okay, Norwell on the document) was born in Delta County, Texas, and his mother, Rebecca Joplin, was born in Nashville, Tennessee.

These two death certificates are the only evidence I have that J.D. Nowell ever even existed. I don't remember Grandma ever mentioning him, and he isn't recorded in the family bible.

Eastward bound: Hunt County, Texas
The primary cash crop of Hunt County at the time was cotton, and this may well be what drew George and Rebecca Nowell to take a chance there, despite the fact that the rest of George's family headed to Murchison in Henderson County.

George's widowed mother, Mattie, lived with her youngest daughter, Bettie, and Bettie's husband, John S. Davis. George's brother John R., and oldest son John Benjamin, had also moved their families to Henderson County by 1920.

Though cotton production was at its peak in Hunt County, the majority of farmers weren't really turning a profit. This was mainly due to the fact that many of them rented the farms they worked on.

George, Della, Kit, Grandma, and Maggie Lorraine all worked for wages as farm laborers. In addition, 16-year-old Grandma, 14-year-old Maggie, and 8-year-old Dora were also attending school.

But it wasn't long before the Nowell family packed up their belongings and hit the road again. This time they would travel 250 miles west, where adventure and more tragedy awaited.

Sources

• "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JD6S-R8H : accessed 04 Feb 2013), J. D. Norwell, 15 Oct 1917; citing reference cn 29418, State Registrar Office, Austin, Texas.


• "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JD6S-RZ1 : accessed 03 Feb 2013), J. D. Norwell, 15 Oct 1917; citing reference cn 29415, State Registrar Office, Austin, Texas.


• TSHA - Hunt County http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hch22


• "United States Census, 1920," images, HeritageQuest Online (http://0-www.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/dvimage/genealogy/stage/dvimage?filename=/heritage/vault/hqc29/T625/1820/2/116A.tif&invert=0&scale=2&mimeType=application/pdf), G E Nowell, 6-PCT (part), Hunt, Texas, United States; citing ED 140, Dwelling 206, Family number 210, Series T625, Roll 1820, Page 166.


• "United States Census, 1920," images, HeritageQuest Online (http://0-www.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/dvimage/genealogy/stage/dvimage?filename=/heritage/vault/hqc28/T625/1818/1/156A.tif&invert=0&scale=2&mimeType=application/pdf), John Nowell, Murchison, Henderson, Texas, United States; citing ED 21, Sheet 7A, Dwelling 121, Family number 122, Series T625, Roll 1818, Page 156.


• "United States Census, 1920," images, HeritageQuest Online (http://0-www.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/dvimage/genealogy/stage/dvimage?filename=/heritage/vault/hqc28/T625/1818/1/187C.tif&invert=0&scale=2&mimeType=application/pdf), John B. Nowell, Murchison, Henderson, Texas, United States; citing ED 21, Sheet 17A, Dwelling 334, Family number 345, Series T625, Roll 1818, Page 187.


• "United States Census, 1920," images, HeritageQuest Online (http://0-www.heritagequestonline.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org/dvimage/genealogy/stage/dvimage?filename=/heritage/vault/hqc28/T625/1818/1/187B.tif&invert=0&scale=2&mimeType=application/pdf), John S. Davis, Murchison, Henderson, Texas, United States; citing ED 22, Sheet 16B, Dwelling 324, Family number 335, Series T625, Roll 1818, Page 187.