Nettie - Part II

We “left off” on Nettie’s story in Salado, Arkansas in 1895 where her second child named Booth Jones was born. Soon after, in 1896, she married a Mr. Charles Trammell. On the 1900 census Nettie’s birth year is listed as 1874 and her age, 26. She lived in Newark, Independence County, Arkansas (in the Ozark Mtns.) with Charles, 41 who had three children from a previous wife. Those children are Cordelia, age 10, Olie, age 8, and Clio, age 6. Booth is with her and is listed as age 4. The census was taken in June and he wouldn’t have turned five until September. In addition to Charles Trammell’s three children and Nettie’s son, Booth, two more sons had been born to Nettie and Charles making a total of six children under the age of 10. Perry Trammell, born in 1897, was 3 at the time and Derry born in December 1898 was 1. The 1900 and 1910 censuses have a section that asks how many children a person has given birth to and how many children are living. In 1900, the census showed Nettie having given birth to four children with four living. One could guess she was including Jessie.

The 1900 census is the first record I found with Nettie’s birthplace listed as Georgia. That same census shows her father as having been born in Tennessee and her mother, Georgia. Remember, the 1880 census of Nettie at age seven showed her born in Arkansas, her mother born in Indian Territory and her father in Texas. There are just so many possibilities for these discrepancies. One could be that Nettie didn’t actually know but liked the sound of being from Georgia. Maybe she really was from Georgia, but the clues for that don’t add up. I‘m sure the guesses may be as many as the persons who read this.

The next time we find Nettie is the 1910 census living in District 4 of Cedarville Township, Crawford County, Arkansas. Cedarville is about 20 miles north of, guess where, Ft. Smith, Arkansas. There’s no Charles Trammell, no three step children and sadly, no Derry Trammell. My guess is that Derry died as a young child. However, Booth Jones, now age 14 and Perry Trammell age 12 are shown living with Nettie, that she had given birth to two children and that two were living. It seems to me the number should have been four born and three living. Now, however, Nettie is listed as being married to Harry S. Gooding, farmer. They must have married in 1910 because the census shows them as having been married 0 years at the time. Harry’s age is listed as 31. The 1880 census taken on June 22nd spelled Harry’s name “Hairy” and listed his age as 3 months old. That supports his having been born on April 3, 1880 which is what he wrote on his 1917 World War I Draft Registration card. Both of the preceding facts would make him age 30 instead of 31. Nettie’s age is listed as 35. If she was born in Oct. 1873 and the census was taken in April 1910, I think she was 36 pushing 37. Both boys are shown to have been in school that year. Harry, Nettie, Booth and Perry are all listed as being born in Arkansas as well as the fathers and mothers of all four. In the 1900 census, Charles Trammell, Perry’s father, was shown as having been born in Georgia, as was Nettie. It is difficult to know why there is so much variance in the reports of the birthplaces. Maybe the census taker just put down anything to get the job done, or maybe whoever was home at the time the census taker came around just guessed, or maybe the person reporting didn’t like the world knowing his or her business. Again, these are just guesses.

In 1917 World War I brought another source of record keeping that gives us clues—the Draft Registration. We’ve already noted that card for Jessie Blackford earlier in this blog, but now we find Perry Trammell’s Draft Registration Card. Jeanette’s tracking advice for “where ever you find Perry, you find Nettie” pays off once again. Perry Trammell registered for the draft in Little Rock, Arkansas on August 24, 1918. His date of birth (June 7, 1897) and place of birth (“near Batesville, Arkansas” which is where Newell, Arkansas is) match the Perry Trammell found living with Nettie in the 1900 census. His physical description is medium height, slim build, gray eyes and brown hair. Under the employment section he had written “unemployed”. The name of the registrar on Perry’s draft card is C.E. Smith, Jr. Nettie had a brother in Ft. Smith on the 1880 census named Charles Smith. Perhaps Nettie and Perry were in contact with her brother or maybe it was just a coincidence. What makes finding Perry’s card particularly interesting is that it shows him living with Nettie W. Gross (as best I can make out the writing). Harry Goodings’ World War I draft card registered about two weeks later on September 12, 1918, is signed by a registrar named A.T. Gross in Crawford County, the same place he had been shown living on the 1910 census. Additionally, on Harry’s 1917 draft card, the name of his wife is listed as Oda Gooding which might shed new light on why, in 1910, the census said Harry and Nettie had been married zero years. As always, there could be many other explanations.

In finding Homer Booth Jones’ Draft Registration Card, it appears that Booth Jones no longer lived with Nettie. He is shown as 22 years old, married, and employed as a day laborer in Zellner, Desha County, Arkansas. (Desha County is in the southeastern section of Arkansas with the White River as its northern boundary and the Mississippi River on its eastern boundary.) His physical description is tall, medium build, blue eyes and dark brown hair. His birthdate is listed as September 26, 1894.

By 1920 Nettie had found her way Ardmore, Oklahoma. Here a strange twist of fate takes place. It turns out that Nettie’s first born son, Jessie Blackford, had been living in Ardmore since some time between late 1912 and 1914. From what my Aunt Opal told me, Nettie lived in Ardmore for a while before she and/or Jessie realized they were both there. Wouldn’t you just love to know what events took place that allowed them to know they were both living in the same town! I expect (but don’t know for sure) that they hadn’t seen each other since Jessie was a little boy taken by his father to live with him. Jessie was doing well in Ardmore. He had three houses there, one he lived in and two others that he rented. Aunt Opal told me that he “didn’t approve” of Nettie and that when she “showed up”, he quickly sold his three houses and moved back to Texas in order not to be around her. I haven’t been able to find Grandpa Jessie Blackford in any 1920 censuses. I expect he was in transit between Texas and Oklahoma.

Nettie, however, is found in the Ward 2, District 4, Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma on the 1920 census. She and Harry Gooding were together and living with (You guessed it!) Perry Trammell, age 21 (I think his age was really 23). Perry had a wife, Alice, age 20. His occupation was mechanic and he was working as a machinist. Nettie’s occupation was nurse and Harry was a salesman for a tobacco company. On this census, Nettie’s age is shown as 40 but I think she was really 43. Harry’s age is shown as 42. So, instead of Nettie being four years older than Harry, as she was in the 1910 census, she’s now two years younger than he. Nice if you can pull it off! It’s always fun to see where the census says all these folks were born. This time, Perry shows as being born in Arkansas, his father in Georgia, and his mother, Nettie in Georgia. Nettie’s birthplace is listed as Georgia (unlike the “Arkansas” of 1910), her father’s is Tennessee and her mother’s is Georgia. So, it’s kind of like musical chairs—everyone changes birthplaces almost every time the census person comes around.

The last census on which I have found Nettie listed is from 1930, and speaking of musical chairs, in that census, she’s no longer with Harry Gooding. Her home at the time was “Part of Beat 3”, Washington County, Mississippi with her husband named Lewis Prairie. Washington County is bordered on the West by the Mississippi River. It’s about midway between the top and bottom of the state. Do you remember Zellner, Desha County, Arkansas where Booth Jones registered for the WWI draft in 1917? Washington County is just across the Mississippi from there and about twenty miles south. So, it’s no surprise to learn that Booth Jones, his wife Julia and their four children live in the same household with Lewis Prairie listed as the head. Their four children were Charles, age 7, Albert, age 4, Booth Jr., age 3, and Emma L., age 5 months. Booth’s occupation was “mechanic”.

Facts from the census regarding Lewis Prairie and Nettie are the following. Lewis was an “Indian” (Native American) born in Texas as were both his parents. His age is shown as 60 and Nettie’s 55(I think she was 57). It also indicates that they had been married for three years, so since 1927. Lewis Prairie’s occupation is listed as “herb doctor” and Nettie’s as “none”. That census asks if the head of the household owns or rents his home and what the value is of the home. Lewis owned the home and the value was $800. Our cousin, Jeanette, told me that there was an Indian school in Washington County, Miss. Perhaps Lewis was associated with it.

Lots of people came and went in Nettie’s life, but I think it’s safe to say that she, Booth and Perry were never far apart for very long. According to the U.S. Federal Census, guess who else lived in Greenville, Washington County, Mississippi in 1930? You got it, Perry L. Trammell! His age was listed as 29(born in 1897, really he was 32, almost 33 because the census was taken in April before his June birthday). His wife in the 1920 census was Alice who would have been 30 in 1930. The wife living with him in 1930 is Lottie, age 22. They have two children, Dollie, age 2 years, three months and Perry L., age eleven months. Perry was renting a house for $10 per month and a boarder named Bob Pfenning lived with them. Perry’s occupation was house painter.

In this last census that lists Nettie, to the best of my knowledge, we get one more version of birthplaces. This time, not only is she listed as having been born in Georgia, but now both her parents are as well. Sigh.

This is where my trail of Nettie ends for now. I don’t know the date of Nettie’s death, where she died or her cause of death. I’ve never even seen a picture of her. If any of you who read this have or find other information, let me know and I’ll print an addendum. I began this recounting of Nettie’s story saying it is difficult to do because of the many twists, turns, questions and mysteries. We may be inclined to form opinions about her life, but I hope that our conclusions will take into account that we can only guess how the times and people in her life impacted her. I’ll say good bye to writing about Nettie at this time, but I know there’ll be a good chance I’ll wake up thinking about her for many mornings to come. My own mother had an expression. She’d say, “You’re not dead until no one remembers you.”