Nurture plays a very important role in our lives. In 2019, we hear a lot about DNA and what we receive from our ancestors in the way of "Nature". But, sometimes, it's not what you receive, but what you are taught to do with what you receive by your surroundings - family, education system, friends, etc. That is what "Nurture" is all about - what we are taught, experience and believe!
In a previous post, https://regnirpsstories.blogspot.com/2018/08/amos-b-clarks-widow-nancy-in-1890.html, I introduced a 3rd great aunt, Lena Clark. In the original post, I mentioned that in the 1880 census, Lena is mentioned as being "disabled" and that from a 1893 letter we learn that "Lena is attending the Institute for the Blind, at Austin, Texas, where she is receiving medical treatment and educational instruction." (For more information about this institution, check here, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kct25.) And for a long time, this is all I knew about Lena.
I believe it was not long after I made that post that I started digging a little deeper into the life of Lena Clark. Knowing that Lena had moved to Texas with the family was news to me. I had assumed, since she was not listed in the 1900 census with her parents, that she had possibly died. But, seeing the letter from 1893 where Lena is mentioned living in Texas, I decided I needed to know more.
I found an August 2, 1896 Marriage Record for Lena Clark and S. S. Sensabaugh, in Ellis County, where her parents lived!
So, this really got me curious! Next I found Lena and Samuel Sensabaugh, in the Ellis County 1900 census.
In the same county, but different district, I found Sam's brother James L. Sensabaugh, married to Dora Bryant and they have a daughter, Elsie, age 1. So, it appears that Sam and James left Hawkins County, Tennessee between the 1880 census and the mid 1890's, and travelled to Ellis County, Texas, possibly together. In looking around the area, I see that their father's brother, Joseph, had a grandson living here already. - Oscar Fitzgerald Sensabaugh. Maybe they came because Oscar was already here. James and Dora and family moved back to Tennessee between 1902 and 1905.
Continuing on this path, I found Sam S. and Lena in the 1910 census, but this time in Otter Creek Township, Kiowa County, Oklahoma! I have yet to learn what took them Oklahoma!
In this census, Sam S. is 46, married 13 years, Lena is 41, married 13 years, has given birth to 3 children and all are still living. The children listed are Ruth, age 12 and twins, Roy and Floy, age 9. All the children were born in Texas, so they did not move to Oklahoma until after 1901. They are renting a farm and Sam is a farmer. The 1910 census asked a question that the 1900 census did not ask. There is a column for "Whether Blind (both eyes)" and in that column on the row where Lena's name is listed is "B.B." So, this gives me more confidence that this truly is the Lena Clark I am looking for.
Samuel, Lena and their 3 children are still in the same township in the 1920 census.
The children are the expected ages and living at home, but this time, Ruth is listed as a teacher! And, on the farm next to them is the Pitts family, with the oldest son listed as Lee - who incidentally becomes Floy's husband before the next census!
In this 1930 census, S.S. is 66 and states that he got married at age 34, Lena is 61 and states she got married at age 27, Ruth is 30 and Roy is 29. Ruth is a Public School teacher and Roy helps on the farm. They continue to rent their farm. Next door is F. C. Pitts and his daughter Ovie. F. C. is Floy's father-in-law. Lee and Floy Pitts are nearby with their son, Billy Wayne age 4 months.
I have been unable to find Samuel and Lena in the 1940 census, but assume they are in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, since that is where Lena died on June 14, 1947, according to the Oklahoma Death Index.
And Samuel died in 1955.
According to a newspaper article I found in the Hobart Daily Republican, June 26, 1916 edition, a Mrs. Ida Digray, the Agent of Home Demonstration Work, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Hobart, Oklahoma, wrote, "I took dinner with Ruth and Floy Sensabaugh of District 58. Floy is 14 years old and does most of the cooking. She had a nice chicken dinner and was not expecting company either." I had never heard of the Home Demonstration Work, and so had to do a little research. It turns out that their mission "was to disseminate educational information on agriculture and home economics to individuals who did not attend college." They taught things like cooking, sewing, remaking garments, gardening, canning, use of pressure cooker and many other things. Here is a very interesting article about the organization, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entryname=HOME%20DEMONSTRATION%20CLUBS.
Another article I found shared the results of a local election where S S Sensabaugh was nominated to the position of County Judge in a Primary Election. This article was in the Hobart Daily Republican August 8, 1916 newspaper. In another article from the same paper on May 17, 1919, Ruth Sensabaugh was listed in the Hobart High School Graduates.
This post is supposed to be about "Nurture" and I have taken a very circuitous route to get to this point. I hope I haven't lost you, yet! I chose Lena Clark Sensabaugh as my subject because of the "Natural" circumstances of her life and how that didn't seem to stop her in any way!
Lena's father, Amos, died when she was just 12 years old. And we know that, at least by age 11 she was blind. Her mother and siblings moved to Texas to be with her older siblings' families and Lena was sent to the state school for the blind. Her upbringing and the education she received at that school seem to have helped her overcome the challenges of the loss of a parent, blindness, and major relocation from her home, because she not only found a mate for life, had three children - including twins, moving again a long distance from her siblings, with her husband raised those children - one becoming a teacher and the other two becoming successful parents, and living to significant ages. And, she outlived all of her siblings!
And, as I look back over all I have learned about Lena and her family, I wonder if there was one more obstacle she might have overcome. Are Amos and Nancy Clark her parents, or did her biological parents place her for adoption or die when Lena was very young? My reason for asking is that according to the 1880 census, she was born in February 1869, but Lena is NOT LISTED with Amos and Nancy Clark in the 1870 census! I guess that's a question for another day! Maybe a DNA question.
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
In a previous post, https://regnirpsstories.blogspot.com/2018/08/amos-b-clarks-widow-nancy-in-1890.html, I introduced a 3rd great aunt, Lena Clark. In the original post, I mentioned that in the 1880 census, Lena is mentioned as being "disabled" and that from a 1893 letter we learn that "Lena is attending the Institute for the Blind, at Austin, Texas, where she is receiving medical treatment and educational instruction." (For more information about this institution, check here, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kct25.) And for a long time, this is all I knew about Lena.
I believe it was not long after I made that post that I started digging a little deeper into the life of Lena Clark. Knowing that Lena had moved to Texas with the family was news to me. I had assumed, since she was not listed in the 1900 census with her parents, that she had possibly died. But, seeing the letter from 1893 where Lena is mentioned living in Texas, I decided I needed to know more.
I found an August 2, 1896 Marriage Record for Lena Clark and S. S. Sensabaugh, in Ellis County, where her parents lived!
 |
| Marriages, 1850-1911; index, 1850-1921Authors: Ellis County, Texas. County Clerk (Main Author)Ellis County (Texas). Clerk of the County Court (Added Author)Texas. County Court (Ellis County) (Repository)Format: Manuscript/Manuscript on Film; Language: English; Publication: Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1979-1989. Physical: on 13 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.References: (Digital Collection) Texas, County marriage records, 1837-1977 / Texas. County Clerk |
So, this really got me curious! Next I found Lena and Samuel Sensabaugh, in the Ellis County 1900 census.
 |
| Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Justice Precinct 7, Ellis, Texas; Page: 10; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 1241630. Description: Enumeration District: 0032; Description: Justices Precincts 7; Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.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, 1854 rolls. |
This census stated that Lena and Samuel have been married for 3 years, and have a daughter, Ruth, who was born in August of 1897 in Texas. It states that Samuel is 36 years old, born September 1863 and he and his parents were born in Tennessee, and that Lena is 31 years old, born February 1869 in Illinois and her parents both born in Ohio. They are renting a farm and he is a farmer. I am really curious about how and where Samuel and Lena met.
In the same county, but different district, I found Sam's brother James L. Sensabaugh, married to Dora Bryant and they have a daughter, Elsie, age 1. So, it appears that Sam and James left Hawkins County, Tennessee between the 1880 census and the mid 1890's, and travelled to Ellis County, Texas, possibly together. In looking around the area, I see that their father's brother, Joseph, had a grandson living here already. - Oscar Fitzgerald Sensabaugh. Maybe they came because Oscar was already here. James and Dora and family moved back to Tennessee between 1902 and 1905.
Continuing on this path, I found Sam S. and Lena in the 1910 census, but this time in Otter Creek Township, Kiowa County, Oklahoma! I have yet to learn what took them Oklahoma!
 |
| Year: 1910; Census Place: Otter Creek, Kiowa, Oklahoma; Roll: T624_1257; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0181; FHL microfilm: 1375270 |
In this census, Sam S. is 46, married 13 years, Lena is 41, married 13 years, has given birth to 3 children and all are still living. The children listed are Ruth, age 12 and twins, Roy and Floy, age 9. All the children were born in Texas, so they did not move to Oklahoma until after 1901. They are renting a farm and Sam is a farmer. The 1910 census asked a question that the 1900 census did not ask. There is a column for "Whether Blind (both eyes)" and in that column on the row where Lena's name is listed is "B.B." So, this gives me more confidence that this truly is the Lena Clark I am looking for.
Samuel, Lena and their 3 children are still in the same township in the 1920 census.
 |
| Year: 1920; Census Place: Otter Creek, Kiowa, Oklahoma; Roll: T625_1467; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 144 |
The children are the expected ages and living at home, but this time, Ruth is listed as a teacher! And, on the farm next to them is the Pitts family, with the oldest son listed as Lee - who incidentally becomes Floy's husband before the next census!
 |
| Year: 1930; Census Place: Otter Creek, Kiowa, Oklahoma; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0027; FHL microfilm: 2341644 |
In this 1930 census, S.S. is 66 and states that he got married at age 34, Lena is 61 and states she got married at age 27, Ruth is 30 and Roy is 29. Ruth is a Public School teacher and Roy helps on the farm. They continue to rent their farm. Next door is F. C. Pitts and his daughter Ovie. F. C. is Floy's father-in-law. Lee and Floy Pitts are nearby with their son, Billy Wayne age 4 months.
 |
| Year: 1930; Census Place: Otter Creek, Kiowa, Oklahoma; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0027; FHL microfilm: 2341644 |
I have been unable to find Samuel and Lena in the 1940 census, but assume they are in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, since that is where Lena died on June 14, 1947, according to the Oklahoma Death Index.
 |
| https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23442122/era-lena-sensabaugh |
And Samuel died in 1955.
 |
| https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23442153/samuel-s_-sensabaugh |
According to a newspaper article I found in the Hobart Daily Republican, June 26, 1916 edition, a Mrs. Ida Digray, the Agent of Home Demonstration Work, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Hobart, Oklahoma, wrote, "I took dinner with Ruth and Floy Sensabaugh of District 58. Floy is 14 years old and does most of the cooking. She had a nice chicken dinner and was not expecting company either." I had never heard of the Home Demonstration Work, and so had to do a little research. It turns out that their mission "was to disseminate educational information on agriculture and home economics to individuals who did not attend college." They taught things like cooking, sewing, remaking garments, gardening, canning, use of pressure cooker and many other things. Here is a very interesting article about the organization, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entryname=HOME%20DEMONSTRATION%20CLUBS.
Another article I found shared the results of a local election where S S Sensabaugh was nominated to the position of County Judge in a Primary Election. This article was in the Hobart Daily Republican August 8, 1916 newspaper. In another article from the same paper on May 17, 1919, Ruth Sensabaugh was listed in the Hobart High School Graduates.
This post is supposed to be about "Nurture" and I have taken a very circuitous route to get to this point. I hope I haven't lost you, yet! I chose Lena Clark Sensabaugh as my subject because of the "Natural" circumstances of her life and how that didn't seem to stop her in any way!
Lena's father, Amos, died when she was just 12 years old. And we know that, at least by age 11 she was blind. Her mother and siblings moved to Texas to be with her older siblings' families and Lena was sent to the state school for the blind. Her upbringing and the education she received at that school seem to have helped her overcome the challenges of the loss of a parent, blindness, and major relocation from her home, because she not only found a mate for life, had three children - including twins, moving again a long distance from her siblings, with her husband raised those children - one becoming a teacher and the other two becoming successful parents, and living to significant ages. And, she outlived all of her siblings!
And, as I look back over all I have learned about Lena and her family, I wonder if there was one more obstacle she might have overcome. Are Amos and Nancy Clark her parents, or did her biological parents place her for adoption or die when Lena was very young? My reason for asking is that according to the 1880 census, she was born in February 1869, but Lena is NOT LISTED with Amos and Nancy Clark in the 1870 census! I guess that's a question for another day! Maybe a DNA question.
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
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