Life History

Notes

• In the 1870 census, Henry's family is living in Titus County, Texas.  His birth place is reported as Mississippi.  But in 1880, 1900 and 1910, he is reported as born in Texas.  I would think the earlier census was correct.  And the Christian clan did move into East Texas from the east in about this time.
  
  1870 Federal Census, Titus County, Texas, 6 August, Mt Pleasant, page 161, Hse/Fam #1120. Peter Christian M W Farmer England
  Peter Christian 56 M W Farmer England
  Polly A Christian 36 F W Alabama
  Henry Christian M W 5 Mississippi
  
  There is some uncertainty about the birth state reported here.  It may be Alabama.  But all later reports say Texas.  Since we know they had recently moved to Texas when the 1870 census was taken, it seems likely that report is more accurate.
  
  1880 Federal Census, Cass County, Texas, 10 July, Precinct 3, page 59, Hse/Fam #559. In household of brother Daniel Zene:
  Christian, Gain P [Daniel Zene] W M 23 Farmer MS England AL
  Christian, Henry  W M 13 Brother Farming TX England AL
  
  Texas, Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1977
  H H Christian
  Gender Male
  Marriage 24 Aug 1887 Franklin County, Texas
  Spouse Ida Coleman
  
  In the 1900 census, the Henry and his wife Ida now have 3 children in the home.  Her brother Elba Coleman is also living in their household in Winfield, Texas.  This census reports he was born in Texas.
  
  1900 Federal Census, Titus County, Texas, 26 June, Winfield, District 18, page 16B, Hse #247, Fam #299
  Christian, Henry Head W M  Mar 1868 32 Married 12 yrs TX England TX Horse Trader Rents
  Christian, Ida Wife W F Dec 1869 30 Married 12 yrs 5 children/3 living TX GA MS
  Christian, Rosey M Dau W M Oct 1888 11 TX TX TX
  Christian, Neil Son W M Aug 1890 9 Single TX TX TX
  Christian, Martha Dau F M Aug 1891 8 Single TX TX TX
  Coleman, Elba Bro-in-Law M M Jan 1872 28 Single TX GA MS
  
  1910 Federal Census, Kiowa County, Oklahoma, 5 May, District 179, page 9B, Hse/Fam #118
  Christian, Henry H  Head M W 44 Married 23 years TX England -- Farmer
  Christian, Willie I  Wife F W 39 Married 23 years  Borne 5 children, 3 living  TX AL AL
  Christian, Willie N  Son M W 19 Single TX TX TX
  Christian, Henry M  Son M W 18 Single TX TX TX
  
  No birthplace is reported for Henry's mother.
  
  Son Matthew's name here is Henry M, but in 1930, he is listed as Matthew H.  On his WWI Registration card, his name is only Matthew, but he signs the card as H M Christian.
  
  This census tells us Henry and Ida (Willie I) have been married 23 years.  This would mean they married about 1887.   They married in Texas, where we see Willie and Henry were born.  We will see there was also another likely older, child who is not reported here, but we will likely find in the 1900 census.
  
  I see that the first son shown here, Willie N, was born about 1891. This matches Neil in the 1900 census.  So we can tell his full name was William Neil.  The census tells us that two of their children have died early.  There is another living child who does not show up in this census.  This is the daughter named Martha, a year younger than Neil in the 1900 census.
  
  With the spread of 3 years between marriage and the birth of son Willie, it seems likely that the two children who died were also born before Willie.
  
  We see further that son Willie was born in Arkansas.  This helps us reconstruct their trek westward.  It appears that Henry and Ida were married in Alabama, her home state.  I have not yet found their marriage registration.  I do not have information to specify more specifically when they moved into Arkansas.  But it would have been between marriage (about 1887) and the birth of Willie N (about 1891).  We have nothing at this point to tell us where they were in Arkansas.
  
  Matthew (Henry M) was born only about one year later, so we can say they moved to Texas about 1892, before the birth of Matthew in August.
  
  Members of this family were in Cass County to the south.  Some of the Christians moved to Indian Territory about 1892-93.  Cousin Joseph Asa Jenkins was there before the birth of his daughter Sallie in December 1893 in Wapanucka, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.
  
  Henry Harvey's half-brother William James (Bill or Willie), married to Joe Jenkins' sister, moved to Chickasaw Nation around the same time, or a few months earlier, as the Jenkinses.  Bill and Amanda moved from Cass County, Texas, to Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, about 1891.  Their child Iler was the last one born in Texas in about August 1890.  The next child Charles (recorded in 1900 as Henry C) was born in Chickasaw Nation in May 1892.
  
  We know from the birth of Matthew in Texas that is was after August 1892 that Henry Harvey and Willie Ida moved to Chickasaw Nation.  It probably was not long after, since other close members of their family were moving at this time.
  
  The Christian and Jenkins families moved into Indian Territory through what became Love County (north of Gainesville, Texas) and Stephens County, on northwest to Kiowa and Washita Counties.  The Christians were in Kiowa earlier, and the Jenkins clan joined them there later after an extended time in Stephens (around Marlow) and Grady county areas.  Some of these clans wound up in Chickasha, Grady County, and points north around Oklahoma City.
  
  We find that Henry moves back east.  He moves to McCurtain County, Oklahoma, across the Red River from his childhood Texas home.  It would be interesting to know what led him back to the southeast corner of Oklahoma by 1920.  In the 1920 census, Henry and Ida's daughter Rosa Mae is in the household, with her son Hathaway, who is reported as Henry's son, instead of grandson.  Rosa Mae has divorced her husband William V, who has moved to Parker County, Texas, by the time of this census, and married this German immigrant Jack Schultz (spelled Shultz here).
  
  1920 Federal Census, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, 12 June, White Township, Idabel Town, District 157, page 17A, Hill St, Hse #258, Fam #361
  Christian, Henry Head M W 50 TX England Miss
  Christian, Ida  F W 47 TX Miss Ala
  Christian, Matthew H  Son M W 25 Divorced TX TX TX  Chauffeur, Service Car
  Christian, Hathaway  Son M W 7 Single TX TX TX [born abt 1913]
  Shultz, Jack Boarder [son-in-law] M W 34 Immigrated to US 1890 Naturalized 1891 Germany Germany Germany Carpenter
  Shultz, Rosa Mae Boarder [daughter] M W 31 TX TX TX
  
  The last child's name is scrawled so badly it is hard to tell what was intended.  It is not clear if it was one or two names.  I found what the name was only in April 2011, when Anne Thompson, a descendant, contacted me and we exchanged information on the family line.  She told me the individual's name was Hathaway Alfred.  Know the name Hathaway, I could then see that this unusual name was what the enumerator intended.
  
  "Hathaway Alfred Christian is my uncle by marriage and he was born May 22, 1912 in Oklahoma and died in Houston (Harris Co.) Texas on Jan. 23, 1964. ... I have pictures of his grave in Idabel (McCurtain Co.) OK and he is by his [grand]parents Henry and Ida and also Neil is buried by them."
  --  Anne Thompson, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 11 April 2011
  
  In 1930, their daughter Rosa Mae is still living with them, along with her son Hathaway, who this time is correctly reported as Henry's grandson, instead of his son.
  
  1930 Federal Census, Kiowa County, Oklahoma, 7 April, Mt View, District 24, page 6A, Hse #120, Fam #126
  Christen [Christian], Henry H  Head Rents for $20 Owns a Radio M W  65 First married at age 21 TX England MS Farm Laborer
  Christen, Ida Wife F W  58 Married, First married at age 16 TX GA TX
  Christen, Hathaway GrandSon M W 18 OK TX TX
  Williams, Rosa Mae Dau F W 40 Married, First married at age 17 TX TX TX
  Christen, Vance GrandDaughter F W 24 Married, First married at age 17 MO MO MO
  Christen, Bobby GreatGrandson M W 2 MO TX MO
  
  Note that Rosa Mae is reported as married but there is no husband in the household.  Since the 1920 census she has divorced Jack Shultz and married someone named Williams who is not reported here.  Likewise Henry's granddaughter Vance is reported married but no husband is present.  I have not figured out who Vance's husband was.
  
  In the 1940 census, Henry and Ida's household includes their now widowed daughter Rosa Mae, now reported under her maiden name, as two unamarried sons, Hathaway and Floyd.
  
  1940 Federal Census, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, 11 April, White Township, District 45-33, page 5A, Hse #85, Rents $65
  Christian, H H Head M W 74 M Married Grade 5 b Oklahoma  Rural McCurtain Co OK in 1935 Farm Owner/Manager [b abt 1866]
  Christian, Ida  Wife F W 69 Married Grade 6 b Oklahoma  Rural McCurtain Co OK in 1935 [b abt 1871]
  Christian,  Floyd Grandson M W 32 Single Grade 8 b Oklahoma  Rural McCurtain Co OK in 1935 Saw Mill Laborer [b abt 1908]
  Christian, Hathaway Grandson M W 26 Single Grade H1 b Oklahoma  Rural McCurtain Co OK in 1935 Mechanic [b abt 1914]
  Christian, Rosa May Daughter F W 51 Widow Grade 6 b Texas  Rural McCurtain Co OK in 1935 [b abt 1889]
  
  Gravestone of Henry and Ida Christian, Denison Cemetery, Idabel, McCurtain County, Oklahoma
  A triple grave
  Christian
  Henry 1866-1944
  Ida 1869-1951
  O'Neal  1909-1950
  
  I provided details from my family research to Karen to complete the memorial she had constructed for Henry on Find a Grave.
  
  Wiley Weaver
  Birth Aug 29, 1914 Oklahoma
  Death Jun 1993 Chickasha, Grady County, Oklahoma
  Spouse Cleva Inez Weaver (1912 - 2000)
  Burial Rose Hill Cemetery, Chickasha, Grady County, Oklahoma, Plot: Block 25 lot 17
  Created by Karen Sep 11, 2011
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #18943499, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18943499/henry-harvey-christian
  -----------------------

Sources

• 1. 1910 Federal Census, Kiowa County, Oklahoma
  • 5 May, District 179, page 9B, Hse/Fam #118
• 2. 1920 Federal Census, McCurtain County, Oklahoma
  • 9 April, Idabel, District 157, page 17B, Hill St, White Town, Hse #257, Fam #360
• 3. 1870 Federal Census, Titus County, Texas
  • 6 August, Mt Pleasant, page 161, Hse/Fam #1120
• 4. 1900 Federal Census, Titus County, Texas
  • 26 June, Winfield, District 18, page 16B, Hse #247, Fam #299
• 5. Gravestone of Henry and Ida Christian, Denison Cemetery, Idabel, McCurtain County, Oklahoma
  • A triple grave
• 6. 1930 Federal Census, Kiowa County, Oklahoma
  • 7 April, Mt View, District 24, page 6A, Hse #120, Fam #126
• 7. 1940 Federal Census, McCurtain County, Oklahoma
  • 11 April, White Township, District 45-33, page 5A, Hse #85, Rents $65.
• 8. 1920 Federal Census, McCurtain County, Oklahoma
  • 12 June, White Township, Idabel Town, District 157, page 17A, Hill St, Hse #258, Fam #361
• 9. 1880 Federal Census, Cass County, Texas
  • 10 July, Precinct 3, page 59, Hse/Fam #559
• 10. Texas, Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1977
• 11. Email Sources
• 12. 1910 Federal Census, Washita County, Oklahoma
  • 28 April, Oakdale, District 263, page 8B, Hse #148, Fam #155
• 13. Oklahoma, County Marriage Records, 1890-1995
• 14. 1940 Federal Census, McCurtain County, Oklahoma
  • 11 April, White Township, District 45-33, page 5A, Hse #85, Rents $65
• 15. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
• 16. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
• 17. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 18. 1940 Federal Census, McCurtain County, Oklahoma
  • 22 April, Idabel, District 45-16, page 17A, Hse #389, Owns $2000
• 19. 1920 Federal Census, McCurtain County, Oklahoma
  • 12 June, White Township, District 157, page 17A, Hse #257, Fam #360