James K ROWLAND Hatler Leslie NORRIS Juanita NORRIS B Louise NORRIS Odela Mae NORRIS Wendell T NORRIS Rowland E NORRIS Margaret A ROWLANDWIFE Mini tree diagram
Lillie D ROWLAND

Lillie D ROWLAND9,3,11,19,13,18,2,10,2,15,17,4,16,14,5,6,7,8,20,12,21

20th Feb 18963,2,4,5,6,7,8 - 15th Jun 198718,2

Life History

20th Feb 1896

Born in Texas.3,2,4,5,6,7,8

between 1900 and 1910

Residence1 in Justice Precinct 6, Tarrant, Texas.3,7

about 1917

Married Hatler Leslie NORRIS in Parker County, Texas.8,8

1920

Residence2 in Justice Precinct 7, Parker, Texas.5

1921

Birth of daughter Juanita NORRIS in Texas.23

1922

Birth of daughter B Louise NORRIS in Texas.23,24

26th Aug 1922

Birth of daughter Odela Mae NORRIS in Texas.25,23

between 1924 and 1928

Residence3: Two different addresses: 2723 & 2724 Hanna St; the family joined Hatler here in 1924 Directory; Hatler is at Hanna St address from 1920, for his work in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas.11,12

21st Jul 1924

Birth of son Wendell T NORRIS in Texas.24,23,26,4

3rd May 1926

Birth of son Rowland E NORRIS in Parker County, Texas.27,23,4,24

between 1929 and 1936

Residence4: Ward 17; moved here after 1923 birth of Odela in Parker Co; Rowland was also born in Parker Co in 1926. No further documentation of Hatler's location after 1936 has been found, until his death in 1963; residence at death was Aledo, Parker County, Texas in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas.9,10,8

1936

Resident Address 4001 Graveine Rd, 1936 City Directory Norris and Lillie in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas.16

about 1937

Divorced from Hatler Leslie NORRIS in Texas.16,6,6,22

1940

Residence5: 2611 McKinley St; 1940 census in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas.6

1947

Residence6: 2711 W Loraine; 1947 City Directory in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas.13

between 1955 and 1956

Residence7: 3212 Ellis St; 1955 City Directory, occupation waiter in a tea room in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas.14,15

1st Jan 1963

Death of Hatler Leslie NORRIS in McKinney, Collin, Texas.4,28,2,29,30,31

13th Jun 1987

Died in Tarrant County, Texas.18,2

(less likely)

15th Jun 1987

Died in Arlington, Tarrant, Texas.2,2,17,4

(most likely)

after 15th Jun 1987

Buried in Mt Olivet Cemtery, Ft Worth, Tarrant, Texas.2

(less likely)

after 15th Jun 1987

Buried in New Trinity Cemetery, Haltom City, Tarrant County, Texas.1,2

(most likely)

Notes

  • 1900 Federal Census, Tarrant County, Texas, 7 June, Precinct 6, District 118, page 4B, Hse/Fam #76
    Rowland, James Head W M  July 1852 48 Married 6 yrs TX TN TN Farmer Owns
    Rowland, Margaret Wife W F Nov 1874  25 Married 6 yrs MO WV MO
    Rowland, Bessie Dau W F Nov 1894 5 Single TX TX MO
    Rowland, Lillie Dau W F Feby 1896 4 Single TX TX MO (should be age 3, will be 4 in July)
    Rowland, James B  Son W M May 1897 3 Single TX TX MO
    Rowland, Stella Dau W F Mar 1899 1 Single TX TX MO

    One family researcher notes that Lillie's full name was Laura M Rowland and Lillie was a nickname.  This would explain the discrepancy between the wife's name on Hatler's grave, with a birth date but no death date. However, the birth date on Laura's stone is 14 Sept 1918.  Census records and birth information from many records indicate that Lillie was born in 1896.  Hatler and Lillie married in about 1917 or 1918.  I have not found their marriage records yet.

    It may be that someone put the marriage date on the stone as Laura/Lillie's birth date.  Otherwise, they appear to be two separate individuals.  I have found no other information on Laura.  Most family genealogies show Laura and Lillie as two wives of Hatler, but have no details about Laura other than her birth date off the joint headstone on Hatler's grave.

    1910 Federal Census, Tarrant County, Texas, 2 May, Justice Precinct 6, District 166, Sheet 6A, Hse #87, Fam #88
    Rowland, Jim K Head M W 58 Married 16 years TX TX TN Farmer Owns
    Rowland, Margarett A  Wife F W 35 Married 16 years 7 children/7 living MO MO MO
    Rowland, Bessie Dau F W 15 Single TX TX MO
    Rowland, Lillie Dau 14 TX TX MO
    Rowland, Bryan Son 12 Single TX TX MO
    Rowland, Stella Dau 11 TX TX MO
    Rowland, Alonzo Son M W 9 TX TX MO
    Rowland, Forrest Son M W 7 TX TX MO
    Rowland, Nina Dau 2 TX TX MO

    1920 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas, 2 February, near Aledo, Justice Precinct 7, District 16, page 10B, Hse/Fam #213
    Norris, Hattler Head Rents M W 24 TX IL TX Working on Ranch
    Norris, Lillie Wife F W 23 TX TX MO

    Hatler is reported also by himself in the Ft Worth City Directory in 1920 and 1923.  Lillie and Hatler are reported together in the Ft Worth City Directory in 1924, 1928, 1929, 1931 and 1936.

    U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
    Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1924, p 872
    Norris Hatler  (Lillie) h 2723 Hanna

    U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
    Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1928, p 702
    Norris Hatler (Lillie) mech Armour and Co h 2724 Hanna

    They are at a new address on NW 27th Street in the 1929 Directory, where they will be enumerated in the 1930 census and the 1931 Directory.

    U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
    Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1929, p 679
    Hatler Norris (Lillie) mech Armour and Co h 2501 NW 27 th

    1930 Federal Census, Tarrant County, Texas, 9 April, Ft Worth Ward 17, District 70, page 28B, 2501 NW 27th St, Hse #220, Fam #240
    Norris, Hapler [Hatler] Head Rents $15 Owns Radio M W 34 First Married at age 21 TX IL TX Auto Mechanic
    Norris, Lillie Wife F W 24 First Married at age 21 TX TX MO No Occup
    Norris, Juanita Dau F W 9 TX TX TX
    Norris, Louise Dau F W 8 TX TX TX
    Norris, Adela [Odela] Mae Dau F W 7 TX TX TX
    Norris, Wendel T Son M W 5 TX TX TX
    Norris, Rowland E Son M W 3yr11mo TX TX TX

    The Texas Birth Index reports that a child matching Rowland's birth date was born to Hatler and Lillie in Parker County.  This means they moved to neighboring Ft Worth after February 1926.  They were listed in the 1931 Ft Worth City Directory.

    U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
    Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1931, p 568
    Norris Hatler (Lillie) mech Armour and Co h 2501 W [sic] 27th

    They appear together in the directory again in 1936.  There is another listing at a different address for a Lillie Norris, but this may be Lillie B Norris.

    U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
    Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1936
    Norris Hatler (Lillie) fill sta 4001 Grapevine rd h do (same add)
    Norris Lillie h 1009 Illinois av

    In the 1938 City Directory, I found a listing for one Lillie Norris, which appears to be the same Lillie E, with a similar address, which could be a typo difference in one year of the other.

    I found no entry in 1938 for Hatler Norris.  In the 1940 census, Lillie and her children were still at the previous address she and Hatler shared on 27th Street,

    A relative gives us more on their divorce and living situation.

    "Just read your research notes on Hatler Norris that I found on Ancestry. His youngest son Rowland was my uncle. Hatler and Lillie were divorced when Rowland was young, so that is why she is listed alone in the directories and as a "widow" in the census. Hatler later remarried Laura and they have a double headstone; however, Laura moved to California after Hatler died. She died in 2006 in Tulare County, California, and is buried in the Smith Mountain Cemetery there."
    -- B McEntire, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, Mar 13, 2015

    Their divorce probably occurred between the 1936 directory entry and the 1940 census.

    In 1940, Lillie is enumerated as the head of the household.  She is reported as married, but no husband is present.  I have found no reference to Hatler in the 1920 census.  We found a Ft Worth Directory with Hatler at their later-shared address on Hanna St, he must have had that, as we surmised, for his employment in Ft Worth, but the family stayed on the farm near Aledo, moving later after the birth of Rowland.

    1940 Federal Census, Tarrant County, Texas, 13 April, Ft Worth Ward 12, District 257-86, page 13B, 2611 McKinley, Hse #254, Rents $8
    Norris, Lillie Head F W 34 [same as as in 1930] Married (then marked out, no other designation; no husband in the home) Grade H-1 b Texas same place in 1935 No Occup
    Norris, B Louise Dau F W 18 Single Grade H-4 b Texas same place in 1935
    Norris, Windell T Son M W 15 Single Grade H-8 [sic] b Texas same place in 1935
    Norris, Rowland E Son M W 13 Single Grade H-7 [sic] b Texas same place in 1935

    The Ft Worth City Directory for 1947 lists Lillie under her own name and reports her as the Widow of Hatler, though they were only divorced.  No mention of Hatler occurred in other listings of Lillie after the 1931 city directory.  The 1947 Directory entry reports no occupation for Lillie.

    U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
    Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1947, p 815
    Norris Lillie (wid Hatler ) h 2711 W Loraine

    In the 1955 directory there is again one Lillie Norris.  She is a waiter [sic] at Cox & Co Tea Room, and her residence is 3212 Ellis St.  This is likely our Lillie.

    U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
    Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1955, p 695
    Norris Lillie waiter Cox & Co Tea Rm h 3212 Ellis St

    She is still at that address the next year.

    U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
    Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1956, p 726
    Norris Lillie Mrs h 3212 Ellis av

    There are two burials that match Lillie Rowland Norris.  Each has a memorial on Find a Grave.

    Lillie D Norris
    Birth Feb. 20, 1896 Texas
    Death Jun. 15, 1987 Arlington, Tarrant County, Texas
    Spouse Hatler Leslie Norris (1895 - 1963)
    Burial New Trinity Cemetery, Haltom City, Tarrant County, Texas
    Created by Charlotte Hardamon Coble May 20, 2012
    --  Find A Grave Memorial #90467099, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90467099

    No photo appears with the Haltom City memorial.  A cemetery headstone collection describes the stone and provides a photo.  This collection locates it in Peoples Cemetery.  Tea for Two cemetery photos lists Peoples Cemetery as a cemetery in Haltom City, and the photo set includes the same gravestone for Lillie D Norris.
    --  Tea for Two, http://teafor2.com/Peoples.htm

    Selected U.S. Headstone Photos
    Lillie D Norris
    Birth Date: 1897
    Death Date: 1987
    Cemetery Name: Peoples
    Cemetery Location: Haltom City, Tarrant, Texas
    Headstone Type: Single Name

    Find a Grave gives these two names for the same cemetery and adds a third, with the primary being Peoples.

    New Trinity Cemetery
    Also known as Fretwell Cemetery, Peoples Burial Cemetery
    Haltom City, Tarrant County, Texas 76117
    --  Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=203633

    When accessed in 2015, this memorial know longer had a link to Hatler Norris as Lillie's husband.

    Tarrant County TXGenWeb genealogy site has a statement on the cemetery naming situation.  But one aspect of it is confusing.  The description sounds like it is two different cemeteries side by side, or two sections of one cemetery.  The maps do not have any name in that area except Peoples

    "People's Burial Park, Fort Worth, Texas, 772 feet east of North Beach Street on NE 28th Street.  (Black) Next to New Trinity Cemetery. This cemetery has been in use from 1931 to the present. See also New Trinity Cemetery and Fretwell Cemetery, aka Old Settler's Cemetery."
    --  Tarrant County TXGenWeb, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txtarran/cemetery/info-peoples.htm

    It appears the above memorial has applied the name of the older cemetery, New Trinity, to the new section.  I am puzzled, however, by the term in parenthesis (Black).  Would this mean that the New Trinity was only for Black people?  (I know cemeteries used to be foolishly segregated).  This does not sound right, if Lillie is buried in Peoples.  The next source below indicates the TXGenWeb statement is incomplete and misleading, and resolves the difference in providing a short summary history.

    The original burial ground was for blacks and was established by the Trinity Chapel Methodist Church with money originally raised for a cemetery for former slaves.  Another section called New Trinity was later established.  Then in 1931 People's Burial Park was established as a new adjacent burial area.

    "When the Rev. Greene Fretwell, a former slave, died in 1886, there was no black cemetery in this part of Tarrant County. With donations collected by his widow, Frances, the trustees of Trinity Chapel Methodist Church bought two acres in 1889 for a church and burial ground. Worship services were held under a brush arbor until a frame church was built here. By the 1920s, burials began on adjacent land, known as New Trinity Cemetery. Additional property was designated in 1931 as People's Burial Park. Today the three sites are commonly called New Trinity Cemetery."
    --  "New Trinity Cemetery," Stopping Points, http://www.stoppingpoints.com/texas/sights.cgi?marker=New+Trinity+Cemetery&cnty=tarrant

    Most listings I have found refer to the joint cemeteries as People's Cemetery.  It appears the official name is Peoples Burial Park.

    But Lillie's burial information becomes even more complicated.

    There is a second grave with the same information on it for Lillie, which also contains her maiden name in the listing.  Note that the gravestone in Haltom City has only years for the birth and death, and has 1897 for the birth year, rather than 1896.  Other than that the description appears to be the same individuals and is linked to Hatler in various sources.  Find a Grave links the Haltom City grave memorial to Hatler's memorial in Anneta, Parker County, Texas.

    I have not been able to discover the story of these two burial plots that appear to be for the same person, or found information to certify that the Haltom City entry is for a different person.  Several other members of this same Norris lineage are buried in the Mt Olivet Cemetery in Ft Worth.  The date of death on the Mt Olivet grave is 15 June 1987, matching the reported date of death in Social Security records.  The date of death on the grave in Mt Olivet is 13 June 1987.

    Lillie Rowland Norris
    Birth Feb. 20, 1896
    Death Jun. 13, 1987
    Burial Mount Olivet Cemetery, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
    Created by Dianne Dec 29, 2012
    --  Find A Grave Memorial #102794071, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Norris&GSiman=1&GScid=5406&GRid=102794071&

    A death record in the name of Lillie Norris reports death in Tarrant County on 13 June 1987.

    Texas Death Index, 1903-2000
    Lillie Norris
    Death 13 Jun 1987 Tarrant County
    Gender: Female

    The date of birth in Social Security records has the same birth date as the grave in Mt Olivet Cemetery.  The date of death is two days later than the date given on the Mt Olivet burial memorial.  But the date of death in the Haltom City memorial matches Social Security.  The date of 15 June 1987 may be the date of burial, if 13 June 1987 is the death date.

    Social Security Death Index
    Lillie Norris
    Born 20 Feb 1896
    Died 15 Jun 1987
    Last Residence Arlington, Tarrant, Texas 76017
    SSN 457-28-8176 issued Texas (Before 1951)

Sources

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