I have talked over the years about how I wanted to meet one ancestor, in particular, more than the others. I've written about him before. I would still love to have a talk with him. He died just 7 days after I was born. We just missed each other. Anyway, I wrote about him here, The Eyes of Old Tom, and he came up many times in the blog over the many years I have written.
I think I need to write about another one I would like to meet. This one is very easy since I always have questions I'd like to have answered from each ancestor.
I've always felt a special connection with Elizabeth Ellen (Bohall) Hovis. Not that I know that much about her. Her husband I know a lot about. She was never mentioned in the many articles that were written about him. He traveled and would be gone for weeks, she was home with the kids. In the census, he was listed as a farmer, but was he? I know he was a traveling preacher, and quite a star in a small area of the state. Well, someone was home raising the kids and keeping the farm going. I know it wasn't Henry. He was there when the census taker came around, but now for much else. I could be just letting my imagination run away with me, but there is these articles in the local paper.
In the May 20, 1897 issue of the Jackson County Banner there is a small entry: "Elizabeth Hovis vs Henry Hovis, divorce denied, each party to pay their own costs." This is interesting. But in the same paper 2 months later, dated July 22, 1897, there was this. "Mrs. Henry Hovis died Saturday night. Funeral services were held Sunday at the Bagwell Graveyard."
I have so many questions. Times were so different for women then, how did she make it? How did she feel about his constant traveling? How did the farm continue with him gone? How did she feel about being alone?
Elizabeth was born June 17, 1844 to George David Bohall and Catherine E. Draper. She was the mother of 4 children, Seth, Mary, Margaret and Martha. She died July 17, 1897 in Jackson County, Indiana.
#52Ancestors
