Hubbard Philander Mitchell was born at Licking,
Texas County, Missouri, on April 22, 1866. According to bible records his
correct name was Philander Hubbard but he always went by Hubbard. Hubbard’s
father was Judge Philander Davis Mitchell who had been born in White County,
Tennessee on June 1, 1827 and came with his parents to Licking, Missouri in
1837. His mother, Mary Loucinda Halbert, had been born in Licking on November
30, 1832. His parents were married at Licking, Missouri on March 24, 1853.
He was born, raised, and lived almost his entire
life in his father and mother’s old house except for seven or eight years in
another small house on the property. He also spent his last three years in
Missouri boarding in Licking when he couldn’t live alone any longer. He then
spent the last six months of his life with his daughter Veron in California.
Hubbard Philander Mitchell married Effie Luella
Harry (born at Hedge City, Knox County, Missouri on June 3, 1872 and moved to
Licking in 1884) on February 3, 1889 at the home of her parents in the old log
parlor (west room of the old house.) A plate lunch of cake and peaches was
served to the guests and Hubbard’s sister Lizzie Hatch played “Annie Laurie” on
the organ. After the ceremony, Effie’s grandfather, Charles Andrew Harry wept
bitterly, because he said it reminded him of his wife who had died just two
years before.
On their wedding day
Hubbard and Effie lived at the old home with his
parents (where their first child Lawrence Cook September 10, 1889 at 1 pm.)
They moved to the smaller four room house on the hill west of the family home
in about 1892 or 1893. Harry Travis was born there on March 25, 1894, followed
by Roscoe Arthur born on September 2, 1896.
circa 1897
Harry, Hubbard, Effie, Roscoe, Lawrence
Their daughter Avis Veron was born there on November
23, 1899. When Veron was three, Hubbard and Effie moved back into the big house
with his mother Mary Loucinda Halbert Mitchell. Hubbard’s father Philander
Davis had died two years before. The big house was the birthplace of the other
children: Spencer Sterling born October 27, 1904; Philander born September 17,
1907 and died November 14, 1907; Norman Isaac born July 3, 1910; and Gwendolyn
born January 12, 1916.
Their second child Harry Travis married Jessie Beard
(the daughter of John Beard and Melinda Thornton) on March 5, 1916 in Licking. They
moved to Taft, California in 1923. He and Jessie had four daughters and one
son.
Hubbard and Effie’s daughter Avis Veron was married
on January 1, 1919 in Davenport, Iowa to Otis Lawrence Ware. They had one
daughter. My grandfather Roscoe Arthur
married Ruby Burris May 19, 1919. My father Lionell Burris Mitchell was born
the following year. Roscoe worked in oil fields in Oklahoma, California, and
Texas.
Hubbard was a very successful farmer and raised
livestock and crops for a living. He was also known to make a good batch of
moonshine and apple jack cider from a still he kept hidden on the property. He
attempted to keep his stash of apple jack cider in the cellar away from Effie’s
eye because she totally disapproved of such “goings on.” One day while he was
in the cellar having “a little nip” with a friend, they were very surprised
when a pan of boiling hot water came pouring through the cracks of the cellar
door onto their heads!
On July 26, 1929 Spencer Sterling married Muriel R
Wright in Bakersfield, Kern County, California. They had one son. Spencer was
also an oil worker in California.
Hubbard experienced a very serious attack of
gallstones in 1929 and was rushed to St. Louis Baptist Hospital in St. Louis,
Missouri for surgery. He was in such a weakened condition that the doctors felt
that ether anesthetic was too dangerous. Instead of ether, ice was used to
freeze his body during the operation. He survived the operation but it left him
with a long recovery.
Hubbard was a Democrat and a Mason, and both he and
Effie were members of the Methodist Church. Their eldest child Lawrence died on
April 30, 1930 at age 40 of tuberculosis in Klamath Falls, Oregon and is buried
at Boone Creek Cemetery in Licking, Missouri. He worked on oil rigs most of his
life and never married.
1929
Barnyard at Hubbard and Effie Mitchell's
On May 23, 1932, their youngest child Gwendolyn married
Athol Winfred Wiggins in Waynesville, Missouri. They had a daughter (my cousin
Bonnie) and two sons. On March 25, 1935 Norman Isaac, their youngest son
married Geneva Joan Farmer in Visalia, California. They had a son. He latter remarried
and had a daughter. Norman worked in the California oil fields. My grandfather
Roscoe also remarried in 1935 and had a daughter.
January 1934
Hubbard and Effie Mitchell
Hubbard and Effie Mitchell
Effie Mitchell died March 11, 1936 in a Rolla,
Missouri hospital about three days after a gall bladder operation; supposedly
her heart was too weak to stand the shock. She had been suffering from severe
abdominal pain and was sent to Rolla Hospital which had a bad reputation for
poor doctors and care. She was 63 years old and she and Hubbard had celebrated
their 47th anniversary the month before. Her funeral was held in Licking, Missouri on
March 15, 1936.
(Pictures
from Gwen Mitchell Wiggins)
"A
sad day of Mama's funeral
Norman,
Gwendolyn, Veron, Papa
Lionell,
Roscoe and my daughter Bonnie 17 mos"
"The
day of Mama's funeral
Norman, Papa,
Roscoe, Lionell
C.D.
Keller (neighbor boy)
In front
-Gwendolyn, Veron"
Hubbard suffered most of his adult life from severe
asthma attacks. He was always looking for some medical remedy that would
relieve his difficulty in breathing. He relates in his diary of its severity
while in Missouri and how difficult it was to breathe when he came for a visit
to California in 1937, because of all the sage brush and pollens.
1937 Hubbard and his grandson Wm Spencer - Spencer's son
Veron and her husband had been in California earlier
in 1921. In 1931 they moved back to Licking but moved back to California in
1933 during the depression. In 1940 Veron and her husband were again living in
Davenport, Iowa but by 1943 they had moved to Oakland, California. They divorced
and Veron married Jess Holden in 1945.
Hubbard in 1944 reading a newspaper
The June 19, 1944 Obituary published in the Licking
News, Licking, Missouri said that Harry T. Mitchell drowned while trying to
save George Harlan Haws age 9 years 11 months of age. The accident was a mile
south of the Western Water Company plant. Harry Travis Mitchell worked for
Standard Oil Company as a Pumper. He was 50 years old. He is buried at the West
Side District Cemetery in Taft, Kern County, California.
Hubbard Philander Mitchell’s moved from Licking, Missouri in 1949 to Oakland,
California to spend the last six months of his life with his daughter, Veron
(Mitchell) Holden in Oakland, California. He died on March 19, 1950 of a bad
heart condition and old age complications. His cause of death was listed as congestive
heart failure. He would have been 84 years old on April 22nd. His
body was transported by train back to Licking, Missouri, so he could be buried
next to Effie. Both Effie and Hubbard Mitchell are buried in the extreme
Southwest corner of Boone Creek Cemetery about three miles due south of Licking,
Missouri. Five of Hubbard’s eight children survived him.
On April 15, 1982 Roscoe Arthur died of a stroke in
Rio Grande City, Texas. He was 85 years old. Roscoe is buried in Rio Grande
Cemetery. Norman Isaac died on November 21, 1989 in Camarillo, Ventura, California of
pancreatic cancer. He was 79 years old. Veron Avis died on July 25, 1991 of a
stroke and related complications and is buried at Oakmont Memorial Park in the
Garden of Inspiration in Lafayette, Contra Costa County, California. She was 91
years old. Spencer Sterling died on August 10, 1993 at Bakersfield, Kern
County, California of congestive heart failure and related complications. He
was 88 years old. He is buried at Green Lawn Memorial Park, Bakersfield,
California. Hubbard’s youngest child Gwendolyn died on January 30, 2004. She is
buried at Grand View Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California
next to her husband Athol. She was 88 years old.
Some Information
from: Grand Aunts Veron and Gwen and Gwen’s daughter Bonnie.
