52 Ancestors - #24 Hubbard Philander Mitchell - He Liked a Little Nip Now and Then

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 47^th 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 22^nd. 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.