Frances Charley Howard 1835-1917

Hood County Texas Genealogical Society

FRANCES CHARLEY HOWARD

1835 - 1917

Contributed by Judy Campbell Holmes, Great-Great-Granddaughter

Frances Charley Howard was born June 16, 1835 in Pennsylvania. F.C. Howard married Nancy E. "Bettie" Tuggle on May 6, 1861 in Meridian in Bosque County, Texas. Bettie Tuggle was born in 1845 in Lafayette County, Missouri. She was enumerated in the 1850 Census of Dallas County, Texas. F.C. and Bettie Howard were original land owners in Bosque County.

Frances Charley Howard

June 16, 1835 - Sept. 28, 1917

Nancy E. "Bettie" Tuggle Howard

Feb. 7, 1845 - May 15, 1927

F.C. and Bettie had 15 children. However, only five children are known to have survived:

Alvin Howard was born October 22, 1872 in Texas and died September 1, 1941. He was buried in the Morgan Mill Cemetery in Erath County, Texas.

Fannie Howard who became Mrs. John W. Mosley of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas. Fannie was born June 11, 1878 and died February 15, 1946. She and her husband were buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Hood County, Texas.

Minnie Gertrude (Trudy) Howard (my great-grandmother) who became Mrs. John Sim Arthur of the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Today that location would be in Enid, Oklahoma. They were married May 15, 1898. She was born August 23, 1880 and died October 4, 1956. She and her husband were buried next to her sister Fannie and her husband in the Evergreen Cemetery in Hood County, Texas.

W.T. Howard of old Fort Griffin, north of Albany, in Shackelford County, Texas. Fort Griffin was activated from 1867 to 1881.

Eva Howard who became Mrs. F.N. Heflin of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas.

F.C. made his living as a professional hypnotist and entertainer. It is believed he performed for the guests of the many health resorts at Glen Rose, Stephenville, and Mineral Wells. He also supplemented his income as a groundskeeper at the resorts. Once F.C. stated his occupation was a machinist.

F.C. Howard served three years in the Confederate States Army verified by confederate pension applications numbers 20079 and 34849.

Details from his confederate pension applications follows:

Frances Charley Howard served in Company H 8th Texas Infantry Young's Regiment. "I was detailed to melt iron with charcoal at Arkadelphia, Arkansas."

The first application for pension was dated November 12, 1907 and was signed by Edwin Dabney, County Judge of Comanche County, Texas, and was rejected March 24, 1908, because he owned a home in Comanche valued at $500, therefore, he was not indigent. Four witnesses were interrogated and signed sworn statements that they had known him for as long as fifty years, had served with him in Company H 8th Texas Infantry, and he had never deserted. These witnesses were: W.T. Tuggle of Dallas County (brother-in-law), B. Chris Farris (Ferris) of Somervell County, J.C. Yarbrough of Morgan Mill, Erath County, and T.J. Ford of Morgan, Bosque County, Texas. Papers were requested from the War Department that showed him to be assigned to Company H 12th Texas Infantry, C.S.A., enlisted January 26, 1862, at Millican, Brazos County, Texas, for three years.

F.C. had been listed in the wrong unit and absent without leave. When W.T. Tuggle was asked if F.C. had deserted, he replied assertively, "He never done any of such as inferred about."

On the roll dated February 29, 1864 (last on file), F.C. Howard was reported absent, "Detached in gun shop at Arkadelphia, Ar." No record has been found of the capture or parole of a man of this name and organization.

F.C. Howard and others testified that they surrendered at Hempstead, Waller County, Texas, in April 1865, at the end of the war. His confederate pension was awarded on March 14, 1911 when he was 72 years old. The pension check amounted to $18.00 a quarter.

Frances Charley Howard and Nancy E. "Bettie" Tuggle Howard lived in the Natty Flat community in Palo Pinto County, just across the Hood County line near Lipan and in the Allison community in Hood County, also near Lipan. They were buried in the Allison Cemetery in Hood County, Texas.

Known related families in this line are Arthur, Blackwell, Heflin, Mosley, Howard, Privitt, Martin, Lane, Jones, Campbell, Skelton, and Bass.

Please contact Judy Campbell Holmes if you can provide any additional information.

~ Web Page by Virginia Hale ~