Working on Wednesday: James Chappell Warren, Jr. (1897 - 1923), Student, Machinist, Farmer

Except for his wartime service in the U.S. Navy, as far as we know my paternal grandfather lived in Johnson County, Texas, for the whole of his short life.

In the 1900 U.S. Census the Warren family are listed as residents of a farm in Precinct No. 1, Enumeration District No. 53 of Johnson County which is described as "Excluding Cleburne town. All of precinct north of the Cleburne and Glenrose and Cleburne and Alvarado public roads."

[Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.]

The next record we have for my grandfather is in the 1910 U.S. Census where the Warren family was still in Precinct No. 1 but the enumeration district had changed to 42 and their residence was located on Waxahachie Road.* Thirteen-year-old James is listed at a laborer on his father's farm.

[Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA.]

By 1917 according to a city directory, the Warren family had moved into Cleburne and were living on West Chambers Street in a house that's still there.** Unfortunately we don't know what school James was attending.

[Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.]

[Main Street in Cleburne in the 1910s, photographer unknown.This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3b18657]

The next record for my grandfather is his 1918 World War I Draft Registration Card which gives us more information about him, including his signature and the barest of physical descriptions.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.]

On June 26, 1918, James enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was rated as "Fireman 2nd Class.*** Until his discharge on September 25, 1919,**** he served on two ships, the U.S.S. Challenger (a freighter) and the battleship U.S.S. New Hampshire.*****

[U.S.S. Challenger. Source:http://shipscribe.com/usnaux/ww1/ships/challngr.htm]

[U.S.S. New Hampshire in New York Harbor. Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_Hampshire_(BB-25) ]

By March of 1920 in the U.S. Census, James was living with his parents (and sister Mary) again back in Justice Precinct No. 1 and he was farming.

[Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).]

Two years later, on June 5, 1922, James married Miss Letta Estella Porter in Collin County, Texas. How they met is unclear as is how long they stayed together.

["Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-20816-40296-91?cc=1803985 : accessed 15 July 2015), 004820768 > image 417 of 943; county clerk offices, Texas.]

James Chappell Warren Jr. died on August 8, 1923, of general peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix, in Meadow Lawn Sanitarium****** in Cleburne. His occupation was listed as Machinist + Farmer and he was 26 years old.******* James was buried in the local cemetery.

[Ancestry.com. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982. iArchives, Orem, Utah.]

Now comes the part of this story that I find hard to understand. We know from his death certificate, for which his mother Nannie Freeman Warren supplied the information, that his parents were aware than he was married. His son, my father Tracy Stuart Warren, had been born in Dallas just 3 months and 11 days before James died. Yet the probate records for his estate make no mention of either wife or child. Eight days after his death, a temporary administrator R.A. Kilpatrick was named by the probate court as James had left no will. A list of assets (a crop in a rented field) and liabilities (a small debt to a local bank) of the estate known at the time was included in the probate minutes.

["Texas, Probate Records, 1800-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-30654-4778-69?cc=2016287&wc=M4FQ-968:337778501,339374901 : accessed 15 July 2015), Johnson > Minutes 1921-1926 vol 39-42 > image 298/299 of 887; county courthouses, Texas.]

Three months later another probate record added the information that the estate also included an insurance policy for $1,000 and his father James Chappell  ("J.C.") Warren Sr. was petitioning to be made administrator, which he duly was.

["Texas, Probate Records, 1800-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-30654-5421-35?cc=2016287&wc=M4FQ-968:337778501,339374901 : accessed 15 July 2015), Johnson > Minutes 1921-1926 vol 39-42 > image 333/334 of 887; county courthouses, Texas.]

The final accounting of the estate of James Chappell Warren Jr. filed by his father with the probate court showed that every penny of the $758.85 was spent in medical and legal bills, funeral expenses and the $58.10 commission paid to his father as administrator.

["Texas, Probate Records, 1800-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-30654-4532-5?cc=2016287&wc=M4FQ-968:337778501,339374901 : accessed 15 July 2015), Johnson > Minutes 1921-1926 vol 39-42 > image 379/380 of 887; county courthouses, Texas.]

It appears that no attempt was made to make any provision for his dead son's wife and orphan child. Why not? Did his parents disapprove of his marriage to Letta Estella? Had the couple become estranged before James died? Were the Warrens aware that they had a grandchild? Had my grandmother been informed when James was dying? These are all questions I have no answer to.

In 1936, after the death of her father in 1924 and mother in 1934, his sister Mary Ann (Warren) Nance applied to the government for a headstone for her brother's grave, which according the application was unmarked.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm publication M1916, 134 rolls. ARC ID: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92. National Archives at Washington, D.C.]

 

[Created by: Searchers of our Past Record added: Dec 31, 2010 Find A Grave Memorial# 63532557 Photo by Weldon Collins]

*Presumably this was the road that led to the town of Waxahachie northeast of Cleburne in neighboring Ellis County.
**As of Google Maps 2013.
***Which did not mean he wore a red hat and carried an ax but rather was employed in the engine room of the ship. For a discussion of ranks, insignia, and job descriptions during WWI see here and here.
****Although I believe he remained in the U.S. Naval Reserve until September 30, 1921. Which appears to be borne out by the additional information on his sister's gravestone application and his tombstone.
*****However, I haven't been able to locate his records on Fold3 so I don't know when he served on each ship. The information about the ships he served on comes from the information on the application for his headstone.
******Read more Meadowlawn Sanitarium and Dr. Cooke who signed the death certificate here.
******I think his machinist experience came through his naval training.

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