52 Ancestors: Martha Ellen (McCombs) Hoard: A Life Across Three States (1870-1946)

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211 N Pettit Ave, Hominy, OK as it appears today

For this week's #52Ancestros challenge, I'm taking a different approach. Instead of "At the Library," I'm sharing the story of my ancestor Martha Ellen (McCombs) Hoard, whose life journey took her through Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma during a transformative period in American history.

Early Years in Post-Civil War Arkansas (1870-1890)

Martha Ellen McCombs was born on July 1, 1870, in Bentonville, Benton County, Arkansas. Her parents were John A. McCombs (1846-1921) and Lutitia Nichols (1850-1926). As the eldest of eight children, Martha grew up in Dickson, Benton County, Arkansas, where the 1880 census shows her living with her family at age 9.

Martha's childhood unfolded in a rural farming community still recovering from the Civil War. During her formative years, Benton County was experiencing significant agricultural changes. In the 1870s and 1880s, the county led Arkansas in tobacco production, harvesting nearly 400,000 pounds by 1880. Farmers were also beginning to diversify, adding fruit orchards that would later become the region's economic backbone.

The arrival of the Frisco Railroad in the 1880s connected Bentonville to nearby towns like Rogers, opening new markets for local farmers. This period was marked by one-room schools and small church congregations that served as the center of community life. Martha would have witnessed these transformations as she grew up in this evolving frontier agricultural society.

Marriage and Family Life in the Prairie West (1890-1910)

On October 9, 1890, twenty-year-old Martha married Thomas Miller Hoard in Benton County, Arkansas. Shortly after their marriage, the young couple joined the westward migration that characterized this era.

By the 1890s, Martha and Thomas had moved to Cowley County in southern Kansas, settling in an area that had only been opened to settlement in 1867. The county's economy centered on farming, ranching, and later, emerging oil industries. Early Kansas settlers faced significant hardships, including devastating droughts and grasshopper plagues—a massive Rocky Mountain locust swarm in 1874 had "blocked out the sun" and devoured fields across Kansas.

By 1900, the census shows Martha (29) and Thomas (32) living in Harvey, Cowley County, Kansas with their growing family. At this point, they had three sons: George Franklin (b. 1891), Charles Oscar (b. 1893), and Bertie Leroy "Roy" (b. 1895). Their daughter Pearl Marie was born in Cambridge, Kansas on February 21, 1900.

Life in Cowley County had begun to stabilize by 1900, with improved irrigation and railroad access helping farmers recover from earlier hardships. Many farms combined crops and livestock, with corn, hay, oats, and sorghum as leading crops. The economic output was substantial—by 1910, Cowley County reported over $4 million in farm product value.

Return to a Changing Arkansas (1910-1920s)

For reasons we can only speculate about, the Hoard family eventually returned to Arkansas. The 1910 and 1920 censuses place them back in Dickson, Benton County, with Thomas working as a farmer. Three more children joined the family during these years: Ernest Edward Oliver (b. 1902), Mary Celeste (b. 1904), and Lillie Lutitia (b. 1910).

Martha's return to Benton County coincided with dramatic agricultural booms and busts. By 1919, the county was producing over five million bushels of apples, reflecting the earlier shift from tobacco to fruit orchards. However, this prosperity was short-lived—pests like the San Jose scale and cedar rust, combined with bad weather in 1920, devastated the apple industry.

This period also saw profound national events touching local communities. World War I mobilization took local young men to battle, and the 1918-19 influenza pandemic swept through Arkansas, killing approximately 7,000 people statewide and likely reaching even small rural towns like Bentonville. Martha, now in middle age with seven children, would have experienced these challenges firsthand.

Final Chapter in Oklahoma's Oil Country (1920s-1946)

Sometime in the 1920s, Martha and Thomas relocated to Oklahoma. The 1930 census finds them at 211 N. Pettit Street in Hominy, Osage County, Oklahoma. By this time, Martha was 59 years old and listed as "Ellen" on the census, a name she appears to have used in her later years.

Hominy had begun as a small Osage trading post in the 1880s before growing rapidly after oil was discovered in 1916. By the 1920s, when the Hoards arrived, the town's economy was driven by petroleum, cotton, corn, and ranching. The population had exploded from about 760 in 1910 to 2,875 in 1920 as oil workers and cattle ranchers flocked to the area.

This period in Osage County was also marked by tragedy—the nearby Osage Nation had become wealthy from oil leases, leading to the notorious "Reign of Terror" in the 1920s, when numerous Osage people were murdered for their oil rights.

Thomas passed away on December 8, 1936, in Hominy at the age of 69, leaving Martha a widow. The 1940 census shows 68-year-old Ellen Hoard as head of her household in Hominy.

Martha's later years in Hominy saw gradual modernization—electricity and running water arrived by the 1930s, and New Deal programs reached the area. The WPA built the Hominy National Guard Armory in 1937, and the Civilian Conservation Corps created Osage Hills State Park in 1935.

Martha Ellen McCombs Hoard died on August 15, 1946 (though her obituary lists August 13) in Tulsa, Oklahoma at age 76. She was buried at A.J. Powell Memorial Cemetery in Hominy, Osage County, Oklahoma.

A Life Spanning American Transformation

Martha's life spanned a remarkable period of American history. Born just five years after the Civil War ended, she lived through Reconstruction, the agricultural booms and busts of the late 19th century, the dawn of electricity, automobiles, flight, two World Wars, and the beginning of the modern era.

Her journey from Arkansas to Kansas and finally to Oklahoma reflects the mobility of many American families during this period as they sought new opportunities. Through her seven children and their descendants, Martha Ellen McCombs Hoard's legacy continues.

As I piece together her story through census records, marriage documents, and historical context, I'm struck by how ordinary Americans like Martha experienced extraordinary times of change—adapting to new technologies, weathering economic upheavals, and building communities across the changing American landscape.

Do you have any ancestors who moved across state lines during this pivotal era in American history? What prompted their migrations? I'd love to hear your stories in the comments below!

Census Records

  1. 1880 U.S. Census, Dickson, Benton County, Arkansas, population schedule, p. 448a, dwelling [?], family [?], John McCombs household; NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 38; Enumeration District 014. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/36968553 (accessed 3 May 2025).
  2. 1900 U.S. Census, Harvey, Cowley County, Kansas, population schedule, p. 3, dwelling [?], family [?], Thomas Hoard household; NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 476; Enumeration District 0052. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/36968554 (accessed 3 May 2025).
  3. 1910 U.S. Census, Dickson, Benton County, Arkansas, population schedule, p. 2b, dwelling [?], family [?], Thomas M. Hoard household; NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 44; Enumeration District 0018; FHL microfilm: 1374057. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/36968556 (accessed 3 May 2025).
  4. 1920 U.S. Census, Dickson, Benton County, Arkansas, population schedule, p. 3B, dwelling [?], family [?], Thomas M. Hoard household; NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 54; Enumeration District 18. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/36968557 (accessed 3 May 2025).
  5. 1930 U.S. Census, Hominy, Osage County, Oklahoma, population schedule, p. 4A, dwelling 211, family [?], Thomas Hoard household; NARA microfilm publication T626, [roll number not provided]; Enumeration District 0023; FHL microfilm: 2341657. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/36968558 (accessed 3 May 2025).
  6. 1940 U.S. Census, Hominy, Osage County, Oklahoma, population schedule, p. 4A, dwelling [?], family [?], Ellen Hoard household; NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 03320; Enumeration District 57-24. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/36968555 (accessed 3 May 2025).

Vital Records

  1. Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957, Martha E. McCombs and Thomas M. Hoard, 9 October 1890, Benton County; FamilySearch; Salt Lake City, Utah; FHL Film Number: 1034661. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2548/images/2138209 (accessed 3 May 2025).
  2. Arkansas, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1914-1924, Martha Ellen McCombs, born about 1870, Dixon, Arkansas; Arkansas Department of Health, Vital Records Section; Little Rock, AR, USA. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/36968551 (accessed 3 May 2025).

Cemetery and Obituary Records

  1. Find A Grave, database and images, memorial page for Martha Ellen McCombs Hoard (1 Jul 1870–15 Aug 1946), Find A Grave Memorial ID 80249032, citing A.J. Powell Memorial Cemetery, Hominy, Osage County, Oklahoma, USA. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80249032 (accessed 3 May 2025).
  2. "Ellen Hoard," obituary, The Hominy News (Hominy, Oklahoma), 16 August 1946. Ancestry.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/902639705/?article=1a7277ae-ffa2-47f0-ab10-afb13110e72e (accessed 3 May 2025).

Other Records

  1. Springfield, Missouri, U.S., St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Employee Cards, 1940-1980, Bertie Roy Hoard, 22 December 1936, Latham, Kansas; Springfield-Greene County Library; Springfield, Missouri; Frisco Railroad Employee Cards. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/36968552 (accessed 3 May 2025).

Bibliography for Historical Research

Arkansas History

Kansas History

Oklahoma History

General Historical Context

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