About Henry and Ella Hulburd

Ella Knowles-Hulburd

 Like many of my ancestors on my mother's side of the family, most of what I know about my great grandparents comes from the limited information found among my mother's possessions after her death and from her recorded oral history tapes.  Mother knew her grandfather Henry as "Ole Hoss" and her grandmother Ella as "Nan" or "Nanny"

Ella Knowles-Hulburd was born in Weedsport, NY in 1868 and apparently moved to Moberly, Missouri as a child in the mid 1870's with her parents.

Henry Hulburd was born on September 7, 1863 in Hutsonville, Crawford Co., IL.   Little is known about his childhood however census records suggest that Henry was raised by his mother Rebecca and her Lukens family and that his father, Milton Hulburd, was likely not around for unknown reasons.   After living for some time as a child in Hutsonville, IL, the Lukens family and Henry moved for a time to the the town of Princeton in the Evansville area of Indiana (not all that far from Hutsonville) where the 1880 census finds them.  Cryptic notes left by my mother, Betty Hulburd-Hine-Alderson, apparently taken while talking in the late 1960's to Henry's much younger brother Ernie Hulburd, read "Henry - Vincennes, Ind, Vincennes College" suggesting that perhaps Henry obtained at least some college education.  Vincennes is only about 20 miles from Princeton, IN.

 Henry then came to Moberly, Missouri in the 1880's, probably with his mother, Rebecca Jane Lukens-Hulburd, and other members of her Lukens family including his grandmother Rachel Lukens and his twin uncles David Way Lukens and Jacob Ray Lukens.  (See the biographies of Milton and Rebecca Hulburd.)

In Moberly Henry met and married Ella and the couple had their only surviving child, C. Earl Hulburd, there in 1888.  I have found several references among mother's artifacts indicating that Henry and Ella also had two daughters, both of whom died in infancy.

H. E. Hulburd - Date Unknown

According to his son's birth certificate, in 1888 Henry was a machinist, likely for a railroad since Moberly was a railroad town in the late 1800's.   In 1889 Henry became a clerk for the Railway Mail Service where he worked in several branches over the course of his career.

Sometime after son C. Earl Hulburd was born in Moberly in 1888 the family moved to Ferguson, Missouri, a close-in suburb of St. Louis.   My mother's handwritten notes indicate that the Henry and Ella may have moved due to their son's ill health and the city's access to better medical care.  Perhaps they moved shortly after their son's birth and Henry took the position with the Railway Mail Service at the time of the move.

 The 1905 Moberly obituary of Ella's father, Fernando Knowles, indicates that Fernando had been living for the previous year in Ferguson,  MO with his daughter and son-in-law at the time he passed away.    The 1916 Moberly obituary of Henry's mother, Rebecca Jane Lukens-Hulburd, indicates that she had been living in Ferguson at the time of her death.  While the obituary doesn't specifically say so, it's likely that she had been living with Henry and Ella at the time of her death as both the 1900 and 1910 St. Louis (Ferguson) census records for Henry E. Hulburd show Rebecca living with her son's family.  Rebecca had thus likely been living with Henry and Ella for at least 16 years before her death.

It's not known exactly when Henry's mother Rebecca moved in with him, Ella and son Earl, just that Rebecca was there by 1900.  In 1900 Rebecca's youngest son Ernest Hulburd would have been age 17 and it is assumed that he probably moved in with his much older brother (Henry) and nephew of about the same age (Earl) at this time.  I remember my mother mentioning that her father C. Earl Hulburd (b. 1888) and her great uncle Ernest Hulburd (b. 1882) were more like brothers due to their close ages then one being the uncle of the other.

In 1923 Henry was promoted to Assistant Chief Clerk for the Railway Mail Service.  He retired in January of 1927.  Mother used to mention that her grandfather was in charge of publishing railroad schedules.   Mother referred to her grandfather Henry as "Ole Hoss" (apparently sometimes spelled "Haus") and her grandmother Ella as "Nan" or "Nanny".   The nickname "Harry" is mentioned in Henry's obituary but I've run into it nowhere else.  And he was called Hennie by is significantly younger brother (possibly adopted) Ernest "Ernie" Hulburd.

Ella Knowles-Hulburd

Sometime after Henry's retirement he and Ella moved back to Moberly.    There is some information to suggest that they moved back to this mid Missouri town in the mid 1930's.  On the other hand a surviving letter written to them by their son C. Earl Hulburd in July of 1939 is addressed to a St. Louis address (3400 Abner Place) suggesting that they could have returned to Moberly after this date (unless they were only visiting friends in St. Louis at the time of the letter).    At the time of this letter their son had completed about 6 months of a nearly 5 year stay in the Missouri State Penitentiary (for embezzlement) in Jefferson City which is only about 60 miles from Moberly.  Other letters written by C. Earl Hulburd from prison indicated that Henry and Ella visited him regularly during his stay there which suggests that perhaps one incentive for moving back to Moberly (if in fact they moved after July of 1939) may have been to be closer to their incarcerated son.  In any case, Henry and Ella were definitely living in Moberly by about 1940.  Other of Earl's letters written from prison indicate that Henry's Railway Mail Service pension was barely enough to provide for his and Ella's needs so possibly another reason they moved back to Moberly had to do with the the fact that the cost of living in this rural community was likely lower than it was in St. Louis.

"Ole Hoss"	"Nanny"

Earl's letters also indicate that Ella was ill on and off during her final years though the specific illness is not specified.   Henry and Ella would often visit Earl in Jefferson City together but there were times when Ella stayed home due to her illness.

Ella passed away on March 19, 1943 at age 74 and Henry on October 24, 1945 at age 82.   Both died in Moberly and are buried there in the Oakland Cemetery in the Hulburd-Knowles plot.  Also buried in this plot are Ella's parents, Fernando ("Ferd") and Emma Knowles.  Henry's mother, Rebecca Jane Lukens-Hulburd, and grandmother, Rachel Adair Lukens are also buried in Moberly's Oakland Cemetery in the  Lukens family plot which is located only a few hundred feet  from the Hulburd-Knowles plot.

Henry's Military Service (?)

According to notes in my mothers handwriting apparently taken while on the phone with Henry's much younger brother Ernest Albert Hulburd (Ernie) in 1971, both Henry and Ernie volunteered for military service during the Spanish American War (1898).

Apparently the Hulburd brothers both joined the army at the same time and Rebecca Jane Lukens-Hulburd (their mother) had to sign off on Ernie's enlistment cause he was to young to do so (he would have been 16 in 1898 and younger if they enlisted prior to the Spanish American war).  Ernie was evidently seriously wounded but there is no reference as to whether Henry was.  Part of mother's notes read:

"Came home mother [Rebecca Jane] said - 'Didn't know I had raised 2 bow legged boys'. San Juan Hill. Ernie = Fort Sill [Oklahoma] where fighting Indians. 10th Calvary - Spanish Amer. War. - (My note- I thought it was 7th Cal.)"

This suggests (but doesn't quit say outright) that Ernie and perhaps Henry fought in the Charge of San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.  Apparently Ernie also fought Indians in Okalahoma and served in the Philippines.

Mother's notes make it pretty clear that both Henry and brother Ernie volunteered and served however I find the fact that Henry served not entirely plausible.   While I don't want to argue with what Ernie told mother nor what she wrote down based on the conversation, I note that Henry would have been 35 years old at the time of the Spanish American War (1898), he would have been married and raising his 10 year old son at the time, and he would have had to take a leave from his career path with the Railway Mail Service where he started working in 1889.   It is certainly possibly that he temporarily left his family and career to serve his country at an advanced age but it seems to me somewhat far fetched.  No other information has survived which suggests that Henry served in the military.

Documents have survived regarding Henry's employment with the Railway Mail Service including
a promotion notification, retirement notification, pension information and an obituary (click below to view).  Also found among his effects are documents regarding his membership in fraternal organizations (Masons).

Finally, two handwritten letters sent by Henry in 1945 to my mother (his grand-daughter) have survived (click below).  The second letter was written and mailed on October 23, 1945, the day before he passed away.   His exact cause of death is not known but the fact that he indicates in his last letter that he felt "fair" suggests that his death was sudden and unexpected, perhaps due to a heart attack or stroke.

Oakland Cemetery Plot Documents and Photos

In June of 1902 Harry Knowles, the brother of Ella Knowles-Hulburd,  purchased what I now call the Hulburd-Knowles plot in the Oakland Cemetery, Moberly, Missouri for $17.00.  This purchase was made shortly after the death of his mother, Emma Knowles, in March, 1902.  She was buried there as was her husband, Fernando ("Ferd") Knowles in 1905.

In 1939 Harry Knowles and his wife Nellie, then living in St. Louis, sold this cemetery plot for $1.00 to Henry E. Hulburd and his wife Ella Knowles-Hulburd who were by then retired and again living in Moberly at 731 Franklin Ave.  Within 6 years both Henry and Ella would be buried there.

Obituaries

The following obituary copies were obtained from the Randolph County Historical Society, Moberly, Missouri in February of 2003.

Copyright 2004, Edward K. Hine, Jr.