Photos courtesy of E. M. Huitt, Jr. & Mary M. Springer
 

COUNTY HAS FIRST HUNTING FATALITY OF YEAR
E. M. HUITT KILLED LATE SATURDAY DURING HUNTING TRIP

Matagorda County had its first hunting accident of 1946 fatality late Saturday when Earl M. Huitt was accidentally shot and killed by his own weapon while on a hunting trip south of Collegeport off the Oyster Lake Road.
 

Mr. Huitt, 53, a well-known county rice farmer, was found dead early Sunday morning after his family became alarmed at his failure to return from his hunting trip. According to Justice of the Peace G. R. Halliday of Palacios, Mr. Huitt's death was "due to accidental gunshot wound." He was shot once in the chest with a .12 gauge shot gun.

The Justice of the Peace said Huitt's gun had apparently been accidentally discharged as Mr. Huitt crawled under a wire fence during the hunting trip. A search party was formed and the rice farmer's body was found by his brother-in-law, William Slone of Bay City.

Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Hilma Huitt; four sons, Frederick, Earl, William and Ernest; five sisters, Mrs. Ida Runkle of Amarillo, Mrs. Ethel Robinson of Topeka, Kans., Mrs. Maud Stitzle and Mrs. Florence Wells both of Brazil, Ind., and Mrs. Grace Campbell of Palacios; three brothers, Ernest Huitt of Isabel, Kan., Frank Huitt of Wichita, Kan.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Taylor Bros. Funeral Home here. Rev. H. C. Goodman assisted by Rev. L. W. Crouch of Palacios will officiate. Burial will be in Cedarvale Cemetery.

Masonic final services will be conducted at Cedarvale Cemetery by the Bay City lodge No. 865 as a courtesy to the Matagorda lodge of which Mr. Huitt was a member.

Matagorda County Tribune, October 31, 1946

Photo courtesy of Betty Crosby

Hilma Louise Slone Huitt

Hilma Louise Slone Huitt, 86, of Bay City, passed away May 24, 1996 at Matagorda General Hospital. She was born June 5, 1909 to Jesse Renfro and Martha Beatrice Smith Slone in White Hall Community, Jackson County, Texas. She graduated from Bay City High School in 1927 and went on to receive her teaching certificate from Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1928. She taught at the Wadsworth Ranch School for a year and then married Earl Martin Huitt in 1929. She was suddenly widowed in 1946 and left to raise their four young sons alone. She was elected County Clerk of Matagorda County on January 1, 1953 and held the position for twenty-six years, until she retired on December 31, 1978. In 1961, on Mother's Day, she was elected Aggie Mother of the Year. This honor was bestowed on her in part for helping send three of her four sons to A & M while her oldest graduated from the University of Texas. She was a member of the First Baptist Church, Bay City. She is survived by four sons and daughters-in-law, Fred Huitt and wife Connie of Palacios; E. M. Huitt, Jr. and wife Carol Ann of Bay City; Billy Mack Huitt and wife Sue of Irving, and Larry Huitt and wife June of Dallas; by two sisters, Annie Adams of Markham and Omega Machen of Kentucky; and by two brothers, J. C. Slone and William Slone, both of Bay City. She is also survived by seventeen grandchildren, J. Huitt, Hank Huitt, Hutch Huitt, Melissa Peterson, Donna Huitt, Tracy Kuntzman, Kris Lay, Kim Morris, Kelli Wilkerson, Lisa Sudberry, Lori Sherwood, Debbie Fieldsend, Catherine Gill, Adam Huitt, Brad Huitt, Annie Keyser, George Lucas, and by twenty-one great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Earl Martin Huitt. Funeral services will be held Sunday, May 26, 1996, at 2:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church with the Rev. Mike Zimmerman officiating. Interment will follow at Cedarvale Cemetery, Bay City. Pallbearers will be J. Huitt, Hank Huitt, Hutch Huitt, Adam Huitt, Brad Huitt and Mark Peterson. Memorials may be made to the charity of choice. Arrangements are with Taylor Bros. Funeral Home, Bay City.

The Daily Tribune, May 25, 1996

James Frederick Huitt, 77, of Palacios passed away peacefully on August 3, 2010 surrounded by family.

He was born November 28, 1932 in Bay City, Texas to Earl Martin and Hilma Slone Huitt. He graduated from Bay City High School in 1951. He attended the University of Texas and later enlisted in the United States Army. In 1957, Fred moved to Palacios to join his uncle, Howard Campbell, in the insurance business, which is now known as Campbell-Huitt Insurance.

In 1960, Fred married the love of his life, Constance Law of Collegeport. Together, they had three sons. Fred was always an active and dedicated member of the community. He was a longtime member of the Palacios Volunteer Fire Department, The Rotary Club, The Shriners, The Masonic Lodge, The Trull Foundation, as well as the Chamber of Commerce. He served on numerous committees and volunteered his time with almost every activity in which his boys were involved. One of his greatest accomplishments was serving as a deacon in the First Baptist Church of Palacios.

He is survived by: his wife, Connie; his three sons, Jay and wife Lori and children, Traylor and Rachael Huitt and Bailey and Joseph Perez of Bay City, Hank and wife Rhonda and children Bryson and Blake Huitt of Palacios, and Hutch and wife Lisa and children, Harrison and Preston Huitt of Lake Jackson.

He is also survived by: his three brothers and their wives, E.M. and Carol Ann Huitt of Bay City, Mack and Sue Huitt of Decatur, and Larry and Cindy Huitt of Bullard, and brother-in law Fred Law and wife Bonnie of Bay City as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 pm on Thursday evening, August 5, 2010 at the Palacios Funeral Home.

A Memorial Service was held at 11 a.m. on Friday, August 6, 2010 at the First Baptist Church in Palacios.

Online condolences may be shared with the family by visiting www.taylorbros.net.

Arrangements are with Palacios Funeral Home. 361-972-2012

Bay City Tribune, Published August 8, 2010                          Photo courtesy of Faye Cunningham
 

E. M. Huitt Jr., 75, of Bay City passed away Monday, November 28, 2011. He was born April 24, 1936 in Brazil, Indiana to the late Earl & Hilma Slone Huitt. E. M. and his family moved to College Port when he was six months of age and then moved to Bay City in 1945. He graduated from Texas A&M University and University of Texas School of Law and practiced Law in Bay City for 50 Years. E. M. served in the Army from July 1961 to January 1963 after which time he returned to Bay City to pursue his career. He was currently Chairman of the Bay City Gas Company Board of Directors, and a past President of the Bay City Chamber of Commerce.

E. M. is survived by his wife: Carol Ann Huitt; 2 daughters: Melissa Huitt & husband Jamey Broaddus and Donna Huitt; 2 brothers: William McKinley Huitt & wife Sue and Larry Huitt & wife Cindy; sister-in-law: Connie Huitt; mother-in-law: Gertrude Hardy; grandson: Dustin Peterson; granddaughter: Emilee Peterson; numerous nieces and nephews; and dear friend: Neva Stanley.

Visitation will start at 3:00 PM Wednesday. A funeral service will be held 2:00 PM Thursday, December 1, 2011 at The First Presbyterian Church of Bay City with Rev. Mark Stoub officiating. Interment will follow at Cedarvale Cemetery. Pallbearers will be: Terrance Allen, Richard Knapik, Clyde Workman, John Laughlin, Lindsey Thompson, and John Dickerson.

Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Bay City, or the Charity of your choice.

Bay City Tribune, December 4, 2011

Photo courtesy of Faye Cunningham
 

HUITT-BOLIN FAMILY: James Fredrick (J. F.) Huitt and Martha (Mattie) Bolin

Courtesy of Amy Parry

James Fredrick Huitt (1855-1944) was the second child of four born to John B. and Lovina Huitt in Auburn (south of Springfield), Illinois. His siblings were brothers William T. (1851) and John L. (1859), and a sister Sinai (1860). His father, John B., was killed by Southern bushwhackers while home on leave during the Civil War. Lovina (born in Delaware; maiden name unknown) and the children may have joined a wagon train from Illinois to Kansas along with other Huitt relatives.  There are groups of Huitts in Dickinson County, KS and Greene County, IL that appear when searching for a John or William Huitt, though they have different middle initials. None of our Huitts were found in the 1850, 1860, or 1870 census records, although the search for them continues. A Civil war service record was issued for a “Jonathan N.B. Huitt”, born in Illinois in about 1820. He served as a private in the 12th Regiment of the Illinois Cavalry, Company F.

Lovina and her children arrived first in Stafford County, KS, where the three boys worked on the railroad being built going west through Kansas. The 1875 Kansas census lists Lovina, William, and Sinai living in the town of Lakin in Barton County. There is no record of Lovina after 1875, so we assume she dies in Barton County, before 1880, at about age 55. 

J.F.’s sister, Sinai, encountered tragedy in Kansas. In 1878, she married Abraham Vandeveer and had 3 sons: William (1979), Alonzo (1882), and John (1883). In 1880, they were farmers in Ellinwood, Barton County and Sinai’s brother John lived with them.  In 1885, when she is just 24, Sinai died in Ellinwood.  A comment found on another family tree described her death: “Sinai tried to commit suicide twice and finally succeeded on Nov 26, 1885”. Eight years later, in 1893, her husband Abraham dies, leaving their 3 young boys parentless. In the 1895 census, William is living with another family in Ellinwood. Both William and Alonzo later appear with their own families in Oklahoma. William dies in 1950 and Alonzo in 1935. The fate of the youngest son, John, is unknown.

J.F.’s brothers also failed to survive the hardships of Kansas pioneer life.  In 1880, William T., is married to Mary E and has a young daughter in Strafford County, but they disappear after the 1880 census. The last record of J.F.’s younger brother John is found in the 1885 census, where he is living with J.F.’s family and farming in Ellinwood. 

Now, on to the prolific and prosperous family of our ancestor, James Fredrick Huitt:

J.F. married Martha “Mattie” Bolin (1859-1915) on 13 Nov 1878, in Strafford County, KS. Martha was reported to be of Irish descent, although the name “Bolin” has Swedish heritage and the Kansas census in 1880 shows another Martha Bolin, born in Sweden, living in Crawford, KS.  Our Martha was the third of six children born in Ohio to Jacob Bolin (1832-191?) and Sarah J Speeker (1832-1894). Her siblings were: William (1856), Archibald (1858), Louise (1864), Edward (1868), and Benjamin (1870).

Little is known of the ancestry of Martha’s parents. Based on the 1900 and 1910 census, her father, Jacob Bolin, was illiterate. He served on the Union side of the Civil War, a private in the Infantry of Company G, Regiment 71, and was a POW in Meridian, Mississippi. Jacob and both of his parents were born in Ohio.  Jacob’s wife, Sarah, was also born in Ohio, but her father was from Pennsylvania and her mother, from Virginia.  Sarah died in about 1894. After her death, Jacob lived with his son Edward and wife Ida and their family. He probably died between 1910 and 1920 in Missouri, as the 1910 census shows him living there at age 77. (I have not traced any of Martha’s 5 siblings)

After their marriage, J.F. and Martha farmed in Strafford County. Their first child, Ernest Leland Huitt, was born there in 1879.  They then moved to Barton County, and farmed about 2 1/2 miles south of Ellinwood, where the next 10 of their 12 children (five boys and seven girls) are born.  Martha’s parents, Jacob and Sarah Bolin and several siblings appear on the same page as the Huitts in the 1885 census, also farming near Ellinwood.  

Two of their children, Claude and Pearl, do not survive childhood and are buried in the Ellinwood Cemetery.  In 1901, J.F., Martha, and their family of nine move again, this time to a farm in Barber County, one mile east of Isabel and north of the Santa Fe Tracks. Ernest, Ida, Frank, Sula, Ethel, Earl, Webb, Maude, and Florence, arrive with their parents, and their last child, Grace, is born at their new home on April 26, 1901.

LaVeda Huitt Carpenter, daughter of Ernest,  recalled her grandparents as follows:

“James Frederick was a farmer, a water well driller, and a trader. He farmed, drilled water wells, erected windmills and traded almost anything - land, cattle, horses, machinery, and potatoes, what-have-you.” She also reported that Martha had “long, beautiful, heavy, dark red hair”.

Dick Battin, grandson of Ida Huitt Runkle, recalls J. F. as the man with a “golden touch”. Every thing J.F. touched, seemed to prosper.  He was wealthy enough to gave each of his 10 children a choice of a house or $10,000. We have several family pictures of the Runkle family, where the clothing and furniture all indicate a prosperous and comfortable life.

After a few years farming, the Huitts moved to town and built a large two-story house across west from the Isabel school house.   

Milestone events in the Huitt family:

In 1902, Ida (age 20) married John Runkle. Pearl (1904) was the first grandchild.

In 1904, Sula (age 19) married James Swinson (age 20)

In 1906, John Everett Runkle, the second grandchild is born to Ida and John

In 1908, Irene Swinson is the third grandchild, born to James and Sula Swinson

In 1909, Ernest (age 30) married Golda Gibson

In 1910, on Feb 7, Ethel (age 20) married William Swinson (age 21), in the 1910 census taken in March, she was living at the Huitt home in Isabel, without her husband William.

In 1910, Claude Swinson is the fourth grandchild. He dies a year later.

In 1911, Lawrence Swinson is born.

In 1913, Lloyd Huitt is born to Ernest and Golda Huitt

In 1910, the young families of Ida, and Sula both live close to their Huitt parents in Isabel. Sometime between 1910 and 1915, the family photo of all 10 children and their parents is taken.

J.F. Huitt served on the Isabel school board and was involved in organizing the town school in Isabel. In 1911, he was listed as Director of the Isabel Public school. There were 42 students in the one room school house and Bertha Nossaman was the teacher. The students included Grace Huitt, Pearl and Evertt Runkle.  Pearl’s Aunt Grace Huitt was 3 years older than her. Not only were they the same class at school, but they lived on the same street, and often played house and dolls together.

In March of 1915, Martha boarded the train with J.F., for an operation in Wichita. She did not survive and died in the Wichita hospital two days later, on March 17, 1915. The cause of death was listed as “Shock following operation for strangulated umbilical hernia”. She was just 56. The expenses paid to the funeral parlor in Wichita indicate a lavish funeral. The casket is described as: “DOUBLE EXTRA. Size, Black broadcloth covered casket, Octg, ends, Three panel molded top, Art silk Interior, Silver, with Moray silk bar handles, sides and ends, Ebony and silver name plate, Plate engraved, (MARTHA M. HUITT). Burial robe, Cashmere”. Total funeral costs in Wichita: $202.50. Her body and casket are transported from Wichita to Isabel and funeral services held on March 20, at two-thirty pm, “from the residence”.  Burial followed in the Isabel cemetery.

After Martha died, the 1915 Kansas Census shows J.F., Earl, Ethel, Webster, Maude, Florence, and Grace living at the family home in Isabel. Florence was 15 and Grace was 13. Their neighbors were John and Ida (Huitt) Runkle, and children Pearl and Everett.  Frank is not listed and probably is in Montana, where his WWI draft registration is recorded.

The next Huitt family events were:

1916, Ethel (age 27) married Carl William Robinson, presumably with a divorce or annulment from William Swinson. (William Swinson remarried also and had a family).

1917, Maude (age 20) married James Stitzle

My grandmother, Pearl, remembered her 6 Huitt Aunts and 4 Uncles fondly.  She was very thankful that her 3 favorite Uncles (Frank, Earl and Webb Huitt) all returned safely from service in WWI.

After the great war, the remaining Huitt children marry:

1921, Florence (age 22) is married to Floyd Wells

1921, Webster (age 26) is married to Opal Mease

192-, Grace is married to Howard Campbell

192-, Frank is married to Edith

1929, Earl (age 36) is married to Hilma Slone (1909-1996)

In 1923, J.F. moved to Palacios, Texas, and spent the remainder of his life there.
 

He married Lucie L., a woman 10 years younger. The 1930 census shows J.F., Lucie, her father George Anderson (age 84), and son Fred Anderson (age 35) living with them.  Ethel’s oldest son, Carl Levon Robinson, related that none of J.F.’s children liked his second wife and would not allow her inside their homes – she had to wait for him on the front porch. J.F. appeared to get out and visit all his 10 children and their families. We have several pictures of him taken at daughter Ida’s farm with his grandchildren, James & Leonard Runkle. 
 

Several of J.F’s children (Ida, Earl, and Grace) followed him to Texas and made homes there.

In 1944, when J.F. died at age 88 of a heart ailment, he had 9 living children, at least 19 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. He is buried with Martha in the Isabel Cemetery.        

A summary of the 12 children of Fred and Martha Huitt:

1.  Ernest 1879–1966. Died of “coronary occlusion”.  Buried in Isabel; wife Golda Gibson (1884-1972). 2 children: Lloyd (1913-1970), Laveda Huitt Carpenter (1918-2005). Lived on farm outside Isabel until he died at age 86. 7 grandchildren.

2. Ida 1882–1964. Died of Alzheimer’s in El Paso, TX. Buried in Isabel; husband John Runkle (1877-1948). 4 children:  Pearl Runkle Battin (1903-1996), John Everett (1906-1979), James (1921-1975), Leonard (1921-2001). 12 grandchildren.

3. Frank 1883-1954. Died of lung cancer near Wellington, Kansas. Buried in Isabel; wife Edith. Served in WWI. Lived in Montana in the 1920 census. Occupation listed as “Farm Supervisor”. No children(?).

4. Sula 1885-1941. Died following a stroke. Buried in Isabel; husband James Swinson (1883-1973).  4 children: Irene Swinson Rice (1908-1993), Claude (1910-1911), Lawrence (1911-1927), Clara Swinson Todd (1913-2003). Clara left home at 17 to attend Business school and lived next door to her married sister, Irene Rice (Census 1930). Clara later moved to Brazil, Indiana and lived with her Aunt Maude before marrying W. Paul Todd in 1934 and starting a family. Clara & Paul had 2 daughters: Marian (Harrison) and Janet (Young). Clara cousin’s, Marjory Sneddon (daughter of Florence Huitt Wells), informed me that Sula (known as Aunt Sue) had a stroke while visiting in Indiana and never fully recovered.

5. Claude (1887-189?) Died in Ellinwood.

6. Ethel (1889-1954) Died of colon cancer. Buried in Topeka; husband Carl William Robinson (1888-1962). 3 children: Carl Levon Robinson, Marvin (1921-2006), Lola Robinson Clements (1924-198?).

7. Pearl (1891-189?). Died in Ellinwood.

8. Earl  (1893-1946). Died from accidental self inflicted gunshot while hunting. Buried in Cedarvale Cemetery, Bay City, Matagorda, Texas; wife Hilma Slone (1909-1996) 4 children: J. Fredrick, William McKinley, Ernest Larry, and Earl Martin, Jr.
 

9. Webb (1894-1980). Died of Alzheimer’s. Buried in Isabel; wife Opal Mease (1900-1985). Son Eddie and ?.
 

10. Maude : (1896-1979). Buried in Brazil, Indiana; husband James Stitzle (1895-1973); no children. Jim, like Maude, came from a large family and was also one of 10 children. After living in Brazil, Indiana, for many years, they retired to Florida and Jim died in St. Petersburg. Maude moved back to Indiana, but she had a bad car accident (she was not an experienced driver). She never recovered from the accident.

11. Florence (1899-1983). Died from effects of a stroke. Buried in Brazil, Indiana; husband Floyd (Wesley) Wells (-1961). 1 child: Marjory Wells Sneddon. Marjory and her husband have 3 children and 8 grandchildren.

12. Grace (1901-1966). Died of pneumonia and infection from an “absess about old colostomy”. Buried in Bay City, Texas; husband Howard Campbell (1900-1983); no children. After Grace died, Howard married his brother’s widow.

Oral remembrances of J.F. Huitt:

Carl Lavon Robinson, age 89, Topeka, KS, eldest child of Ethel Huitt Robinson recalled these memories of his grandfather Huitt:  “J.F. carried a flask of liquor in his pants that he pulled out and drank during visits, claiming that the “doctor ordered it”.  None of his children liked his second wife. She had to sit on the front porch while J.F. went inside to visit his children. J. F. passionately hated the Railroad companies and no one liked J.F. very much in the town of Isabel.”
 

Marjory Wells Sneddon remembers visits to grandpa’s home in Palacios, TX. J.F. had a cotton plant in his front yard.

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