RH-06 – Clyde Raymond Hatfield (1894-1959)

52 Ancestors – Week 99
[I was asked to investigate Clyde Raymond Hatfield as part of a larger Rehfeld-Hatfield project I am working on. Family oral history says that Clyde was related to the infamous Hatfield family. The Hatfields and the McCoys are known for their 1863 to 1891 family feud in Kentucky and West Virginia. To prove or disprove the connection to the infamous Hatfields is highly desired. As a starting point, my client provided a copy of Clyde Raymond Hatfield’s marriage certificate, the birth records of his two children, and his obituary. I then looked more closely at Clyde using Family Search, Ancestry, and Find-a-Grave.]

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Life of Clyde Raymond Hatfield (1894-1959)

Clyde Raymond Hatfield was born on 04 Jan 1894 in Mound City, Holt County, Missouri[i] as the first child of Arthur R Hatfield and Rebecca Leona Crawford.

Clyde Hatfield was born in Missouri; however, from age 6 on, he lived within a 50 mile circle in northeastern Nebraska.

In August 1886, his brother Guy C. Hatfield was born in Missouri.[ii]

The family moved to Nebraska sometime after Guy’s birth and 1900 where the family was counted in the 1900 Census as living in Wakefield, Dixon County, Nebraska with his father, mother, and younger brother.[iii]

Before the 1910 census, the family moved up to Daily, Dixon County, Nebraska, where the 16-year-old was still living with his father, mother, and younger brother. Also, there was boarder, 12-year-old Lura Huntington, and a hired hand, Silas Foster, living with them. [iv]

Clyde’s Draft Registration Card shows him married. Image via Family Search

He married Ruth Barrett sometime between the 1910 Census and when he registered for the draft on 05 Jun 1917. When he registered, he was living in Hoskins, Wayne County, Nebraska, about 50 miles from Daily, and was farming. The 23-year-old was described as tall, medium build, light hair, and blue eyes.[v]

Within the next three years, he moved again, about 30 miles northwest to Plum Grove, Pierce County, Nebraska. The 1920 Census lists him as the head of the household.[vi]

Over the ensuing decade the family moved again, this time about 15 miles southwest, to South Dry Creek, Nebraska where he was enumerated in the 1930 Census.[vii]

His father, Arthur, died in 1931.

We know that Clyde and Ruth had a child, whose name we don’t know, sometime before 1934 that died. Because in 1934 they had a daughter, whose birth certificate indicates that she was the second child of Ruth and one previous child had died.[viii]

The 1940 Census indicates that in 1935 he lived in rural Pierce County and in 1940 he lived in North Dry Creek, Nebraska. [ix]

In 1953, Clyde & Ruth’s daughter married.

Pleasant View Cemetery Photo by Jim W. via Find-a-Grave

Clyde R. Hatfield died on 06 Apr 1959 at age of 65 in the hospital in Plainview, Pierce County, Nebraska. His memorial service took place at the family home, west of Plainview, on 08 Apr 1959. Rev Francis St. Armant, a Methodist minister, officiated at his funeral). He is buried at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Plainview, Pierce, Nebraska (Pleasant View Cemetery).[x]

Future Action:

Investigate Arthur R Hatfield (Clyde’s father) and determine his vital information.

Endnotes