Mollie was my grandmother and all the family ever called her was Mollie. But her real name was probably Mary Jane, after her grandmother, Mary Jane Fisher King. In the 1900 census (the first one in which she was counted, since the 1890 census was lost), she was listed as Mary J. Hobbs, age 15, in the household of her widowed mother, Florence Hobbs. After she was married, she was always listed as Mollie or Molly (1910, 1920, 1930). She was named Molly Hobbs on her death certificate.
After Will Heathcock's death, Mollie continued to live in Stockdale until the late 1950s, when her health began to seriously fail. She was placed in a nursing home by her surviving children. She died Nov 6, 1965 in the San Antonio State Hospital. Her death certificate states that she had been a resident of San Antonio for 7 years and 309 days, that her parents names were Howe Hobbs and Florence King, and that she died of congestive heart failure due to arteriosclerosis, heart disease, chronic brain syndrome associated with circulatory disturbance, and a cerebral accident.
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Her name is recorded as Mollie Jay Heathcock on the WWI draft registration card of her husband.
26
Heathcocks lived in Sutherland Springs and in Stockdale, both in Wilson County Texas, until about 1950. One who stayed in the area was William Henry Heathcock, son of John and Mary Heathcock.
Will Heathcock and John Heathcock, Jr. were boarders in the home of Florence Hobbs, widow of Pleasant Hobbs, in 1900. On December 7, 1904, Will married Florence's daughter Mollie Hobbs in Sutherland Springs. The newly wed couple settled in a four-room frame cabin built by Will Heathcock near Sutherland Springs. In 1977, the long-abandoned cabin was still standing.
On September 12, 1916, Will was granted a military exemption card under the laws pertaining to World War I; his card gives his name as William Henry B. Heathcock, of Sutherland Springs. His daughter, Lilly Belle, told the author in 1977 that Will's full name was William Henry Bunker Heathcock, and that the three given names came from the names of the owners of the first General Store in Stockdale, Williams, Henry & Bunker. His WWI draft registration card described him as of medium height, slender build, with blue eyes and brown hair.
26The Heathcocks lived in the Sutherland Springs cabin until the 1930s, when they moved to a frame house in Stockdale. Will Heathcock did a little farming, a little quarter horse raising, and a lot of hanging out with his cronies on the porch of the general store in Stockdale. During the Second World War, Will and Mollie lived at least briefly in San Antonio, as their names appear in the 1942-43 San Antonio Directory, with the address 342 Chicago Blvd. Will died of heart failure in Stockdale on October 13, 1944.
331910 Census of Wilson Co TX, J. Precinct 3
William H Hethcock 35 M TX AL AL farmer
Mollie Hethcock 22 F TX TX TX mother of 1, 0 living
Frederick Malone 24 M TX TX TX
1920 Census of Wilson Co TX, J. Precinct 3
Heathcock, William Head MW 44 M TX TN AL manager farm
---, Molly Wife F W 32 M TX TX MS none
---, Clayton Son M W 9 S TX TX TX none
---, Lillie Belle Dau F W 5 S TX TX TX none
---, Mary Dau F W 3 4/12 S TX TX TX none
1930 Census of Wilson Co TX, Stockdale
Hethcock, W H Head M W 55 M TX AL AL none
---, Molly J Wife F W 52 M TX TX MS none
---, Clayton Son M W 19 S TX TX TX none
---, Lilly B Dau F W 16 S TX TX TX none
---, Mary O Dau F W 13 S TX TX TX none
The family reported renting, $9 per month.
1940 Census, Stockdale, Wilson Co TX
Name AgeWillie H Heathcock 65
Mollie Heathcock 52
Gidson Hall 30 son-in-law
Lillie Bell Hall 26
Marylin Hall 8/12