Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
NameCatherine Cotter 
167
167Birth30 Oct 1835, Tennessee
Death15 Mar 1879 Age: 43
BurialSteel Branch Cemetery, Wilson Co TX
FatherStephen Cotter (1806-1873)
MotherHannah Caler (1812-1881)
Spouses
1Pleasant Howe Hobbs , G Grandfather
, G GrandfatherDeath15 Nov 1895, Wilson Co TX Age: 69
BurialNockenut Cemetery, Wilson Co TX
FatherJoseph Hobbs (1789-1863)
MotherAnna Jones (1792-1880)
ChildrenDora A. (1855-1869)
Blanche (1856-1861)
Livonia Elmira (1859-1908)
Rachel Josephine (1861-1920)
Edward Vernon (Twin) (1864-1937)
William (Stillborn) (1864-1864)
Adelia Rowe (1867-1950)
Archie Travis (1875-1938)
Notes for Catherine Cotter
Catherine is listed twice in the 1870 census:
1860 Census Sutherland Springs, Wilson, Bexar Co TX (in the home of her parents)
Name Age
Stephen Cotter 54
Hannah Cotter 49
John Cotter 26
Catherine Cotter 24 TN
Ruth Cotter 23
Susan Cotter 19
Rody Cotter 17
Elizabeth Cotter 15
George Cotter 12
Daniel Cotter 10
Wm E Cotter 6
1860 Census of Guadalupe Co TX. PO Nockenut (in the home of her husband, with her three children)
Name Age
P H Hobbs 29 IN Stock raiser
Cath Hobbs 24 TN
Dora Hobbs 5 TX
Blanche Hobbs 3 TX
Elmira Hobbs 1 TX
J E Watkins 25 GA
1860 Census Sutherland Springs, Wilson, Bexar Co TX (in the home of her parents)
Name Age
Stephen Cotter 54
Hannah Cotter 49
John Cotter 26
Catherine Cotter 24 TN
Ruth Cotter 23
Susan Cotter 19
Rody Cotter 17
Elizabeth Cotter 15
George Cotter 12
Daniel Cotter 10
Wm E Cotter 6
1860 Census of Guadalupe Co TX. PO Nockenut (in the home of her husband, with her three children)
Name Age
P H Hobbs 29 IN Stock raiser
Cath Hobbs 24 TN
Dora Hobbs 5 TX
Blanche Hobbs 3 TX
Elmira Hobbs 1 TX
J E Watkins 25 GA
Notes for Pleasant Howe (Spouse 1)
Pleasant Howe Hobbs, Texas Ranger
Pleasant Hobbs was the ninth child of Joseph and Anna Hobbs, came to Texas with them in 1839, served in the Sommervell campaign against the Mexicans in 1842 (at the age of 17!), and was a 4th Corporal in the Texas Rangers stationed on the Medina River in 1850. In about 1854, Pleasant married Catherine Cotter, daughter of Steven and Hannah (Caler) Cotter, who came to Texas from Tennessee in 1845 and settled on 155 acres astride the Ecleto creek in 1855. Pleasant and Catherine had five daughters (two of whom died young) and two sons:
(1) Dora b. March 8, 1855 d. July 17, 1869
(2) Blanche b. December 21, 1856 d. July 7, 1861
(3) Livonia b. April 4, 1859
(4) Rachel J. b. November 26, 1861 d. February 21, 1921
(5) Edward W. b. June 2, 1864 d. 1937
(6) Adelia b. December 10, 1867 d. January 11, 1950
(7) Archie T. b. November 21, 1875 d. March 2, 1939
Pleasant and his family first lived in Nockenut on their farm on the Ecleto. The 1864 and 1865 Guadalupe County property assessments show that Pleasant owned, in addition to his farm, considerable livestock (mostly horses) and one negro slave, valued at $500 in 1864 and $400 in 1865 [the devaluation was presumably the result of the impending resolution of the War between the States, with its concomitant abolishment of the institution of slavery.]
In 1867, Pleasant deeded to his wife Catherine all of his land on the Ecleto, his buggy, and all of his livestock, consisting of 80 horses, 30 cattle, 60 hogs, and three oxen.169 While the motivation behind this unusual intra-family transfer of assets has been lost with time, it probably had something to do with the carpetbag government that ruled the area after the Civil War.
The 1870 census of Guadalupe County shows Pleasant and Catherine with their children Livonia, Josephine, Edward, and Adelia living on their farm in Nockenut. Their household also included twenty-one year old John Alston and a sixteen year old black farm hand named Bird Hobbs, who was probably the Hobbs slave previously listed on the tax roll, subsequently freed.
Catherine Hobbs died on March 15, 1879, and is buried in the Hobbs plot at the Steel Branch Cemetery, six miles east of Stockdale, near the site of old Nockenut.170
On October 26, 1886, Pleasant Hobbs married the widow Florence Dawson, daughter of Isaac King and Mary Jane Fisher. Pleasant and his new wife Florence had two daughters, Mollie (b August 5, 1887 when Pleasant was 61 years of age) and a second daughter who died in 1890 at the age of only six weeks.
It is interesting to note that Pleasant's daughter Adelia Hobbs married Florence's brother Otha King. Thus, Adelia's father became also her brother-in-law. Between 1978 and 1981, the author had the pleasure to make the acquaintance of Dora Hastings, widow of Walter Clyde Hastings and the last surviving child of Otha and Adelia. In one letter (July 9, 1980), Dora wrote about her grandfather, Pleasant Hobbs:
"Your letter brought back so many childhood memories. There's no one left for me to talk to about the long time ago. I'm glad I have lived to see so many changes and there will be so many in the next 25 years. Should you have asked my mother about Grandpa, it would have just been the best father a child ever had. My grandmother died when mama was 12 years old, so I think he was a real good father and took good care of them, as they all made good citizens. The grandchildren all loved him, so I know he was good to us. He was a nice, friendly person and had lots of friends. I think he spent most of his time doing for his stock and if he had any pets it was his pretty horses. I can't think of him being a farmer, but the red home place where my mother was born had a nice large field for those days, as they had to split rail to fence them. Neither of his boys could plow a straight row. I think he (Grandpa) must have kept hired hands to farm. They had someone named Monroe. I don't know if that was his given or surname, but mama was named Adelia Roe, so he must have thought a lot of him. I hadn't thought the old farm place in years until I got your letter. Arch Hobbs got that piece of land and it was next to our place on the south.
"The house was built right on the Ecleto creek. It was made of hewn logs, two big rooms with a hall (dogtrot) between them, and a shed room on the back of each, large front porch. There was a fireplace on the west room and I'm sure they did their cooking there when they first lived there. Arch lived with Grandpa & Aunt Florence until he married. We went there often when I was a child to visit. Uncles Arch and Amory moved there when they married. The yard was covered with huge trees, cottonwood, mulberry, and china trees, so some body took pride in the home.
"Aunt Florence was to good for her own good--a Christian shouldn't say that! She took in all the sick, homeless, down-and-outers that came along. To save my life I can't see how they fed them as Elias [Florence's son by her first husband] wasn't a worker as far as I could see. I'm sure Aunt Florence and Grandpa had a happy life together. They were both so good natured. Love, Dora"
Pleasant Howe Hobbs died in Nockenut on November 15, 1895 at age sixty-nine years and eleven months. He visited his granddaughter the day before his death, as recounted in her own words (June 30, 1980):
"I like to think of him where I saw him last. He drove up to our house early one morning on the way from someplace and was in too big a hurry to get out for a visit. We, mama and some of the children, went out to the yard gate to visit a few minutes with him. He was in a bright new shiney buggy with pretty matched horses. I thought he looked so grand--we were still riding in a wagon. To a ten-year old that must have looked like the first Model T Ford to us when we came out. The next day after his visit he died suddenly right after lunch. So that's the way I think of him--in his pretty buggy."
Pleasant left a large estate, consisting of 1559 acres of land in Wilson, Guadalupe, and Kinney Counties. His estate was partitioned between the widow Florence and his children Livonia Bellgard, Adelia King, Archie Hobbs, Josephine Henry, Ed Hobbs, and Mollie Hobbs.171
In 1895, the year Pleasant died and was buried in Nockenut Cemetery, the population of Nockenut was 147.172
Pleasant Hobbs was the ninth child of Joseph and Anna Hobbs, came to Texas with them in 1839, served in the Sommervell campaign against the Mexicans in 1842 (at the age of 17!), and was a 4th Corporal in the Texas Rangers stationed on the Medina River in 1850. In about 1854, Pleasant married Catherine Cotter, daughter of Steven and Hannah (Caler) Cotter, who came to Texas from Tennessee in 1845 and settled on 155 acres astride the Ecleto creek in 1855. Pleasant and Catherine had five daughters (two of whom died young) and two sons:
(1) Dora b. March 8, 1855 d. July 17, 1869
(2) Blanche b. December 21, 1856 d. July 7, 1861
(3) Livonia b. April 4, 1859
(4) Rachel J. b. November 26, 1861 d. February 21, 1921
(5) Edward W. b. June 2, 1864 d. 1937
(6) Adelia b. December 10, 1867 d. January 11, 1950
(7) Archie T. b. November 21, 1875 d. March 2, 1939
Pleasant and his family first lived in Nockenut on their farm on the Ecleto. The 1864 and 1865 Guadalupe County property assessments show that Pleasant owned, in addition to his farm, considerable livestock (mostly horses) and one negro slave, valued at $500 in 1864 and $400 in 1865 [the devaluation was presumably the result of the impending resolution of the War between the States, with its concomitant abolishment of the institution of slavery.]
In 1867, Pleasant deeded to his wife Catherine all of his land on the Ecleto, his buggy, and all of his livestock, consisting of 80 horses, 30 cattle, 60 hogs, and three oxen.169 While the motivation behind this unusual intra-family transfer of assets has been lost with time, it probably had something to do with the carpetbag government that ruled the area after the Civil War.
The 1870 census of Guadalupe County shows Pleasant and Catherine with their children Livonia, Josephine, Edward, and Adelia living on their farm in Nockenut. Their household also included twenty-one year old John Alston and a sixteen year old black farm hand named Bird Hobbs, who was probably the Hobbs slave previously listed on the tax roll, subsequently freed.
Catherine Hobbs died on March 15, 1879, and is buried in the Hobbs plot at the Steel Branch Cemetery, six miles east of Stockdale, near the site of old Nockenut.170
On October 26, 1886, Pleasant Hobbs married the widow Florence Dawson, daughter of Isaac King and Mary Jane Fisher. Pleasant and his new wife Florence had two daughters, Mollie (b August 5, 1887 when Pleasant was 61 years of age) and a second daughter who died in 1890 at the age of only six weeks.
It is interesting to note that Pleasant's daughter Adelia Hobbs married Florence's brother Otha King. Thus, Adelia's father became also her brother-in-law. Between 1978 and 1981, the author had the pleasure to make the acquaintance of Dora Hastings, widow of Walter Clyde Hastings and the last surviving child of Otha and Adelia. In one letter (July 9, 1980), Dora wrote about her grandfather, Pleasant Hobbs:
"Your letter brought back so many childhood memories. There's no one left for me to talk to about the long time ago. I'm glad I have lived to see so many changes and there will be so many in the next 25 years. Should you have asked my mother about Grandpa, it would have just been the best father a child ever had. My grandmother died when mama was 12 years old, so I think he was a real good father and took good care of them, as they all made good citizens. The grandchildren all loved him, so I know he was good to us. He was a nice, friendly person and had lots of friends. I think he spent most of his time doing for his stock and if he had any pets it was his pretty horses. I can't think of him being a farmer, but the red home place where my mother was born had a nice large field for those days, as they had to split rail to fence them. Neither of his boys could plow a straight row. I think he (Grandpa) must have kept hired hands to farm. They had someone named Monroe. I don't know if that was his given or surname, but mama was named Adelia Roe, so he must have thought a lot of him. I hadn't thought the old farm place in years until I got your letter. Arch Hobbs got that piece of land and it was next to our place on the south.
"The house was built right on the Ecleto creek. It was made of hewn logs, two big rooms with a hall (dogtrot) between them, and a shed room on the back of each, large front porch. There was a fireplace on the west room and I'm sure they did their cooking there when they first lived there. Arch lived with Grandpa & Aunt Florence until he married. We went there often when I was a child to visit. Uncles Arch and Amory moved there when they married. The yard was covered with huge trees, cottonwood, mulberry, and china trees, so some body took pride in the home.
"Aunt Florence was to good for her own good--a Christian shouldn't say that! She took in all the sick, homeless, down-and-outers that came along. To save my life I can't see how they fed them as Elias [Florence's son by her first husband] wasn't a worker as far as I could see. I'm sure Aunt Florence and Grandpa had a happy life together. They were both so good natured. Love, Dora"
Pleasant Howe Hobbs died in Nockenut on November 15, 1895 at age sixty-nine years and eleven months. He visited his granddaughter the day before his death, as recounted in her own words (June 30, 1980):
"I like to think of him where I saw him last. He drove up to our house early one morning on the way from someplace and was in too big a hurry to get out for a visit. We, mama and some of the children, went out to the yard gate to visit a few minutes with him. He was in a bright new shiney buggy with pretty matched horses. I thought he looked so grand--we were still riding in a wagon. To a ten-year old that must have looked like the first Model T Ford to us when we came out. The next day after his visit he died suddenly right after lunch. So that's the way I think of him--in his pretty buggy."
Pleasant left a large estate, consisting of 1559 acres of land in Wilson, Guadalupe, and Kinney Counties. His estate was partitioned between the widow Florence and his children Livonia Bellgard, Adelia King, Archie Hobbs, Josephine Henry, Ed Hobbs, and Mollie Hobbs.171
In 1895, the year Pleasant died and was buried in Nockenut Cemetery, the population of Nockenut was 147.172
Notes for Pleasant Howe (Spouse 1)
1850 Census of Medina River, Medina Co TX (28 Oct 1850)
Texas Volunteer Ranging Company Stationed on the Medina River 10 Miles (from) Castroville near the Water Tank
Name Age
Jerome B McCowen 29 Capt Ranging Compy.
Daniel A Conner 24 1st Leut. “ “
Peter Tomblinson 44 2nd Leut. “ “
Bemard H Harrison 21 1st Sgt. “ “
Samuel Caruthers 21 2nd Sgt. “ “
Nicholas Burkeley 24 3rd Sgt. “ “
Richard B Blackburne 21 4th Sgt. “ “
Jennings D Bannion 34 1st Corpl. “ “
Robert C Dunlap 21 2nd Corpl. “ “
Etheldred Tarver 20 3rd Corpl. “ “
Pleasant H Hobbs 21 4th Corpl. “ “
Hiram Harrison 27 1st Bugler “ “
John Thomas 21 2nd Bugler “ “
William Stagner 18 Blacksmith “ “
James G Kirkpatrick 28 Farrier “ “
Following are the names of 63 more men, all “Private Ranging Company”, including Francis Hobbs.
Jerome B. McCown (Texas Ranger for San Patricio and also member of 6th Texas Legislature during Republic of Texas) 1821-1887 was son of Sampson McCown and Elizabeth Telford. He served under Colonel Jack Hays in the Texas Rangers as a Captain of Company H.173
Pleasant did not stay with the Rangers very long as he married Catherine Cotter in the early 1850s.
Pleasant Hobbs was also listed with his family in Walker Co TX (25 Sept 1850)
Name Age
Jas Hobbs 60
Anna Hobbs 58
Talman Hobbs 16
Frank Hobbs 18
Pleasant Hobbs 24
Erin T Slayman 6
1860 Census of Guadalupe Co TX. PO Nockenut (9 July 1860)
Name Age
P H Hobbs 29 IN Stock raiser
Cath Hobbs 24 TN
Dora Hobbs 5 TX
Blanche Hobbs 3 TX
Elmira Hobbs 1 TX
J E Watkins 25 GA
1870 Census of Guadalupe Co TX . PO Seguin (Aug 1870)
Name Age
P H Hobbs 44
Catherine Hobbs 32
Lavoinia Hobbs 11
Josephine Hobbs 9
Edward Hobbs 7
Delia Hobbs 3
John Alston 20
Bird Hobbs 16
1880 Census of Wilson Co TX (15 June 1880)
Name Age
P. Howe Hobbs 55 Widowed IN MD NC
Rachel J. Hobbs 18 Dau Single TX IN TN
Edward Hobbs 15 Son Single TX IN TN
Adelia Hobbs 12 Dau Single TX IN TN
Arche Hobbs 4 Son Single TX IN TN
Ann Hobbs 88 Mother Widowed NC DE DE
Texas Volunteer Ranging Company Stationed on the Medina River 10 Miles (from) Castroville near the Water Tank
Name Age
Jerome B McCowen 29 Capt Ranging Compy.
Daniel A Conner 24 1st Leut. “ “
Peter Tomblinson 44 2nd Leut. “ “
Bemard H Harrison 21 1st Sgt. “ “
Samuel Caruthers 21 2nd Sgt. “ “
Nicholas Burkeley 24 3rd Sgt. “ “
Richard B Blackburne 21 4th Sgt. “ “
Jennings D Bannion 34 1st Corpl. “ “
Robert C Dunlap 21 2nd Corpl. “ “
Etheldred Tarver 20 3rd Corpl. “ “
Pleasant H Hobbs 21 4th Corpl. “ “
Hiram Harrison 27 1st Bugler “ “
John Thomas 21 2nd Bugler “ “
William Stagner 18 Blacksmith “ “
James G Kirkpatrick 28 Farrier “ “
Following are the names of 63 more men, all “Private Ranging Company”, including Francis Hobbs.
Jerome B. McCown (Texas Ranger for San Patricio and also member of 6th Texas Legislature during Republic of Texas) 1821-1887 was son of Sampson McCown and Elizabeth Telford. He served under Colonel Jack Hays in the Texas Rangers as a Captain of Company H.173
Pleasant did not stay with the Rangers very long as he married Catherine Cotter in the early 1850s.
Pleasant Hobbs was also listed with his family in Walker Co TX (25 Sept 1850)
Name Age
Jas Hobbs 60
Anna Hobbs 58
Talman Hobbs 16
Frank Hobbs 18
Pleasant Hobbs 24
Erin T Slayman 6
1860 Census of Guadalupe Co TX. PO Nockenut (9 July 1860)
Name Age
P H Hobbs 29 IN Stock raiser
Cath Hobbs 24 TN
Dora Hobbs 5 TX
Blanche Hobbs 3 TX
Elmira Hobbs 1 TX
J E Watkins 25 GA
1870 Census of Guadalupe Co TX . PO Seguin (Aug 1870)
Name Age
P H Hobbs 44
Catherine Hobbs 32
Lavoinia Hobbs 11
Josephine Hobbs 9
Edward Hobbs 7
Delia Hobbs 3
John Alston 20
Bird Hobbs 16
1880 Census of Wilson Co TX (15 June 1880)
Name Age
P. Howe Hobbs 55 Widowed IN MD NC
Rachel J. Hobbs 18 Dau Single TX IN TN
Edward Hobbs 15 Son Single TX IN TN
Adelia Hobbs 12 Dau Single TX IN TN
Arche Hobbs 4 Son Single TX IN TN
Ann Hobbs 88 Mother Widowed NC DE DE