Grandmother, the Census and ‘Mr.’ Fannie Green

by Patti Huff Smith

When I first became interested in genealogy, my grandmother, Betty Ross Crook, steered me to research at FamilySearch.org. She told me, “It’s free, easy to navigate, and you can see if you like it.” Neither of us knew then where the genealogy journey would take us.

Unraveling my mom’s paternal line was particularly difficult because Walter Session Crook, Sr., abandoned his family in 1927. His wife of seventeen years, Lillian, and their three sons, Jack, Walter Jr., and Billy were left devastated emotionally and financially. Walter’s parting gift was an electric sewing machine. Lillian and my grandfather, Jack (age 15), kept the family afloat, taking on sewing jobs. However, the Crook family history was lost after Walter left. 

I remember Grandmother telling me, “The censuses are the ‘backbone’ of genealogy research.” 

As I scoured Crook families in Texas, many of the names and dates were so similar it would take a combination of records, documentation, training, practice, and additional genealogists to guide me to answer my lingering questions. 

Mrs. Fannie Green and her infant son, Herbert, lived in the home of my great-great-grandfather, Charles Edgar Crook, in 1900, in Hill County, Texas. Since Charles was a widower with four young sons, having a caregiver to corral the boys seemed logical. But where was Mr. Fannie Green?

Dora Nolan from the Hill County Genealogical Society and Molly Stinson from the Hill County Courthouse helped locate a few local newspaper articles from 1882-1896. Molly found two unclaimed marriage licenses for C. E. Crook. Much to my surprise, there was a marriage license on March 10, 1901, for Mrs. Fannie Green and C. E. Crook!

Grateful for their assistance, my mother and I scheduled a time to meet them in person at the Hillsboro Library. It was thrilling to meet the ladies who helped me discover additional information on my Crook family line. 

The Genealogy Department at the Dallas Public Library provided C. E. Crook’s obituary. As my genealogy research skills improved, I was able to locate his death certificate on Ancestry. Imagine my shock to find out he died in 1938 in Coppell, TX, where I had lived for many years! His family owned 40-acres at the DFW corridor of Sandy Lake and Highway 121. 

But I still wondered what happened to ‘Mr.’ Fannie Green. Curious about the entry in the 1900 census, I reached out to the one person I felt confident would be able to answer my question. 

“Grandmother, what do you suppose happened to ‘Mr.’ Fannie Green?” I asked, as I pondered the possibilities. 

My answer came in her typical professional fashion: “Fannie Green vs. William Green, Cause No. 4047 in District Court of Hill County, Texas, Divorce was granted March 5, 1901. Page 96 of Divorce Minutes, Volume 1, Hill County, Texas. Shown on page 10 of Hill County Divorce Records, 1896 to 1947.” 

Grandmother was so tickled her book helped answer my question. 

Years earlier, she transcribed records from microfilm to be published as a resource for genealogists. Hill County Divorce Records, 1896 to 1947, by Betty Ross Crook, was published by Central Texas Genealogical Society in 2012. 

This article was written in memory of Betty Ross Crook, 16 August 1927 – 28 February 2022.