Notes for William 'Willie' Monroe Bittick
Census-1: 1900, Fayette Co, TX [ED41, St23, Ln70]-- living alone. Listed as 'Monroe' - did he use this or Willie?
Census-2: 1910, where?, try Bartlett, Williamson Co, TX
Census-3: 1920, Wharton Co, TX [ED164, St20, Ln60]-- WM39Tx DoraE37 May16 Fay8 Fay6 Lay4 MaryWright53Mo sis
Abt. 1895, Fayette Co, TX; Guardian, GMD Thomasson
Burial: Williamson County, Texas; tombstone information courtesy of Dwight Bittick
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Courtesy of Dwight Bittick:
Father died when he was 2, mother when he was 14, orphan, birth/death per tombstone in Granger City Cemetery, buried next to Dora.
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Jefferson County [Missouri] Historical Society
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mojchs/newspapermenu.html
Jefferson Democrat
Thursday, May 8, 1890
Sheriff’s Sale
William Munroe Bittick, Sarah Bittick and M. Cockrell
Jefferson Democrat
Thursday, May 15, 1890
Sheriff’s Sale
William ? Bittick, Sarah Bittick and E. ???
These must be from land Willis Henry owned before he moved to Texas. William Monroe, son of Willis Henry and Sarah Whitworth Bittick – widow of Willis Henry. Who is M. Cockrell? Is she a daughter from a previous marriage? Several Cockrell's are buried in same cemetery as Willis Alexander Bittick in Cistern, Texas. It has been assumed that Willis Henry sold off all of his land in Missouri before he went to Texas, but the land was probably either his or it came from Sarah Whitworth’s side.
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[see Probates: William 'Willie' Monroe Bittick Guardianship]
Courtesy of Mary Bittick Gallano:
Guardianship of Willie Bittick - over 14 in 1895. G.M.D.
Thomason applied for guardianship on May 15, 1895 - witness: JOHN WRIGHT. Is he a half-brother?
NOTE: Probate Index, Williamson Co,TX - Oct 16, 1848 -Dec 27, 1938 - no Bittick except Jonathan. Williamson Co Genealogy Society, Chisolm Trail, 1985-86. per Dorothy Miller on Nov 19, 1993. Williamson Co Death Index - no Bittick's up thru 1952. William Monroe must have died in another county or died in 1959.
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9 Nov 1996: New Bittick researcher Suzann Hubbard Peters descends from William Monroe and provides the following information:
"...I do have William's death cert here. He died in Matagorda Co. Dora was taken back to the Granger area when she got sick and died there. We also have some photos that I will get you some copies of when I get my copies. I will be happy to get as much info from our group as I can. Aunt Foy is still living and I will get over to see her hopefully this week. I do not know of a family Bible, I sure wish I did....
11/8/96
The story that I have is that William Monroe Bittick, born in either Missouri or Texas, Dec 24, 1881. Now I disctintly rememeber both my granny and her sister telling me he was born in MO. His death certificate states TX but the informant was a son in law...
I believe that he was born in MO, his father died there and his mother remarried. I'm not sure if his mother and stepfather migrated to TX. I vaguely remembered hearing that the mother had had several daughters with the new husband and then she died. One of these half sisters married and came to TX bringing him along. I do know that at least one sister stayed behind. And William's mother is listed as Wright on his death cert. I do not know if this is true.
William died the year before my birth, in 1959. His daughters and grandchildren called him Poppa. He was a jack of all trades... But he was also the kind of man that legends are made from. I know that he ran away to Mexico at about 12 and didn't return for many years. He had, in fact, been given up for dead. When he did return in 1901 or 1902 he rode into Fayette Co. TX on a huge horse with a pair of pearl handled pistols on his hips. It was said that he had been involved with some kind of range war on the ranch he was working on.
Not long after that he spied my ggrandmother and began courting her against her family wishes. They were a well to do bunch and from the photos I've seen a bit stuffy. Anyway Poppa snuck up to their back door one evening during her birthday party and literally stole Dora Ellen away. By the time her daddy found them my grandmother was 5 days old. I still have a silver coin he placed in his new granddaughters hand. The story goes that she had screamed since her birth and wouldn't eat. The old man entered the shack saw the baby and laid down his rifle. He picked up the baby and sent someone to the garden to pull a cantelope. He peeled it and put a chunk in her mouth and she latched on to it for dear life. When I knew my granny she still loved cantalope and told this story to me often.(Granny was born in 1903, May 29).
William and Dora went on to have May (my granny), Fay, Foy, and Loy. Dora died shortly after giving birth to stillborn twin boys. My granny was 17 by then and raised her sisters. There may have been more because May was 9 when Fay was born. The parents also allowed May to name her little sisters, hence the rhyme. William drifted in and out of their lives after that and died here in Bay City in 1959.
I have lot of stories about him that my grandmother told me. He has always facinated me. I do believe his father may have been in the Civil War on the Northern side. But as far as facts all I have is a death cert. I do know he is buried in Granger, TX next to Dora."
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