Mary Julia Haynes Whalen and Michael C. Whalen
Mary Julia Haynes, born in 1867, was the first child of Amos W. Haynes and his first wife, Mary A. Hayes, who died during or not long after Mary Julia's birth. From her father, Mary Hayes had inherited a league of land (4,428 acres or so) in Bee County, and one-half of that land had passed on to Mary Julia. Amos served as administrator of Mary Julia’s inheritance. Amos soon married again, to Julia Elena Blossman, and Mary Julia was living with them. But that marriage quickly failed, and Amos and Mary Julia moved in with his mother, Celia Ann Haynes, according to the 1880 census.
When Mary Julia was 13 (in 1880), Amos received permission from the court to sell Mary Julia’s land to provide funds to send her to be educated (in Bee County, we think). The land was sold for $1,200. Amos listed the cost of her education as only $175, so it would be natural to think that she probably lived free of charge with a relative while attending school, and the school could very well have been a public school. We do not know who she lived with then, but it could have been her maternal grand-mother. However, the book "A Journey Through Texas" written about that time stated that the cost of education at a boarding school was only $2 to $4 per month, so Mary Julia may very well have lived at the school she attended. Amos held on to the remainder of Mary Julia's inheritance money until Mary Julia became “of age.”
In 1884, at age 17, Mary Julia married Michael C. Whalen, who was originally from Tennessee and was about 14 years older. Her first child, Mark Haynes Whalen, was born in Jackson County in December, 1884. We have no information about where the newlyweds lived. Amos had married for the third time in 1883, so the Whalens probably were not living with him and his new wife Jennie, although they may have been living in one of the numerous houses on the Haynes place.
In 1886, Amos sold 700 acres of his Haynes place land and one-half of his cattle to Mary Julia (age 19) for $4,000 (in her name only, independently of Michael C.). The deal also relieved Amos from having to repay Mary Julia's inheritance money that he still owed her. But this land sale was reversed three years later, in 1889, when Amos traded Mary Julia 770 acres of Juan Fernandez Grant land for the original 700 acres of Haynes place land.
Mary Julia Haynes, born in 1867, was the first child of Amos W. Haynes and his first wife, Mary A. Hayes, who died during or not long after Mary Julia's birth. From her father, Mary Hayes had inherited a league of land (4,428 acres or so) in Bee County, and one-half of that land had passed on to Mary Julia. Amos served as administrator of Mary Julia’s inheritance. Amos soon married again, to Julia Elena Blossman, and Mary Julia was living with them. But that marriage quickly failed, and Amos and Mary Julia moved in with his mother, Celia Ann Haynes, according to the 1880 census.
When Mary Julia was 13 (in 1880), Amos received permission from the court to sell Mary Julia’s land to provide funds to send her to be educated (in Bee County, we think). The land was sold for $1,200. Amos listed the cost of her education as only $175, so it would be natural to think that she probably lived free of charge with a relative while attending school, and the school could very well have been a public school. We do not know who she lived with then, but it could have been her maternal grand-mother. However, the book "A Journey Through Texas" written about that time stated that the cost of education at a boarding school was only $2 to $4 per month, so Mary Julia may very well have lived at the school she attended. Amos held on to the remainder of Mary Julia's inheritance money until Mary Julia became “of age.”
In 1884, at age 17, Mary Julia married Michael C. Whalen, who was originally from Tennessee and was about 14 years older. Her first child, Mark Haynes Whalen, was born in Jackson County in December, 1884. We have no information about where the newlyweds lived. Amos had married for the third time in 1883, so the Whalens probably were not living with him and his new wife Jennie, although they may have been living in one of the numerous houses on the Haynes place.
In 1886, Amos sold 700 acres of his Haynes place land and one-half of his cattle to Mary Julia (age 19) for $4,000 (in her name only, independently of Michael C.). The deal also relieved Amos from having to repay Mary Julia's inheritance money that he still owed her. But this land sale was reversed three years later, in 1889, when Amos traded Mary Julia 770 acres of Juan Fernandez Grant land for the original 700 acres of Haynes place land.
The Haynes Place
Area T was sold before Mary Julia's birth
In 1891, the Whalens and Amos together bought 300 acres (area 3) of Haynes place land from Thomas S. Haynes, Arthur's son and Mary Julia's cousin. That land had been given to Thomas S. by his grandmother, Celia. Amos died later in 1891, and Mary Julia inherited one-half of his estate of 1,550 acres (areas B, R, 5, J, and 3). Her half-siblings, Blanche C. and Richard Daniel Haynes, inherited the other half. Mary Julia and Michael C. were executors of Amos's estate. Since both "Blannie" and "Dick" were minors, Mary Julia and Michael C. managed the estate's land until Blannie came of age. (This Google map shows all of the Haynes place; see the descriptions on the left for its subdivisions.)
In 1892, the Whalens (in Michael's name only) bought a 660 acre tract (area D) of Haynes place "prairie" land from Celia, and Celia also turned over all other land that she still owned to Michael. As it turned out, this amounted to about 750 acres in the SW pasture (area P) and conceivably, the "bonus area O" as well.
In 1892, the Whalens (in Michael's name only) bought a 660 acre tract (area D) of Haynes place "prairie" land from Celia, and Celia also turned over all other land that she still owned to Michael. As it turned out, this amounted to about 750 acres in the SW pasture (area P) and conceivably, the "bonus area O" as well.
In 1893, Mary Julia's second child, Lorraine Willie Whalen, was born. In 1894, the land in Amos's estate was divided, and Mary Julia received her 775 acre share as a 625 acre triangular tract (area J) and Amos's half of the 300 acre tract (area 3) that they had purchased jointly from Thomas S. By default, Mary Julia also owned the bonus area O. So at this point, the Whalens owned all of the Haynes place except for 775 acres on the upper end (areas B, R, and 5) owned by Blanche and Richard and 640 acres on the lower end (area C) that had been owned by Christopher.
Because the 1890 census data was destroyed in Washington, we had no information about Mary Julia and her family between 1880 and 1900, except for the probate of Amos's estate in 1894 and deeds from the related land transactions. Since the Whalens owned some much Haynes place land, we assumed that they lived on that land. But we have not been able to locate any of them in the 1900 census, either, but found Michael and son William Henry Whalen (born in 1897) in the 1910 census (but without Mary Julia or her first two children, Mark and Lorraine). So we decided that Mary Julia had died before 1910, and that William Henry Whalen was her third child.
We eventually located a 1908 deed in which Michael C. Whalen and other Haynes family members donated land for highway right-of-way (what is now FM 234) through their property. Michael signed for himself and only one minor child, Lorraine. So then we knew that Mary Julia had died on or before 1908. But what about William Henry Whalen, who was even younger than Lorraine? Why wasn't he also listed on the highway deed as a minor if he was Mary Julia's son? (The oldest son, Mark Haynes Whalen, was no longer a minor.)
We eventually found the probate files for Mary Julia's estate. She had died on February 9, 1895 in Victoria County at age 28, and had left two heirs - Mark Haynes Whalen (age 9) and Willie Lorraine Whalen (age 2). So Mary Julia was not the mother of William Henry Whalen, who was born in 1897.
Because the 1890 census data was destroyed in Washington, we had no information about Mary Julia and her family between 1880 and 1900, except for the probate of Amos's estate in 1894 and deeds from the related land transactions. Since the Whalens owned some much Haynes place land, we assumed that they lived on that land. But we have not been able to locate any of them in the 1900 census, either, but found Michael and son William Henry Whalen (born in 1897) in the 1910 census (but without Mary Julia or her first two children, Mark and Lorraine). So we decided that Mary Julia had died before 1910, and that William Henry Whalen was her third child.
We eventually located a 1908 deed in which Michael C. Whalen and other Haynes family members donated land for highway right-of-way (what is now FM 234) through their property. Michael signed for himself and only one minor child, Lorraine. So then we knew that Mary Julia had died on or before 1908. But what about William Henry Whalen, who was even younger than Lorraine? Why wasn't he also listed on the highway deed as a minor if he was Mary Julia's son? (The oldest son, Mark Haynes Whalen, was no longer a minor.)
We eventually found the probate files for Mary Julia's estate. She had died on February 9, 1895 in Victoria County at age 28, and had left two heirs - Mark Haynes Whalen (age 9) and Willie Lorraine Whalen (age 2). So Mary Julia was not the mother of William Henry Whalen, who was born in 1897.
The Whalen Pasture in 1910
With the death of Mary Julia, her Haynes place land went to her two children and her husband, Michael. We have not thoroughly traced the ownership of that land among Mary Julia's descendants, but it appears that in 1909 it was still owned, with only minor changes, by members of the Whalen family, and was known as the "Whalen Ranch" or "Whalen Pasture." Michael began selling the land on the west side of FM 234 about 1911 (Book 21, page 19), but Whalen descendants (Fenners, etc.) held on to at least some of the land along the Lavaca River until at least the 1960s, and probably longer.
As for Michael, we have not investigated his later life, but another genealogical report we have seen (but not verified) suggests that he was married twice after Mary Julia's death, first to Lee Chambers, who probably was William Henry Whalen's mother, and then to Alva Catherine Cole. We do have a copy of a 1917 homestead declaration (Book 35, page 90) by Michael C. and Alva Whalen describing their 213 acre homestead tract on the Lavaca River.
As for Michael, we have not investigated his later life, but another genealogical report we have seen (but not verified) suggests that he was married twice after Mary Julia's death, first to Lee Chambers, who probably was William Henry Whalen's mother, and then to Alva Catherine Cole. We do have a copy of a 1917 homestead declaration (Book 35, page 90) by Michael C. and Alva Whalen describing their 213 acre homestead tract on the Lavaca River.