Celia Ann Haynes Dies in 1892 or Later
One would think that after all this work in researching the history of Thomas and Celia Ann Haynes, we should know the exact date that Celia died, but that is not the case. We checked the probate files in both Jackson County and Victoria County, but no will or probate files were present in either. More than likely, she was buried in the Haynes family cemetery on the Haynes place, but we have so far been unable to gain access to the cemetery. The cemetery is just across the fence from the land owned by my grandparents, Mabel and Richard Daniel Haynes, on land that was inherited by Mary Julia Haynes Whalen. Insofar as we know, that land was passed from Mary Julia to her daughter, Lorraine Whalen Fenner, and then to Lorraine's son, Bill. We have not checked on ownership after that. We did go to the Jackson County Appraisal District office in Edna to obtain the name and address of the current owner, and then wrote him a nice letter requesting permission to visit the cemetery, but he did not respond. We will visit the cemetery eventually, because Texas law requires that property owners allow access to private cemeteries.
We have heard that all of the headstones were removed from the cemetery and stored elsewhere, but we do not know where they are or who has them. Again, the current owner did not respond to my questions regarding the headstones. We may have to build the Whalen/Fenner family tree in order to find someone who knows where the headstones are and will let us see them.
The last official document we found for Celia was a deed of July 18, 1892 (Book Q, page 376) in which Celia sold her "last" 660 acres of land to Michael C. Whalen, husband of her granddaughter Mary Julia Haynes Whalen. In this deed, she also gave Michael any other land that she still owned, thus giving him about 750 acres in the southwestern part of the Haynes place. That land was never explicitly mentioned in any deed or document signed by Thomas or Celia, and we never found it mentioned until it appeared as part of the Whalen Ranch in a 1909 survey.
We do not know where Celia was living during this time, but it probably was not on the land that she sold or gave to Michael Whalen, because both of those tracts were out on the prairie, away from the river. There were several houses on the Haynes place, and she could have been living in any of them. A likely place would have been with Mary Julia and Michael, since the documents suggest that she was closest to them and Michael had been granted Power of Attorney by Celia. However, that final deed said that Michael was from Victoria County, but listed Celia as being from Jackson County.
One would think that after all this work in researching the history of Thomas and Celia Ann Haynes, we should know the exact date that Celia died, but that is not the case. We checked the probate files in both Jackson County and Victoria County, but no will or probate files were present in either. More than likely, she was buried in the Haynes family cemetery on the Haynes place, but we have so far been unable to gain access to the cemetery. The cemetery is just across the fence from the land owned by my grandparents, Mabel and Richard Daniel Haynes, on land that was inherited by Mary Julia Haynes Whalen. Insofar as we know, that land was passed from Mary Julia to her daughter, Lorraine Whalen Fenner, and then to Lorraine's son, Bill. We have not checked on ownership after that. We did go to the Jackson County Appraisal District office in Edna to obtain the name and address of the current owner, and then wrote him a nice letter requesting permission to visit the cemetery, but he did not respond. We will visit the cemetery eventually, because Texas law requires that property owners allow access to private cemeteries.
We have heard that all of the headstones were removed from the cemetery and stored elsewhere, but we do not know where they are or who has them. Again, the current owner did not respond to my questions regarding the headstones. We may have to build the Whalen/Fenner family tree in order to find someone who knows where the headstones are and will let us see them.
The last official document we found for Celia was a deed of July 18, 1892 (Book Q, page 376) in which Celia sold her "last" 660 acres of land to Michael C. Whalen, husband of her granddaughter Mary Julia Haynes Whalen. In this deed, she also gave Michael any other land that she still owned, thus giving him about 750 acres in the southwestern part of the Haynes place. That land was never explicitly mentioned in any deed or document signed by Thomas or Celia, and we never found it mentioned until it appeared as part of the Whalen Ranch in a 1909 survey.
We do not know where Celia was living during this time, but it probably was not on the land that she sold or gave to Michael Whalen, because both of those tracts were out on the prairie, away from the river. There were several houses on the Haynes place, and she could have been living in any of them. A likely place would have been with Mary Julia and Michael, since the documents suggest that she was closest to them and Michael had been granted Power of Attorney by Celia. However, that final deed said that Michael was from Victoria County, but listed Celia as being from Jackson County.