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| Jim Trout and his second wife, Susie Cooper Trout, probably around the 1930s. |
Married: (1) Minnie Effie Jordan, (2) Susie Ann Lou Cooper
Died: 1 February 1950 in Donley County, Texas
Parents: David H. Trout and Mary Elizabeth Upchurch
Bio: James Wesley Trout was born 7 October 1887 in Grand Prairie, Dallas, Texas 1 . At the time, Grand Prairie was a small, new town, and possibly still going by its original name of Deckman, Texas—nothing like the booming, metroplex suburb it is today. In fact, according to this article put out by the city of Grand Prairie on its centennial celebration in 2009, the distance from Grand Prairie to Dallas was a day on horseback. 2
In 1909, Jim married then eighteen-year-old Minnie Effie Jordan 3 , the daughter of Robert Ellis Jordan (sometimes rendered Robert Ellie) 4 who was one of the Tennessee Jordan clan of the earliest settlers of Grand Prairie. 5
Shortly thereafter, the young couple moved to Clay County, a distance of about a hundred miles. 6 Over the next eleven years Jim and Minnie became the parents of four daughters: Myrtle May, two living whose names are omitted for privacy, and a stillborn baby girl whom they called Hope. 7 During this time period, they also moved back and forth between Grand Prairie and Clay County—presumably because Grand Prairie was where their families were. 8
Tragically, Minnie died on 6 November 1927 at age 37, probably in Clay County, leaving behind her husband and three daughters, ranging from ten to seventeen. She is buried in Buffalo Springs Cemetery in Clay County, near her stillborn baby girl. 9
About a year and a half later, Jim remarried to an Oklahoma native nineteen years his junior.
1 "United States, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XP51-ZTP : accessed 25 Jan 2013), James Westly Trout, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publications M1939, M1936, and M1937; FHL microfilm 4161310. 2 Grand Prairie Historical Organization, “Celebrating a Century, 1909-2009”, http:// www . gptx . org / Modules /ShowDocument . aspx ? documentid=1506 , accessed 24 January 2013. 3 "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M29K-Z16 : accessed 25 Jan 2013), Minnie Trout in household of James W Trout, Justice Precinct 5, Clay, Texas; citing sheet 19B, family 227, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1375551. [Information given on the census indicates that as of May 1910 when the census was taken, James and Minnie had been married for one year. Also living with the young couple was Minnie’s 63-year-old widowed mother “Ella Jordan”. My family tradition is that the date was 16 February 1909, but I would like to document that.]] 4 "Ancestral File", database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/MWD7-GDT : accessed 2013-01-25), entry for Minnie Effie JORDAN. [I am currently looking for a documented primary source to prove this parental link. I know from the 1910 Census that Minnie was the daughter of Ellen Jordan.] 5 Grand Prairie Historical Organization, “Celebrating a Century, 1909-2009”, http:// www . gptx . org / Modules /ShowDocument . aspx ? documentid=1506 , accessed 24 January 2013. 6 "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M29K-Z16 : accessed 25 Jan 2013), Minnie Trout in household of James W Trout, Justice Precinct 5, Clay, Texas; citing sheet 19B, family 227, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1375551. 7 Find A Grave, Inc., Find a Grave, digital image ( http:// www . findagrave . com: accessed 25 January 2013), photograph, “gravestone for Baby (Hope) Trout (1920-1920), Memorial #72087604, records of the Buffalo Springs Cemetery, Buffalo Springs, Texas;” photo by Gerri Cozart Paine. 8 In 1910, the family was living in Clay County, Texas. In 1917, Jim’s WWI Draft Registration Card gives their residence as Grand Prairie, Dallas, Texas. I have not yet been able to locate the family in the 1920 Census, but when Minnie died in 1927, she was buried in Buffalo Springs, Clay County. 9 Find A Grave, Inc., Find a Grave, digital image ( http:// www . findagrave . com: accessed 25 January 2013), photograph, “gravestone for Minnie Effie Trout (1890-1927), Memorial #72087687, records of the Buffalo Springs Cemetery, Buffalo Springs, Texas;” photo by Gerri Cozart Paine.
When he and Susie Ann Lou Cooper wed on 17 March 1929, he was 41. 10 She was in her early twenties and only a handful of years older than Jim's oldest daughter, Myrtle.
Jim was just a farmer and they were never prosperous. As a newspaper article published by Susie’s children describes, they married on the eve of the Great Depression and even lived in an area of the country that was considered part of the Dust Bowl. They made their home on the flat plains of the Texas panhandle via covered wagon as she was several months pregnant with her first child. 11 His World War II Draft Registration card filled out when he was 54 indicates that he was fortunate enough to find work with the WPA. 12
Despite the age difference, however, my family's adoration of this lady indicates what kind of mother she was. She not only became the beloved step-mother of Jim's previous three children, but together they went on to have seven more—five of which were also girls. They raised and educated their children as best they could despite their impoverished condition. 13
Jim died suddenly on 1 February 1950 of coronary thrombosis, or a blood clot in the heart. While his death was unexpected, it appears from his death certificate that it was a problem he had for a couple years already. 14 He was buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in the tiny panhandle town of McLean in which he and his family had lived for twenty years. 15
Susie was left to care for the remaining six or seven children still underage and at home. My grandfather was in eighth grade at the time of his father's passing and remembers having to drop out of school to find work. With no more than a grade school education and at a time when it was only just becoming acceptable for women to work outside the home, Susie left the home to find a job. According to the same Amarillo Globe-News article from 2006, she worked as a janitor, a café dishwasher, and took in ironing to put food on the table. And she had never learned to drive a car. 16 But, as was the case with so many of their generation, they made it with hard work and prayer.
10 "Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F6YJ-5QB : accessed 25 Jan 2013), J.W. Trout and Susie Cooper, 17 Mar 1929. 11 The Trout Family. “Family Praises Mother’s Spunk.” Amarillo Globe-News, August 30, 2006. http://amarillo.com/stories/083006/fri_5413928.shtml 12 "United States, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XP51-ZTP : accessed 25 Jan 2013), James Westly Trout, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publications M1939, M1936, and M1937; FHL microfilm 4161310. 13 The Trout Family. “Family Praises Mother’s Spunk.” Amarillo Globe-News, August 30, 2006. http://amarillo.com/stories/083006/fri_5413928.shtm 14 "Texas, Deaths (New Index, New Images), 1890-1976," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KS1W-Q16 : accessed 25 Jan 2013), James Wesley Trout, 1950; citing State Registrar Office, Austin, Texas. 15 Find A Grave, Inc., Find a Grave, digital image (http ://www . findagrave . com: accessed 25 January 2013), photograph, “gravemarker for J.W. Trout (1887-1950), Memorial #68172141, records of the Hillcrest Cemetery, McLean, Gray, Texas;” photo by David Sifford. 16 The Trout Family. “Family Praises Mother’s Spunk.” Amarillo Globe-News, August 30, 2006. http://amarillo.com/stories/083006/fri_5413928.shtml
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