Friday, October 3, 2008

Salem Cemetery Lot No. 50: Calvin E. Hatfield, Owner

Lot No. 50 was purchased by Calvin E. Hatfield in 1899 upon the death of his first wife, Tessie A. (Parsons) Hatfield, in childbirth at the age of 26. It contains eight graves, those of Calvin and Tessie and their infant son, Robert; Calvin's second wife, Nancy Jane Hawkins; three children of Calvin and Nancy Jane, Lois M., Theodore W. and Martha M. (McKinley); and a son-in-law, Eugene M. McKinley. Also located on the lot is a memorial stone for Harlan Ellis Hatfield, son of Calvin and Nancy Jane, who was killed in action during World War II and is buried in Germany. The tombstone inscriptions here are recorded from south to north.


CALVIN E.
HATFIELD
1868-1932

OBITUARY: CALVIN ELLIS HATFIELD

Calvin E. Hatfield, well known resident of this county, died at his home in Millerton (Wayne County, Iowa) on Friday, February 5, 1932, at the age of 62 years, 3 months and 27 days, after an illness of five days with pneumonia and heart trouble. Funeral services, conducted by Rev. M.S. Clark, were held at the Millerton M.E. church on Sunday morning at ten o'clock, followed by interment in the Salem cemetery.

Calvin Ellis Hatfield, son of Robert and Harriet Hatfield, was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, on October 8, 1869. When but a small child he came with his parents the state of Iowa, and located in Lucas county where he grew to young manhood, and where he was married to Miss Tessie A. Parsons. To their union four children were born, Pearl, Sylvia, Hazel and Robert, the latter dying in infancy. Mrs. Hatfield died on March 9, 1899, and on February 19, 1902, Mr. Hatfield was married to Miss Nancy Jane Hawkins. Ten children were born to them, namedly Gladys, Theodore, Elma, Martha, Doris, Kenneth, Twila, Merle, Ellis and Lois Maxine, the latter dying in infancy. Mr. Hatfield leaves to mourn their loss his wife and the children above mentioned, and twelve grandchildren, one brother, M.A. Hatfield, of Russell, Iowa, one sister, Mrs. J.W. May, of Chariton, and a number of other relatives and a host of friends. He was converted in 1902 at Sharon Baptist church, and was baptized into that church by the Rev. M.S. Clark and has been a faithful member of that organization until the Master said, "It is enough. come up higher." He was a good, honest, hard working man, a splendid citizen and neighbor, and dealt in a kindly manner with his nieghbors and business men. He will be gretly missed in the Millerton community. All of his children were at his bedside during his illness and death. (The Chariton Herald Patriot, 11 February 1932, Page 3)



HATFIELD


TESSIE A.
HATFIELD
(South Inscription)
Jan. 28
1873
Mar. 9
1899


ROBERT D.
HATFIELD
(North Inscription)
Mar. 9
1899
Aug. 13
1899

DEATH NOTICE: TESSIE (PARSONS) HATFIELD

Died, Thursday, March 9, 1899, at 10 o'clock m. (sic) at her home in Benton township, Mrs. Tessie Hatfield. Funeral services were conducted from the home Saturday at 10 o'clock a.m. and the remains interred in the Salem cemetery.

Mrs. Hatfield was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Parsons of Benton township. She leaves a husband and four children, the youngest only a few hours old. She was a good woman, a loving wife and mother, a true friend. Mr. Hatfield and the children have the heartfelt sympathy of the entire community in their sad bereavement. (Chariton Patriot, 16 March 1899)

Notes: Tessie Ann was the eldest of 12 children of James and Catherine (Myers) Parsons and was born 28 January 1873 in Benton Township, Lucas County. She was married to Calvin Ellis Hatfield on 4 March 1891, also in Lucas County. She is a granddaughter of Jacob and Harriet (Dick) Myers, buried in Salem Lot No. 33; and a sister of Lilly Belle Parsons, buried in Lot No. 48.

Following Tessie's death, daughter Hazel, born 29 October 1897 and about a year and a half old, was taken into the home of Harvey and Irene (Redlingshafer) Whiteside, who had no children of their own, and subsequently adopted by them. Hazel married Reece Thomas on 17 November 1917 and they lived their married lives on a farm a mile east of Salem. Hazel died 1 November 1977. The Whitesides and the Thomases are buried in the Chariton Cemetery.


DEATH NOTICE: ROBERT D. HATFIELD

The six month old son of Calvin Hatfield died at his home in Benton township last Sunday evening. Funeral services were held from Salem church Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock and the little form laid to rest in the Salem cemetery.

During all his brief life he had been a delicate child and death came as a relief to the little sufferer, who has gone to be with Him who has said "Suffer the little children to come unto me." The sympathy of the community is extended the father, who has to bear his grief alone, the mother having died about six months ago. (Chariton Patriot, Thursday, 24 August 1899)



INFANT
LOIS M.
HATFIELD
1917




NANCY JANE
HATFIELD
1874-1949

OBITUARY: NANCY JANE (HAWKINS) HATFIELD

Nancy Jane Hatfield, daughter of Wesley W. and Elsie Jane Hawkins, was born February 16, 1874, and passed away March 19, 1949, at Guthrie Center, where she had been tenderly cared for in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mark Huntley. She had attained the age of 75 years.

On February 19, 1902, she was united in marriage to Mr. Calvin Ellis Hatfield, who preceded her in death February 5, 1932. Ten children were born to this union. They are Mrs. John Eddy of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Ted Hatfield, of Newton, Iowa; Mrs. Orville Roe, of Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Gene McKinley, of Chariton; Mrs. Mark Huntley, of Guthrie Center, Iowa; Kenneth Hatfield, of Antigo, Wisconsin; Mrs. D. Pesavento, of Lockport, Illinois; Mrs. Dean Thompson, of Grinnell, Iowa, and two others now dead. They are Lois, who died in infancy, and Ellis, who gave his life for his country in Germany during World War II.

There are also three step-daughters, Mrs. Walter Colver and Mrs. Reece Thomas, of Chariton, and Mrs. Jess George, of Osceola, Iowa. Also 23 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

Three sisters and two brothers also survive. They are Mrs. Etta Matthews, of Chariton; Mrs. Amanda McMurry of Hammond, Indiana; Mrs. Mabel Tews, of Bloomfield; Elmer Hawkins and Jim Hawkins, both of Chariton.

Early in life Mrs. Hatfield united with the Sharon Baptist church and remained a faithful Christian through all the years of her life.

Mrs. Reece Thomas, wrote the following lines in her memory:

We need a mother so very much, her loss is so very great;
Sometimes we scarcely realize, until it is too late.
But our loss is the Savior's gain, for she is here no more;
We saw her smile as she saw his face, when she crossed to the other shore;
We know she is happy and free from pain and from all worries and care;
May we children live in such a way we may meet her over there.

Funeral services conducted by the Rev. W.L. Peters were held Monday, March 21, at the Beardsley Funeral home. Burial was made in Salem cemetery.

Active pallbearers were grandsons, Bob Edwards, Jack Thomas, Leland George, Joe Smith, Bill Pugh and Bob Farrell. Honorary pallbearers were Bob McKinley and Dick Hatfield. (Undated clipping, Lucas County Genealogical Society collection)




IN MEMORY OF
HARLAN ELLIS
HATFIELD
1919-1945

NARRATIVE: HARLAN ELLIS HATFIELD
By Frank D. Myers

A small U.S. flag usually flies year-around above the small memorial stone at Salem Cemetery that is a tangible reminder of Ellis Hatfield, one of Lucas County's World War II dead whose remains were not repatriated after combat ended in Europe.

Salem's sometimes shaggy informality is in sharp contrast to the manicured precision of the Lorraine American Cemetery near St. Avold, not far from the French-German border, where Ellis rests with 10,489 of his comades --- the largest American cemetery in Europe. But Lucas County was home, and I think Ellis would like to know that he is remembered here.

Born 24 February 1919, Ellis was the youngest of his father's, Calvin Ellis Hatfield's, family of 14 children, two of whom died as infants. Calvin was married twice, first to Tessie Ann Parsons (daughter of James and Catherine Myers Parsons), to whom four children were born: Pearl, Sylvia, Hazel and Robert D. Tessie died 9 March 1899, the day of Robert's birth, and the little boy followed five months later, on 13 August. They were the first to be buried on the Hatfield lot at Salem.

Three years later, Calvin married Nancy Jane Hawkins, daughter of Wesley W. and Elsie Jane Hawkins. They became the parents of 10 children: Gladys, Theodore, Elma, Martha, Doris, Kenneth, Twila, Merle, Ellis and Lois, who died in infancy during 1917.

The Hatfields were living in Millerton, just across the line in Wayne County, when Calvin Hatfield died 5 February 1932. Ellis was just short of 13 at the time, and moved not long thereafter into Chariton with his mother and siblings.

He graduated from Chariton High School with the class of 1936 and within a year or two married Wilma Moss. They had three sons in quick succession: Melvin, Ellis Dale and Gerald.

As World War II spread across the globe, the family moved to Chicago, where Ellis worked at a defense plant prior to his induction into the U.S. Army on 2 June 1944. Wilma and the little boys then returned to Chariton to live with her mother, Margaret Moss.

Ellis trained at Camp Fannion in Texas and at Camp Meade in Maryland before deployment during late 1944 to the European theater of operations with the 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, assigned to the Seventh Army in France.

He earned the Combat Infantryman Badge in France, awarded "for satisfactory performance of duty in ground combat against the enemy," a designation that meant $10 more would be added to his monthly pay, sent home to Chariton to help support his family.

And Ellis shared with many others credit for the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the Third Battalion of the 398th Regiment, then "engaged in some of the most bitter fighting on the entire Maginot Line," the Chariton newspapers reported during early 1945.

The Third Battalion had forced its way into Fort Schiesseck, a key defensive bastion on the Maginot Line, during December 1944 and then went on to participate in the three-month winter siege of the ancient fortress city of Bitche, which fell to the 100th on 16 March 1945, earning special recognition for the courage and tenacity of its men --- and the designation Sons of Bitche for those who fought so gallantly there.

With the Siegfried Line broken and all enemy units cleared from the west bank of the Rhine, the U.S. Seventh and Third armies crossed the river and began the final drive into Germany. On 5 April, in Germany, Ellis was killed. First reported missing in action on 18 April, he was listed officially as killed in action on 15 May 1945.

The official declaration of his death came a week after Germany's unconditional surrender and the end of World War II in Europe.

Because Ellis was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, we know the circumstances of his death. The citation that accompanied his medal reads in part as follows:

"When the weapons platoon in which Private Hatfield was an ammunation bearer became surrounded by a numerically superior German force, he courageously maintained a steady supply of ammunition at hand for his weapon and then, as the situation grew progressively worse, he started out with a companion to contact a machine gun squad on his flank.

"When they became targets for an auntomatic weapon and his comrade was seriously sounded, Private Hatfield defied the imminent danger and began to carry him to a place of safety. While thus engaged, Private Hatfield was instantly killed by enemy machine gun fire. His valiant and intrepid action is in keeping with the highest traditions of the Army of the United States."

Although his parents named him Harlan Ellis Hatfield, and that is the way the name is given on his memorial stone, he always was known as Ellis, so the order of the names was informally reversed. He appears as Ellis H. Hatfield in most published records, and was known to his friends as "Hatty."



THEODORE W.
HATFIELD
1904-1961

OBITUARY: THEODORE W. HATFIELD

Theodore W. Hatfield, 56, a resident of Newton for the past 36 years, died at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday at Iowa Methodist hospital in Des Moines, where he had undergone brain surgery.

Funeral services were held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Morgan-Lochr Funeral Home, the Rev. Robert Barnett officiating. Burial was in the Salem cemetery near Chariton.

Mr. Hatfield is survived by his wife, Bessie, five sisters, Mrs. Gladys Eddy of Council Bluffs, Mrs. Twila Pesavento of Lockport, Ill., Mrs. Charles Roe of Pomona, Calif., Mrs. Mark Huntley of Mason City and Mrs. Dean Thompson of Grinnell; three half-sisters, Mrs. Reece Thomas of Chariton, Mrs. Walter Colver of Chariton and Mrs. Jesse George of Osceola; a brother, Kenneth Hatfield of Chicago; and two step-sons, Carl Hewitt of Newton and Orville Hewitt of Davenport.

He was a member of the Baptist church at Chariton, Knights of Pythias, Moose, and Legion of the Moose, and the Izaak Walton League.

The son of Calvin and Nancy Hatfield, he was born June 15, 1904, at Chariton. Mr. Hatfield was married Dec. 10, 1956, at Davenport to Bessie Reynolds. He was an employee of the Maytag Co. (The Chariton Leader, Thursday, 19 January 1961)


EUGENE M.
McKINLEY
1899-1987

MARTHA M.
McKINLEY
1906-1951

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