When did Archie's Parents Die?
- Oct 23, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Well, I have been trying to determine when my grandfather Tucker’s parents died since I started this family history journey. At that time, it was generally thought they both died in 1918 and, of course, from the “Spanish Flu” epidemic that was raging. Someone also told our cousin Kay that the younger children went to live with a relative, a doctor, that lived in Little Rock. Nope. None of that is true! Kay would love to know what I found.
So, John Newton “Nute” and Arnetta “Nettie” Ellen Henderson Tucker both died after the 1910 US Census was enumerated on April 21, 1910 and before September 1, 1912. I don’t know if they died at the same time or why they died. There are no records. Records were not required in Arkansas until 1913 and generally not kept until even later. I cannot find, so far, any death certificate, mention in a newspaper, probate or other documents, or gravesite. Maybe never will. So, I looked at the lives of the children and did some full-text searching on FamilySearch and found some documents that provided support for this time period.
On the 1910 U.S. Census, all of John and Arnetta’s children except Archie Odus were still living at home with them in Paraclifta, Sevier County, Arkansas. The children were John Henry 19, Dora Lee 23, Grace 16, Clyde 10, and Augusta Maybelle 24. May’s two children Claude 3, and Georgia 9 months were also living there. This was the last document found for John and Arnetta.
The Youngest Children – Lula Grace and Clyde McKinley
When they died, there were only 2 unmarried young children—Gracie 17 and Clyde 12. These children went to live with their guardian in Oklahoma—their older brother Archie Odus Tucker, 23. He registered them for school as their guardian for the first time in September 1912 for the school year ending June 1913. They would continue to live with him until at least the school year ending in June 1917, when Gracie was 21 and Clyde 17. Note that people really weren’t that concerned with accuracy on birthdates or consistent in spelling of names. There just wasn’t the emphasis on either of those things prior to later times. This is why you will see a person spell their name differently on documents they sign themselves. The reason we have wondered whether our grandfather was Odus or Otis. Just not important to them.
Archie married Ethel Stogsdill in September 1916, so Gracie and Clyde appear to have lived with them for a while. Then, perhaps, they moved back to Arkansas with other siblings. We know Grace marries Hal Thompson in 1919 in Arkansas. The first record I found for Clyde, after the school records, was his draft registration on September 12, 1918, in Arkansas. He reported his sister May, living in Lockesburg, Sevier County, Arkansas as his nearest relative. From this, we know that both May and Clyde had moved back to Arkansas by that date. Clyde was 18 years old.
I found some additional documents on FamilySearch about Archie Odus Tucker's sister Gracie that adds some information not known previously.
We know that Archie married Ethel Stogsdill on September 24, 1916; and they started their own family in Virgil, Oklahoma. I believe that Gracie and Clyde were still living with them after they married due to the school enrollment and the circumstances of the other older children.
We know that Archie had enrolled Gracie and Clyde in school on January 24, 1917, in Virgil. In January of that year, their sister May's husband Oliver had died. By March, she was busy trying to get guardianship of her children transferred to Choctaw County, Oklahoma where she had moved near Archie. So, it is possible that Gracie and Clyde could have been living with her but doubtful due to her circumstances and the school enrollment by Archie.
On March 19, 1917, Gracie was still living in Virgil when she married for the first time. This was the same city where Archie and Ethel lived. She married Walter Sheets, the son of the minister of the Free Will Baptist Church, Eli Sheets. This is the same minister who had married Archie and Ethel the previous September.
However, her marriage did not go as she hoped.
On February 1, 1918, just short of a year of marriage, Gracie filed for divorce due to gross negligence and inhuman treatment by Walter. She claimed he would leave the home and not return for days, neglecting and not providing for her although he could afford to do so. She also reported that she was compelled to leave the home of his father, where they were living, to try to support herself. She left on August 17, 1917. and stated this date as the separation date of her marriage. She probably was living with her brother Archie from that date until at least her divorce was effective September 11, 1918 (6 months after the divorce was granted). She was probably not living with May, who had moved to Sevier County, Arkansas before November 13, 1917, where she was granted Guardianship of her two children. In fact, Gracie stated in her divorce petition that she was a resident and had lived in Choctaw County, Oklahoma for at least the previous year, as required.
This was a marriage and divorce that we didn’t know about previously although her granddaughter had mentioned to me about 10 years ago that Gracie may or may not have been married once before she married Hal Thompson. Her luck was better on her second marriage, lasting from 1919 until his death in 1975.
The older children – John Henry, Dora Lee, and Augusta Maybelle
Dora Lee (July 13, 1887-April 3, 1919) Dora married Walter Thomas Chandler on Feb 15, 1911 at the age of 23. He was 35. We don’t know if her marriage was influenced by either of her parent’s circumstances. Had one already died and the other could not support the children alone? Were they both in poor health?
Dora died April 3, 1919, from pulmonary tuberculosis with contributory influenza (Spanish Flu). Her son Murray was only about 7 years old. Walter would marry again to Thelma Overstreet, with 3 children. On the 1930 U.S. Census, Murray is not living with them. Next door is the Walcott family with a daughter Nellie Mae, whom Murray married in 1940. They had at least 3 sons, Lloyd Wayne, Murray Elgin, Jr., and Larry Delno.
John Henry (May 10, 1891-January 9, 1919) John married Ethel Lucille Setliff on June 15, 1914, when he was 23 and she was 15. This was a few years after my estimate of the parents’ deaths of before September 1912. They were living in Riddle, Sevier County, Arkansas, which was the same area as Paraclifta, where his parents had lived. They had 2 daughters, Lillie Belle born in 1915 and Maggie Juanita born in 1918.
Unfortunately, he died at the early age of 26½ on January 9, 1919, from appendicitis, which was not treated because the doctors thought he had the Spanish Flu. Apparently, his was a painful death per an adopted granddaughter, Patricia. His widow was only 19.
Augusta Maybelle (August 1885-October 30, 1932) May's story warrants a post just about her. She, however, had married Oliver Glover in September 1906. They divorced in 1909 after having 2 children Claud and Georgia. May, along with her children, was back living with her parents on the 1910 U.S. Census. She was listed as widowed, which was a common listing for divorced women wishing to avoid the stigma of divorce. Although divorced, May and Oliver reconciled and remarried on September 3, 1912. This is the time that Archie became the guardian of the 2 youngest siblings and enrolled them in school. Perhaps, May needed the support of Oliver and, with her parents deceased, she decided to give the marriage another try.
I believe the evidence of the guardianship and the circumstances of the other children supports the hypothesis that the parents were both deceased around September 1912. Perhaps some day, more documents will reveal what exactly happened to John and Arnetta.
Solved by research 2025
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