Ohio County Guardianships - Part II

 6. Sept 20, 1905, pg 2.   MADDOX

7. Dec 24, 1919, pg 5.   SMITH

8.  Dec 8, 1886, pg 3, under County Court.   GENTRY

9. Dec 15, 1886, pg 3, under Court Notes.  WALKER

10. Nov 16, 1892, pg 3.  KELLY

11. Aug 7, 1912.  SMITH

12.  Sept 28, 1921, pg 5.  HORSEMAN

13.  April 18, 1917, pg 8.  BERRY

14.  Feb 23, 1887, pg 3, under Court Notes.  HOLBROOK, MONTAGUE

15. May 11, 1887, pg 3, under County Court Notes.  TAYLOR

Ohio County Guardianships

 Ohio County Guardianships

          Guardianship proceedings occurred when minor children were orphaned or when the father or "bread winner" died. The mother was allowed to retain guardianship if officials considered her circumstances sufficient to provide for the children. Another person appointed as guardian may have been a relative, a friend of the family, or one who could teach the minor(s) a trade. In some cases guardians or administrators were appointed to handle the affairs of adults who were deemed incompetent.

          County officials (County Court/County Judge) appointed guardians to provide minor children with education or training, making it more likely that the minors would become contributing members of the community rather than wards of the county or state.

          The guardian must file periodic reports with the Court detailing all actions taken by the Guardian, especially when the Guardian is handling money belonging to the child or the incompetent adult (sometimes referred to as the Ward).

          Guardianship records usually give the name of the deceased parent(s) and the names and ages of the minor children. The records have been kept by the clerks of either the county courts or the circuit courts in Kentucky. They are most often intermingled with probate or court records.

          I am unable to search the Ohio County courthouse records for guardianship data but I have searched the online records for the Hartford Herald (1875-1926) and the Hartford Republican (1891-1926) and found ninety-five mentions of guardianships, which (I assume) would be substantially less than the actual total.  It would be a good project for someone to search those records and write a book on this subject. 

          I will post all ninety-five items that I found.  I will highlight the surname of the Ward to help you search.  These are not in chronological order, but as I found them when searching the online site for the newspapers.  It will take several weeks to post all ninety-five items.

Here’s what I found in the Hartford Herald:

1. Jan 9, 1889, pg 4, under County Court Notes, Jan Term. BARNETT, HUFF, LACEY, DOUGLAS, and WRIGHT.

2. Mar 5, 1890, pg 3, under County Court Notes. POOL, HAMILTON, HOLBROOK, WHITELY, AUSTIN.

3. May 25, 1921, pg 8. MADDOX, MILLER

4. May 11, 1921, pg 1. KERKOF, FAUGHT, SMITH

5. Sept 7, 1904, pg 3. WRIGHT, HODGES, RHOADS

Holbrook and Smith

 Holbrook and Smith 

          I found this photo of a young girl from Fordsville that was travelling to the Philippines to get married.  I decided to see if I could find a wedding announcement or any additional information. I found an interesting but sad story.

Here is a better photo of Miss Smith from about the same time. This was from her passport.

          Mary Carroll Smith was born 1 Nov 1893 in Fordsville, the daughter of John Thomas Smith (1852-1929) and Anne Eliza Ford (1856-1953). 

          She married McHenry Holbrook in the Philippines (or maybe in Japan) in 1918 and her parents and his parents attended the wedding. Here is a photo of McHenry Holbrook from his passport.

          McHenry Holbrook was the son of Rowan Holbrook (1868-1928) and Bettie Lee Taylor (1868-1946); the family was in the banking business.  McHenry was employed by the National City Bank of New York and was first based in the Philippines and was later transferred to Japan.  The only child of McHenry and Mary, a son named John Rowan Holbrook, was born in 1919 in Japan.  

          Here's the sad part. On 1 September 1923 there was an massive earthquake in Yokohama, Japan, and the office building where McHenry worked collapsed and he was killed. 

          Following the earthquake, Mary (Smith) Holbrook returned home to Ohio County with her son and remained there until her death in 1981 at age 87.  She is buried in the Oakbrook Cemetery in Hartford. 

          The Findagrave page for McHenry Holbrook says that his ashes were buried in Negishi Foreign Cemetery in Negishi, a suburb of Yokohama, Japan.  Their son, John Rowan, who was called “Jack,” served in the Navy during WWII and died in Florida in 1986 at age 66.

          I found the following article, an interview with Mary Holbrook, in the Owensboro Messenger dated a few weeks after she returned to Fordsville.  I had a hard time copying this article and parts of the paper were missing, but I did the best I could.  If you have further interest I suggest you go to the library in Owensboro and try to get a better copy.  The date of the newspaper is October 7, 1923 and the article is in Section Two.

Report of Death of McHenry Holbrook

JOHN D. HOLBROOK

JOHN D. HOLBROOK was born June 10, 1851, in Ohio County, Ky., and is a son of Robert and Frances M. (French) Holbrook. Robert Holbrook was brought to Kentucky in 1817, by his mother and step-father, from Russell County, Va., and located in the eastern part of the State. In 1838, Robert Holbrook moved to Ohio County. He was twice married; his first wife was Elizabeth Bell. John D. Holbrook was reared on a farm, and obtained a fair education, and at twenty-one began farming for himself. He then engaged in the tobacco business; at same time was constable; was deputy sheriff under T. J. Smith; then went into business at Buford for three years; then bought his present farm of 250 acres, divided into farms, well improved with pleasant residences. He farms in connection with his tobacco business. November 30, 1875, he married Oma Fields, daughter of Joshua and Emma (Austin) Fields. This union was blessed with five children: Morton, Gilbert, Pearl, Vertie, and John Pendleton. Mr and Mrs. Holbrook are members of the Baptist Church. Politically he is a Democrat, and served as magistrate four years and a half.

Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

Note:  John Douglas Holbrook died 12 Oct 1926 in Ohio County. He is buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery, Buford, Ohio County.

Passport Application - Mary Smith Holbrook - 1918

Mary Smith Holbrook was the wife of McHenry Holbrook, the previous person featured. She was born at Fordsville 1 November 1893.  Mary Carroll Smith was the daughter of John T. Smith and Ann Elizabeth Ford. The reason for her passport was to reside in Japan with her husband. Following her husband's death she returned to the United States in September 1923. She died in Volusia County, Florida 7 April 1981.

APPLICATION:

Name: Mary Smith Holbrook

Birth Date: 1 Nov 1893

Birth Place: Fordsville, Kentucky

Age: 25

Gender: Female

Passport Issue Date: 8 Nov 1918

Passport Includes a Photo:  Yes

Residence: Fordsville

Passport Applications - McHenry Holbrook - 1916 and 1920

McHenry Holbrook, son of Rowan Holbrook and Bettie Lee Taylor, applied for two passports in 1916 and one passport in 1920. McHenry's travels were related to his career in banking and his original passport was for travel to London. His second trip was to the Philippine Islands, China, and Japan. His third passport included China, Japan, Hongkong, India, Port Said, Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium. Holland, and England. McHenry died in Kobe, Japan 1 September 1923 at noon in a building collapse during an earthquake.

APPLICATIONS:

Name: McHenry Holbrook

Birth Date: 25 Jul 1893

Birth Place: Hartford, Kentucky

Age: 22

Passport Issue Date: 11 Jan 1916

Passport Includes a Photo: Yes

Residence: Hartford, Kentucky

Name: McHenry Holbrook

Birth Date: 25 Jul 1893

Birth Place: Hartford, Kentucky

Age: 22

Passport Issue Date: 8 May 1916

Passport Includes a Photo: Yes

Residence: Hartford, Kentucky

Name: McHenry Holbrook

Birth Date: 25 Jul 1893

Birth Place: Hartford, Kentucky

Age: 27

Passport Issue Date: 13 Dec 1920

Passport Includes a Photo: Yes

Residence: Hartford, Kentucky

Father Name: Rowan Holbrook

Father's Birth Location: Hoflin, Kentucky

Father's Residence: Hartford, Kentucky

 The left side of the following image is not related.

 The left side of the following image is not related.