Daisy Hogue Karraker

My paternal grandmother was born Daisy Hogue on 18 October 1894, though she may have chosen the date later herself. She was born to William Howard Hogue and Ruby Hudson. Ruby died in the childbirth. All siblings were put in "The Children's Home Society." I have just begun scanning the photographs loaned to me by Lee H. Hill Jr.'s widow, Marcella Hill. I am only slightly retouching the photos as I work through them, since there are so many, and I will work back and further improve them as time permits. The actual data for all people in this site is available in GEDCOM files, which can be downloaded and imported into any genealogical program. Just click the file cabinet icon at the right of this paragraph.

Shirley Coleman MacKinnon, the granddaughter of Anna Hogue, Daisy's sister, wrote to me that "In a nutshell, as small children, [the Hogue children] were put in an orphanage - Treg, George, Anna, Daisy, and Frank (not in any age order)...Frank went to California at an early age, and no one ever saw him again to my knowledge. My guess is that their mother had died, and they were put in an orphanage. I only remember Anna (my grandmother) saying that their father had remarried, someone about her (Anna) age. The next, was that the orphanage had burned, and all their records were destroyed. Supposedly, they didn't know their real birthdates, and they picked their own - Anna Valentines day, and Treg, the 4th of July. Maybe your grandmother left statistics unknown to anyone (I hope)." I have been informed by Shirley Coleman MacKinnon that Tregoning was adopted by a Dr. Bricker and family in the St. Louis area. The cameo at the beginning of this paragraph points to a photograph of Shirley as a teenager.

I'm guessing that Daisy's father remarried (see the photo that begins this paragraph) and that sometime after that Daisy was adopted by a family named Dodge. Then she married my Grandfather, Lee Hubert Hill (also known as Lee Hubert Hill Sr.), which ended in divorce. Then she married a man I never knew named Elza H. Baumgartner. She may have lived in Detroit, Michigan, during this period. I don't know what happened to that marriage. She then married Claude Wright, and at his death married Elwin Karraker. This is my reconstruction of her early life and could be in error. The second cameo in this paragraph points to a closeup of her father.

At left, Daisy's mother, Ruby Hudson. Written on the back of this photo is "Daisy's mother, My Mother, Mrs. Ruby St Clara Hoag, died Sept 18 1895. She was married to William Hoag. My Father." I doubt that information is correct. Actually, Daisy's mother's maiden name at this time appears to be Ruby Hudson. And she appears to have died giving birth to Daisy in 1894. On Daisy's son's birth certificate, her maiden name is spelled "Hogue." On the same certificate, she is also listed as being 27 at the birth of her son (November 1921) So Daisy was probably born in 1894 rather than 1895. I don't know when this was taken, but it must have been taken before 1894, because her mother doesn't look even slightly pregnant.

The Four Orphans photo is marked "Four little Orphans on way to Orphan Home Annie George Treg (Edd) & Daisy." The second Four Orphans photo was taken about 25 years later. This photograph is badly damaged; I have done some basic retouching but not very well. I have rescanned the photo and I will return to it at some point and try again. The next photo is a closeup of Anna. The Daisy Baby photo is marked on the front "Daisy When a Baby." The writing on the back is much more complicated. It is written at the top "Daisy Dodge," and beneath that "Anna Allmon," and "Rosey Clare Illinois." (Maybe Anna had been adopted by the Allmon family.) In ink at the side and at the bottom it is written "Daisy when a baby" and "Mother died 1895." Then there is a pencil-written poem: "A precious one from us has gone/A voice we love is stilled/A place is vacant in our home/Which never can be filled." And beneath the poem in the same pencilled hand, is written "Daisy Dodge Carbondale Ill."

In the first cameo at far left, that's Daisy at the far right, about age 6. I'm guessing this is Daisy's first foster family, the Dodges, and that's her foster mother, Mrs. Dodge, and that is her foster brother to his mother's right. I think the second photograph in this paragraph shows her still with the Dodge family. Maybe that's Mr. Dodge in the center. This photo is inscribed along one edge, "Daisy Dodge age 16." It has written on the back "Man in front row Mr. Martin is Olen & Paul dad." Also written on it is "Le Roy Dodge, my foster Bro & first wife Jane & son Le Vern Dodge." The third picture in this paragraph is simply a closeup of Daisy's face.

Written on the front of the first photo is "Daisy age 21. This picture is [belongs to] L.H. Hill Jr My Son." The photograph would have been taken in 1916. What a pretty face; it is my favorite so far. I will come back to it soon and enhance it as best I can. The second photograph of Daisy in the chair has no mark whatsoever written on it. I estimate it was taken at the same time, maybe somewhat later.

First photo, Daisy at 17. The young man with her in the first photo could be Olen Martin, her stepbrother(?), which I haven't figured out yet. That's Daisy with her brother George in the second shot. That's her brother Frank in the third, fourth, and fifth shots. That's Daisy and her big sister Anna in the sixth picture, taken at 609 South Wall St., Carbondale, Illinois. Shirley Coleman MacKinnon tells me it was taken right outside the bedroom she was born in. The house across the street was owned by people named Phillips. And then the fourth photo is daisy by herself, Thanksgiving, 1944.

George Hogue died in 1961 at the age of 71. He had nine children, not in this order: Lova, Daisy Belle, Edith, Margaret (possibly Mary Margaret), Luther, George (called GW), Edward, Grover, and the ninth name is forgotten. Grover and Luther lived in Carbondale and Edward lived in Carmi. His obituary, according to Shirley Coleman Mackinnon, describes his siblings as two sisters, Anna and Daisy, and a brother Tregoning. Brother Frank was omitted. The obit also mentions two half brothers, two half sisters, a stepmother, 26 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

This is a shot of Daisy's sister Anna Hogue Allmon(?) and her new husband, Oliver Biggs, taken on their wedding day. The Anna Oliver photo is marked on the back "Sister Anna & Oliver Biggs when married." That's a big outdoor clock over Anna's left shoulder. The second shot in this paragraph is of her brother George and Nora, whom I haven't identified yet, except guessing that she was his wife. Written on the a fold-out panel of the third photo is "Sept 24 1920. Age 25 yr Daisy." The fourth is shot is John Biggs, son of Oliver and Anna. That's Daisy, Anna, and probably Oliver in the fifth.

About the "Uncle Feezel" photo...Shirley Coleman MacKinnon informs me that Treg played both guitar and fiddle in the Country Western style (so did another of Daisy's brothers, George). Apparently, Treg and family came down for a weekend from St. Louis and they all got together. A kind of family reunion was held in Carbondale almost every summer. They would have "hoedown" in the yard. Treg played (for how long I don't know) with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys "around Depression time." Treg also played on KMOX radio as Uncle Feezel. He also was close friends with a Roy Queen band (from south St. Louis). In the two photos that include "Tobbie," I'm guessing Daisy's father remarried, and his second marriage produced Tobbie Howard Hogue and possibly Calvin Hogue.

The next series of photographs begins Lee Hubert Hill's (Hubert hereafter) relationship with Daisy Hogue. Daisy was Hubert's first wife; as far as I know, he was her first husband. They were married on Christmas day, 1920, in Cairo, Illinois, Alexander County. It was a double ceremony; Daisy's brother Tregoning and his wife Edith Bricker were married with them. I know next to nothing about Hubert's second marriage to Nell (Lastname); according to his daughter, Sue Casper, Hubert's daughter with his second wife, died at birth or shortly thereafter, and so did the marriage. I found the grave marker for their daughter, born and died in August 1940, at Oakland Cemetery in Carbondale Illinois. I don't know yet where the second marriage took place. Hubert had a sister, Dessie Mae, who married a man named McCleod, and he had a younger brother, Herbert Lee, who died as a youth. The first photo of Hubert and Daisy bicycling shows them fitting together quite well on a bicycle built for two. The other couple could be Treg and Edith. The four were married in a double wedding. The Bricker's firstborn son was William, about the same age as Lee H. Hill Jr. Lee Hill Jr. and Bill Bricker both went on to serve in the navy. The second shot is just a closeup of the first. That could be a cigarette in Hubert's mouth. The third is of the new couple on their wedding day. On the photo is written "Soon after our wedding, Papa vest a button popper, 1920." And that's Hubert by himself in the last shot.

The first photo is of Lee Hubert Hill, his son Lee Hill Jr., and Daisy. The dog is surely Sport. Second photo: that's Daisy on the left and her husband Hubert at the right with Lee Jr. in front of him. The woman holding the baby is Edith Bricker, Treg's wife (the photo was probably taken by Treg). The children, left to right, are probably Billy, Betty, and Tommy Bricker. The third photo is of Daisy and Sport in his favorite spot, the running board. Shirley Coleman MacKinnon tells me Sport always rode on the runningboard. If Lee Jr. tried to slip away in the car, Sport would chase it down and jump on the runningboard. The next shot is of Lee Hill Jr., age 4, and Daisy, age 31, taken in 1925. And then there's an earlier shot of Hubert and his Model T Ford.

The first photo was probably taken in November of 1925. That's Daisy, Hubert, and her four-year-old son, Lee Jr. Someone, Daisy I assume, has written on the photo "LH first long pants, 4 yrs old. See that David smile?" I don't know yet who "David" is. When you look at the big version of this photo, notice how much the four-year-old Lee's eyes resemble his daughter Christina Lee's. The second shot is of Lee Hill Jr., probably about 8 years old. The third shot is of Lee Jr. and his father.

First photo, Daisy at about the age of 45. This may have been taken when she was married to Mr. Baumgartner and had moved to Detroit. The second shot was also taken in Detroit. Someone, probably her son, has marked on the photograph that she weighed 170 lbs; she does look a bit sheepish and probably would not appreciate having her weight broadcast this way. The third photo is "Grandpa Marshall," who remains unidentified.

First photo: Hubert's half-brother, Edd Orr, and his wife Maudie. The second photo is enscribed "Hubert, Westerner that hat?" The third, of Hubert and his brother-in-law Treg Bricker, is enscribed "No 12 mines. Bro Treg and Hubert." Note Hubert's cigarette in his left hand and his characteristic cigarette holder; he had a small malignant tumor successfully removed from his lip in his 40s.

First photo in this paragraph: Daisy and Louis Evens; I don't know who Louis is. Second photo: Lee H. Hill Jr. at age 12, apparently uncomfortable with his short haircut, which may explain why he has covered his head. He must have been very embarrassed to prefer that outlandish cap to exposing his haircut. The third photo is just a closeup of the second. Fourth photo: Lee Jr., in the middle, at about age 18. This shot is especially interesting because the face he will wear throughout adulthood has taken shape. The fifth shot is a closeup of the fourth.

The photos preceding this paragraph is a miscellaneous collection of photos that I will reposition somewhere on this page. For now, just hover over a cameo with your mouse cursor to see a brief description of the photo the cameo points to. The first photo shows a mixture of the Biggs, Hill, Bricker, and Coleman families at the Biggs home on 609 Wall Street in Carbondale. It was probably taken in the summer of 1951. That's Lee Hill III, author of these pages, at the extreme left front row, the bare-chested little boy in front of John Biggs. Shirley Coleman is the tall teenager, and in the second row, that's Edith and Treg Bricker and Lee Hill Jr. with his daughter Jane on his shoulders.

Last Updated 12 January 2005