Viola Isabelle Boggess (1872-1963)

Viola Isabelle Boggess was born on October 2, 1872 in Conway County, Arkansas.  She was the only child born to James Cicero Boggess & Alice Myrtle Smith.  Her father died just a few months after she was born.  Viola’s mother remarried a few years later to William Samuel Hanna.

In 1900, Viola was living with her widowed mother in Morrilton, Conway County, Arkansas.  She was working as a school teacher at that time. 

Viola married John Henry Pitchford, a widower, on January 4, 1914, in Sebastian County, Arkansas.  She was 35 years old and he was 56 years.  John was born on March 8, 1857 in Walhalla, Oconee County, South Carolina, the son of John Wesley Pitchford and Nancy Margaret Neville.

           

In 1920, John and Viola were renting a home at 502 East 13^th Street in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.  John was the Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

John Henry Pitchford died on March 2, 1923 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.  He was buried next to his first wife, Lola, in the Tahlequah Cemetery in Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma.  He was 65 years old at his death.

In 1930, Viola was living in a home valued at $7,000 on 9^th Street in Oklahoma City.  At that time, she was working as an assistant librarian in the Oklahoma State.  Also in her household were three other women, who were all employed as public school teachers.  Viola remained in Oklahoma City for the remainder of her life.

Viola Isabelle Boggess Pitchford died in June 1963 in Oklahoma City at the age of 91 years.  She was buried near her mother and step-father in the Elmwood Cemetery in Morrilton, Conway County, Arkansas.

Notes for Viola Isabelle Boggess

Birth & Death:  Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2006.

1900 US Census:  “Viola I Boggess,” Year: 1900; Census Place: Morrilton, Conway, Arkansas; Roll: T623 55; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 16.

Marriage:  “Viola Boggess,” Ancestry.com. Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

1920 US Census:  “Viola Pitchford,” Year: 1920; Census Place: Oklahoma City Ward 2, Oklahoma, Oklahoma; Roll: T625_1474; Page: 19B; Enumeration District: 128; Image: 129.  Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

1930 US Census:  “Viola I Pitchford,” Year: 1930; Census Place: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma; Roll: 1919; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 68; Image: 555.0.

1940 US Census:  “Viola I Pitchford,” Year: 1940; Census Place: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma; Roll: T627_3343; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 78-50.  Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Burial:  “Viola Pitchford,” Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  Find A Grave. (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi) Accessed 9 April 2015