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archy story

General Bradley age 44 was born about 1836 in North Carolina. He may have been important enough to the family to name their son Bradley after him. No evidence has been found that his name is related to service in the military.
 

Dock Ward was age 29 and born in Illinois. No other information about either boarder has been found.

Archy Story was born August 26th, 1875.
 

Archy’s father was William Story born in Illinois in March of 1838. William Story was an early settler of the Sowers community when he, his father Marmaduke Story, born in 1800, and possibly up to 9 siblings came to the area from Illinois in 1855. He subsequently served in the Civil War.
 

Archy’s mother was Frances E. Hawes born in 1846. Frances was either born in Arkansas, per census records, or Illinois according to Worthington Family history.
 

Frances E. Hawes was the daughter of John Hawes, Jr. and Catherine Caster who were married on December 27, 1837. They lived in Illinois and had son Thomas, born in 1841 and daughter Frances 5 years later.
 

John Hawes, Jr. dies in the 1840’s and Catherine marries Robert Worthington in Pulaski County, Illinois less than a year later. Their first child, Henry Bradford Worthington was born in 1851. Robert Worthington Died in 1855 and is buried in Pulaski County Illinois. Their daughter Sarah Adelia Worthington was born in 1856, six months after Robert Worthington died. Soon after daughter Sarah was born, the twice-widowed Catherine and her 4 children joined her father Henry Caster and brothers Louis, Andrew and Jacob in the Sowers community.
 

Frances E. Hawes and her first husband, Stephen Lane, had one daughter, Nora E. Lane born about 1862 in Texas. No other information has been found about Stephen Lane as of this writing.
 

Frances’ mother Catherine Caster Hawes Worthington died in 1867, becoming the oldest documented interment in Sowers cemetery. Catherine’s father Henry Caster would become the earliest-born person interred at Sowers cemetery, born in 1790 in North Carolina.
 

After her death, Catherine’s two youngest children, Henry and Sarah Adalia would be taken in by Edmund Sowers until they married.
 

Frances E. Hawes and William Story are listed as married in the 1870 census. Also in the household was Frances’ 8-year-old daughter Nora E. Lane. No other information has been found about Nora E. Lane.
 

The 1880 Sowers community census was taken in June of that year. Frances and William now had three sons all born in Texas. John H. age 8, Arch (Archy) age 4 and Bradley age 1. Two boarders also lived with them and were listed as farmers.
 

 

 

ARCHY

Son of

Wm & F. E.

STORY

Born

Aug 26, 1875

Died

July 26, 1880

One month after the 1880 census was taken, Archy Story dies on July 26th, 1880, at age 4. His Inscription reads:

Frances and William Story had a fourth son Emil in January of 1881.
 

Frances E. Hawes Story dies in 1894 and was buried in Sowers cemetery.
 

In the 1900 Sowers census William Story is age 62, widowed, living and farming with sons John H., General B., and Emil. William’s brother Isaac Story lived on the next farm. The year William Story died, and the location of his interment is unknown as of this writing. This writer believes William may be buried near his wife and son Archy in Sowers cemetery.
 

Sons John, General Bradley and Emil moved to Oklahoma in the early 1900’s.
 

According to the 1930 census oldest son John Story was living in a rooming house in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was a widowed carpenter. The boarding house was at 27 ½ West Reno Avenue which appears to be in the current Bricktown, a tourist area close to downtown Oklahoma City. John died in 1938 at age 65 and is buried in Kolb Cemetery in Spencer, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.
 

General Bradley Story married Sarah Ella Bowling about 1905 in Dallas, Texas. He moved to Caddo County, Oklahoma soon after. He had 6 daughters and one son. G. B. died in 1949 at age 70. He is buried in Eakly Cemetery, Eakly, Caddo County, Oklahoma.
 

Emil Story married Fannie Belle Neff in 1906 and had at least 3 children Emil died in 1950 at age 69. He is buried in Pruitt Cemetery in Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma.

  • Archy Story’s plot is in the western end of Sowers cemetery. It is about halfway between the far West fence and the Sowers family plot.

  • Archy Story’s memorial was restored by the Sowers Cemetery Association in 2021.

  • Archy’s mother Frances Hawes is buried in Sowers cemetery but the location of her interment is unknown.

  • Catherine Caster Hawes Worthington’s plot is in the western end of Sowers about 25 feet north of Archy’s monument. Her original marker was a simple fieldstone with C. W. carved on it. A granite headstone was added around 2007.

  • Catherine’s father Henry Caster, her brother Andrew Caster and at least four of Andrews children are buried
    at Sowers close to Archy Story and Catherine Worthington.

Historical information about Archy Story and his family members was found on Findagrave.com, familysearch.org, Irving History publication ‘From Rails to Wings’ by Norma Stanton and from the Worthington Family History by Merle Stevens in Findagrave.com. More information about the Worthington Family and early Irving history can be found here: https://images.findagrave.com/.../19945686_1462295432.jpg

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