The Cessna Branches
The Cessna family lived on the remnants of the ancestral farm established by Walter's grandfather, William Cessna (Willie), whose father had been killed by Indians during a skirmish at the future location of Louisville, Kentucky (Read more here). William was one of the pioneer settlers of LaRue County, Kentucky, and one of the founding members of Hodgenville. He was the first state representative from the area. Indeed, the families named Walters, Ashcraft, Friend, Cessna and others which populate this family tree are all prominent in the area's pioneer history.
Walter Coombs Cessna was a livestock trader known throughout the state. He had a the nickname of "Watt," in fact the 1920 census lists him as "C. Watt Cessna." He had a business partner named Nicholas Head, probably the souce of his son Samuel's middle name. Later, Walter bought a farm at New Hope, Kentucky, and devoted the remainder of his life to farming and raising fine saddle and harness horses, with the specialty of five-gaited horses. A true Kentuckian, he rode nearly every day up until two years before his death.
The US census of 1910 shows the family, Walter, Susan and five children, in eastern Oklahoma. Walter had purchased an oil well in that newest of states, but the well turned out to be a failure, and by 1920 the Cessna family had returned east. One prominent thing to come out of this: daughter Mary Alice Cessna met and married Cecil Edward Rudick in Oklahoma. They were my great-grandparents, and their first child was born there.
Walter had a younger brother named Samuel Coombs Cessna, and Samuel also took his family to Oklahoma. That branch seems to have stayed there longer, into the 1920s, but Samuel and his wife eventually returned east.
Walter Coombs Cessna remained in LaRue and Nelson counties after his wife's death in 1925, the last Cessna in his line to own a farm, but by the end of his life he was staying in the Detroit, Michigan, area with his youngest son, Howard. Walter and Susan Cessna are buried in the Red Hill Cemetery of LaRue County, Kentucky. As for the chidren:
Joseph Walters Cessna, the oldest, married Hattie Elizabeth Lowery (1887-1913), and had children named Gladys S. (1907-1928), Anna May (1908-?) and Mary Josephine (1912-?). Joseph did not go west to Oklahoma, but remained in Kentucky. His wife died in 1913, probably of tuberculosis, and the girls were then raised by their Lowery grandparents in Kentucky. In 1910 Joseph was a streetcar motorman in Louisville, but by 1920, a widower, he had the same job in Detroit, Michigan. As far as I know, Joseph ran that trolley for the rest of his career.
Mary Alice Cessna married Cecil Edward Rudick and had children Walter, Dorothy Bonita and Vera Mae. As letters between them show, Cecil remained for a time in Oklahoma after the Cessnas returned to Kentucky and Michigan, but by 1920, he was working for the railroad in Louisville as a "delivery clerk," according to the census. Their son Walter was born in Oklahoma, daughter Dorothy (my grandmother) was born in Kentucky, and by the time Vera was born Cecil and Mary lived in Detroit. Cecil was also a trolley motorman, and like his brother-in-law Joseph, it was his job from then on.
Samuel Head Cessna married Mauretia Brown, and had children Mina Mae and Walter Howard. In 1920 they lived in Detroit, with his brother LaRue, Larue's new wife, and brothers Joseph and Howard, all in the same building. In 1925, Samuel was in California with his new wife, Mignon Scott. In 1930 the two children lived with Mauretia and her new husband, Walter Henry, while Samuel and Mignon were back in Detroit with a new daughter, Mildred Jane. In both 1920 and 1930, Sam was a streetcar conductor. Samuel and Mignon eventually returned to California, and remained there.
Squire LaRue Cessna married Mary Barbara Brown (Barbara) in 1919. They had children Mary Lucille, Emma Lee, Susan Leota, Lillian Coombs and Donna Marie. He was also a streetcar conductor in Detroit for a few years, and went on to other jobs, like insurance salesman (1930) and auto plant manager (1940). LaRue Cessna was a minister in Detroit of the Church of God, 7th Day, and was was a pioneer in the "Sacred Name Movement."
Leslie Howard Cessna (Howard) married a woman named Grace, and they had no children. He worked for the Chrysler auto company for a time, but his career was with the Detroit Police Department.
Note: Walter Cessna's mother came from a line of ancestors who spelled their last name "Coombs," yet there are documents which list Walter and his brother Samuel as having the middle name "Combs." Historically, these two surnames seem to be somewhat interchangable. For consistancy I have chosen to use the spelling "Coombs" throughout this family tree.
Whether it's corrections you have, or new facts or photos, I want to hear from you, so send me an E-MAIL!
I can identify two of them in the first photograph: Tho older man behind the two little girls is Walter Coombs Cessna, and the other older man, the one who has given his jacket to one of those girls, is Walter's brother William Cessna. Judging by the car, and the fact that William died in 1935, the photo seems to be from the late 1920s or early 1930s. Since Walter's wife Sudie died in 1925, she does not appear here. I have tried and tried to positively identify the car in the photo, and there is a another version of this picture which I will post soon which shows a bit more of it, back to the rumble seat. William was a bachelor, and in 1920 he lived with the Cox family: Carrie Ermine Smith-Cox, her husband John William Cox, and their three daughters Nellie C. Cox, Ruby K. Cox and Stella Rose Cox, along with mother Ella. How much longer he lived with them is uncertain, and I could not find record of him in 1930. I think that the woman also standing behind the little girls could be Carrie Cox.
Another mystery is the curly haired man standing behind Walter Cessna. The woman next to him and girl in front of could be his family, or he could be Carrie's husband. He also appears in the third photo!
Then there's the older woman between William and Walter. I have another photo of her, looking about the same, sitting on the running board of a car which is a decade or so older than the one in the first mystery photo.
Photo three is a total mystery! Now here's some name dropping..... Walter's sister Ella Bayne Cessna married a man named John Lewis Smith and had five children. Carrie Ermine Smith was the youngest, but her sisters Jennie Florence Smith, who had the married names of Bird and Borders, and Martha Belle Smith-Gollaher, who married Benjamin Gollaher (Gallaher?), had sixteen children between them, born between 1890 and 1914. As far as I know, these families lived in central Kentucky, just like Walter, Sudie, Ella and William. I'm hoping that descendants of those Smith sisters can help me to identify the folks in these photos.
As for the young man in the center photo, who knows. Perhaps it's one of the Cessna boys, a son of Walter and Sudie. I just don't have enough pictures of them as young men to hazard a guess.
Vera Rudick, or her sister Dorothy, my grandmother, probably knew. Please label your photos, folks....the people after you will thank you!
