Born in Enid Township, Garfield, Oklahoma, United States
Ancestors 
Daughter of John S Gish
and Nancy C (Humble) Gish
Sister of
Nellie Mae (Gish) Medlock, Minnie Ray (Gish) Heal, Roy James Gish, Chersie (Gish) Hobgood and Gertrude (Gish) Godec
Wife of
Hermon Holden Herrin
— married
[date unknown] in New Mexico, United States
Wife of
Clarence Elbert Nichols
— married
3 Sep 1911 in Pontotoc, Oklahoma, USA
Descendants 
Mother of
Robert Herrin, [private daughter (1920s - unknown)], [private son (1920s - unknown)], [private son (1920s - unknown)] and Fern Edell (Herrin) Fagan
Died
at age 64
in Ashland, Jackson, Oregon, United States
Profile managers:
Nancy Rain 
[send private message], Dan Nichols [send private message], and Tonya Martin [send private message]
[send private message], Dan Nichols [send private message], and Tonya Martin [send private message]Profile last modified
| Created 14 Dec 2013
This page has been accessed 204 times.
Biography
Bessie was born in 1892. She was the daughter of John Gish and Nancy Humble. In Sept 1911, Bessie married Clarence E Nichols. They had no children. 1920 census records indicate Bessie remarried Herman Herrin and started a family and was living in New Mexico.
I cannot locate sources confirming Bessie's divorce from Clarence Nichols. However, there are records showing CE Nichols married again in March 1925 in Texas to Rafaela Lopez. There are also court records showing he was arrested in Jul 1925, convicted of bigamy and sentenced to 2 years on a work farm in Texas. He escaped in Feb 1926, married the same woman again in April 1926 and was recaptured and returned to jail 3 days later. He pled not guilty to the bigamy charge. Seems there was a lack of records proving his divorce from Bessie which landed him in jail. Bessie apparently remarried and started a family prior to 1920 based on census records. Not sure if there was an actual divorce or the paperwork wasn't recorded. tangled webs woven....
Bessie lived for a time in New Mexico next door to her sister Chersie and then moved to Colorado where she had two more children. Final move from Colorado to Oregon where she lived the remainder of her life passing away in 1957.
Her obituary in the newspaper states she was born in Enid, OK on 20 Jul 1892 although I'm still searching for source documents to confirm.
Bessie was born in 1892. She passed away in 1957 from cancer. She, along with her husband, Hermon, and 5 children, moved to Ashland, Oregon from Colorado. This was due to her doctor suggesting she change climates. Before relocating to Colorado, they lived in New Mexico where she gave birth to a daughter, Anna, who died there during infancy. Bessie worked at Southern Oregon College in food service. Bessie and Hermon lived on Tolman Creek Road at the time of her death.
Sources
- "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3XW-TV4 : Bessie Gish in household of John S Gish, Black Fork, Blansett & Johnson Townships, Scott, Arkansas, United States
- "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLWQ-6Q3 : Bessie Gish in household of John S Gish, Midland, Pontotoc, Oklahoma, United States
- "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995." Database with images. FamilySearch. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVP6-R8JY : Clarence Nichols and Bessie Gish, 03 Sep 1911; citing Oklahoma, various county courthouses, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm.
- "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4KQ-RZM : 2 February 2021), Bessie Herrin in entry for Herman Herrin, 1920. LIVED NEXT DOOR TO SISTER CHERSIE HOPGOOD
- Find A Grave: Memorial #66324659 memorial page for Bessie Gish Herrin (1892–1957), Find a Grave Memorial ID 66324659, citing Mountain View Cemetery, Ashland, Jackson County, Oregon, USA; Maintained by ProgBase (contributor 47278889).
Acknowledgments
- Thank you to Dan Nichols for creating WikiTree profile Gish-170 through the import of Nichols Family Tree_2013-12-02.ged on Dec 4, 2013.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Bessie by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Bessie:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Bessie by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Bessie:
-
~3.12%
~6.25%
Sanford Gray 
:
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, FTDNA kit #99454
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
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edited by Tonya Martin