Hagabelle Lawson (1901 - 1993)

Born 12 Mar 1901 in Stephenville, Erath, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Victor Hamilton Marshall — married 16 Jul 1920 in Guymon, Texas, Oklahoma, United States

Wife of Guy Ednar Cross — married 10 Jun 1939 in Carlsbad, Eddy, New Mexico, United States

Descendants

Died 3 Jun 1993 at age 92 in Clovis, Curry, New Mexico, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Harold Cross [send private message]

Biography

Hagabelle was born in 1901. She passed away in 1993.

Hagabelle "Belle" Lawson was born in Stephenville, TX on 12 Mar 1901 about 5 months after her father "Haga" Lawson died. Her widowed mother "Phronie" married Ben Latta on 28 Jan 1903 when Belle was two years old.

She is listed as Annie Lawson (age 9 and b. in TX) in the household of Ben A. Latta in the 1910 census for Stephenville, Erath Co., TX. She is listed as Ben's stepdaughter.

1910 Census

Benjamin A. Latta (age 72 and b. in KY) was head of a household in the 1920 census for Huckabay, Erath Co., TX. He was living with his wife Sophronia (age 36 and b. in AR), son Bennie A. (age 15 and b. in TX), son Melvin M. (age 9 and b. in TX), and step-daughter Haga B. Lawson (age 18 and b. in TX). Benjamin was a farmer.

1920 Census

In the 1920 census for Stephens Co., TX, Hagabelle Lawson (age 17 and b. in TX) was living in the household of her uncle William A. Palmer. The residence was listed as a boarding house. Belle's grandmother Matilda O'Donnell (age 69 and b. in MO) and aunt, Jossie Palmer (age 33 and b. in AR) were also listed in the household. Belle and her grandmother worked as cooks in the boarding house.

1920 Census

Later in 1920, while visiting her aunt Sally Lawson in Guymon,OK Belle met Victor Marshall. According to their marriage license, Victor was living in Amarillo, TX. They were married on 16 Jul 1920. Victor and Belle moved to eastern NM near Rogers where Victor's family were farming. Victor rented land to farm. Belle gave birth to three Marshall sons, Warren (1921), Wayne (1924), and Victor Jr. (1925). However, her husband Victor Marshall Sr. died of appendicitis 27 Aug1925 , two months before her third son was born 6 Nov 1925. At the age of 24 Belle found herself widowed with three young sons and no means of supporting her family. She made the difficult decision to leave her sons with her sister-in-law Lilliam Marshall, an unmarried school teacher, while Belle enrolled in nursing school in Tucson, AZ. She graduated from nursing school in 1932 and obtained a job as a nurse with the Southern Pacific Railroad. Her children remained in the home of their grandfather, Rev. Robert Carrol Marshall who had moved to Portales.

Belle took her New Mexico board exams to become a Registered Nurse in 1935. By 1936 Belle was working as a registered nurse in a hospital in Clovis, NM. She worked for Dr. Hugh Brasell for several years in Portales. She married rancher Willie Bryan Earnest in Feb. 1938. Two months later (28 Apr 1938) her second husband died.

While working as a nurse in Clovis, NM, Belle helped treat Ruth Cross, wife of Guy Cross. Ruth died 23 March 1936 leaving Guy Cross a widower with a teenaged daughter. On 10 Jun 1939 Belle married Guy Cross who was a rancher and livestock dealer.

In the 1940 census for Portales, Roosevelt Co., NM, Hagabelle Cross (age 39) and her son Wayne Marshall (age 16) were listed in the household of Guy Cross (age 49). Her other two sons, Warren and Victor were listed in the household of their grandfather Robert Marshall in Portales. Guy and Belle moved to the ranch that Guy owned in western Roosevelt County, NM where they ranched for about ten years. Belle had a fourth son, Harold Cross (b. 25 Dec. 1941). About 1952, Guy Cross semi retired from ranching and moved the family back to Portales.

1940 Census

1950 Census

Belle Cross returned to work as a private nurse for an elderly lady (Mrs. Nolan) for several years. Then she worked for the student health services at Eastern New Mexico University for about 15 years. She resigned in 1975. Her husband Guy Cross passed in 1981. After finally retiring, Belle's health deteriorated to the point that she was bed-ridden for the last few years of her life. Her son Wayne Marshall and his wife Irene cared for her for several years. In May 1993, she fell out of bed and broke her arm. She had to be transferred to a nursing home for rehabilitation in Clovis, NM where she died a few days later on 3 Jun 1993.

Biography from Portales News Tribune

Cross devotes 45 years to nursing sick people.

by Betty Gollahon, Lime Light Editor

The first criteria for being a good nurse is patience and the desire to help people, says 83-year-old Bell Cross. She should know. Mrs. Cross devoted 45 years to helping sick people before she retired from the nursing profession in 1975 at the age of 74.

Mrs. Cross received her RN from Saint Mary's Hospital in Tucson, Ariz. The 31-year-old widow had three young boys to support and remembers rough times during the depression years.

She recalls working 12-hour shifts during the three-year training school, receiving room and board and $7.00 per month. The doctors are instructors and commanded the utmost respect from the nurses. She recalls only doctors were allowed to take blood pressure.

After receiving her degree, she worked at Southern Pacific Hospital for one year before moving to Portales, where she said almost everyone had tuberculosis. I had sick people I didn't believe could get well but they did, she says she feels many recovered partly because of the tender loving care given to them by dedicated nurses like herself.

After moving to Portales in 1933, she immediately began working for doctor H. T. Brassell in an upstairs building in the block located on the west side of the square. The office had four rooms, Mrs. Cross recalls and here all facets of medicine were practiced including surgery and delivering babies.

Mrs. Cross remembers another era during the Dust Bowl days “It seemed everyone had dust pneumonia then” she says. In 1935 Mrs. Cross moved with Doctor Brassell to a new modern hospital which could house 12 patients. That up-to-date facility is known today as Miller hospital. Later she remembers Doctor H. O. Lehman joined the staff.

In 1938 Mrs. Cross remarried and semi-retired for 10 years, although she was performing private duty work. Doctor Brassell, who at the time was a physician for health services at Eastern New Mexico University, approached the 65-year-old, saying “You're too young to quit”.

Mrs. Cross admits, “I had grown up working and worked all my life”, so she again became Doctor Brassell’s nurse but in an entirely new capacity for her. Having been used to delivering babies in the office and making house calls, doctoring college students was a new experience for her.

She continued helping people for 14 more years before arthritis slowed her down and she was forced to give up her first love. She now keeps busy crocheting - something she never had time to do before. She now enjoys reminiscing about bygone days and sometimes gets the edge to put her nurses skills back to work again although she admits she has become a bit rusty since the advances in modern technology.

Obituary

Belle Cross

Funeral services for Belle Cross will be Monday, June 7 at 2:30 PM at Wheeler Starlight Chapel inside Wheeler Mortuary. Dan Rouse will officiate, and burial will be at Portales Cemetery.

Cross, 92, died Thursday, June 3rd, 1993, at Buena Vista Retirement center in Clovis.

She is survived by three sons and daughters-in-law, Wayne and Irene Marshall of Portales; Victor and Martha Marshall of Glenwood Springs, Colorado; and Harold and Glenda Cross of Fargo, North Dakota; a stepdaughter, Vera Clark of Clovis; a daughter-in-law Mrs. Gene Marshall of Portales; 16 grandchildren; numerous great-grandchildren; and a brother, Melvin Latta of Stephenville, Texas.

She was born near Stevensville, Texas to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lawson.

She grew up near Stephenville, TX, and married Victor H. Marshall in 1920. He died in September of 1925, before the birth of their third son.

After her husband’s death, she returned to high school and finished. In 1928, she began work as nurses aide at Baptist Hospital in Clovis. In 1939, she moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she attended nurse’s training at St. Mary’s School of Nursing. She graduated in 1932.

She returned to Portales in 1933 and worked as a nurse for Doctor H. T. Brassell, Doctor Herman Lehman and Doctor Turner Hensley. Later she worked at the student health services at Eastern New Mexico University until 1972.

She retired after nursing for 40 years. In 1939, she was married to Guy Cross. He preceded her in death in 1981. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1991 and a brother Benny Latta in 1928.

Pallbearers will be grandsons and great-grandsons.

Sources

• Marriage License

• Personal first-hand recollections of Harold Cross.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10344444/hagabelle-cross : accessed 22 February 2022), memorial page for Hagabelle “Belle” Lawson Cross (12 Mar 1901–3 Jun 1993), Find a Grave Memorial ID 10344444, citing Portales Cemetery, Portales, Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA ; Maintained by HZC (contributor 48677971) .

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK1N-JZB : accessed 25 October 2022), Annie Lawson in household of Ben A Latta Sr., Stephenville, Erath, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 19, sheet 9B, family 139, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1550; FHL microfilm 1,375,563.

• 1910 Census: "1910 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1910; Census Place: Stephenville, Erath, Texas; Roll: T624_1550; Page: 9b; Enumeration District: 0019; FHL microfilm: 1375563
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7884 #27982266 (accessed 25 July 2023)
  Annie Lawson (9), single step-daughter, in household of Ben A Latta Sr (60) in Stephenville, Erath, Texas, USA. Born in Texas.

• 1920 Census: "1920 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1920; Census Place: Huckabay, Erath, Texas; Roll: T625_1801; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 1
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6061 #100189839 (accessed 25 July 2023)
  Hagg B Lawson (18), single step-daughter, Farm Laborer, in household of Benjamin A Latta (72) in Huckabay, Erath, Texas. Born in Texas.

• 1920 Census: "1920 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1920; Census Place: Justice Precinct 5, Stephens, Texas; Roll: T625_1844; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 250
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6061 #62993108 (accessed 25 July 2023)
  Hagabell Lawson (17), single niece, in household of William A Palmer (35) in Justice Precinct 5, Stephens, Texas. Born in Texas.

• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCMH-NKV : 3 February 2021), Hagg B Lawson in entry for Benjamin A Latta, 1920.

• 1920 United States Federal Census MyHeritage.com [online database], MyHeritage Ltd. https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10133/1920-united-states-federal-census Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration publication T625, 2,076 rolls. Record: https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10133-203301844/william-a-palmer-in-1920-united-states-federal-census William A Palmer Year: 1920; State: Texas; County: Stephens; NARA Publication: T625; Sheet: 4-A; Page: 417; Line: 45 Citation:William A Palmer Birth: Circa 1885 - Texas, United States Residence: 1920 - Stephens, Texas, USA

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMRG-ZLK : 3 December 2019), Hagabelle Cross in household of Guy Cross, Portales, Election Precinct 1 Portales, Roosevelt, New Mexico, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 21-1A, sheet , line , family , Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll .

• 1940 Census: "1940 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1940; Census Place: Portales, Roosevelt, New Mexico; Roll: m-t0627-02449; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 21-1A
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2442 #109126729 (accessed 25 July 2023)
  Hazebelle Cross (39), wife, Graduate Nurse, in household of Guy Cross (49) in Portales, Roosevelt, New Mexico. Born in Texas.

• 1950 Census: "1950 United States Federal Census"
  National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Floyd, Roosevelt, New Mexico; Roll: 4743; Page: 24; Enumeration District: 22-22
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62308 #9822885 (accessed 25 July 2023)
  Hagabelle Cross (49), married, Farm Helper, in Floyd, Roosevelt, New Mexico, USA. Born in Texas.

• "New Mexico Deaths, 1889-1945," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLYK-JXX : 10 March 2018), Haga Belle Marshall in entry for Victor Hamilton Marshall, 27 Sep 1925; citing Clovis, Roosevelt, Curry, New Mexico, reference Item No. 2, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Santa Fe; FHL microfilm 2,032,891.

• United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Floyd, Roosevelt, New Mexico; Roll: 4743; Sheet Number: 24; Enumeration District: 22-22 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022. Original data: Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. 1913-1/1/1972. Population Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 - 1950. Washington, DC: National Archives at Washington, DC. Population Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 - 1950. NAID: 43290879. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, Record Group 29. National Archives at Washington, DC., Washington, DC.

• Ancestry.com. Oklahoma, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1890-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Marriage Records. Oklahoma Marriages. Various Oklahoma County marriage collections.

• Ancestry.com. Web: Western States Marriage Index, 1809-2016 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Western States Marriage Index. Brigham Young University–Idaho. http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/westernStates/search.cfm.