When Edmond Oscar Hawks passed away in October 1910 in Rossville, Kansas, his obituary noted that he was survived by his wife Iva Elzina (Haworth), and their two children: a son, Roy Hawks, and a daughter, Minnie Mabel (Hawks) Lumpkins, my second great-grandmother.
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Edmond Oscar and Iva Elzina (Haworth) Hawks
Family Sleuther's third great-grandparents |
The obituary also made a brief and somber reference to two children who had died in infancy. It offered no names, dates, ages, or even a hint of their final resting place. Notably, they were not buried in the Rossville Cemetery, where Edmond—and later Iva—were laid to rest. For decades, these children remained nameless, lost to history—until a small yet significant discovery brought their memory back to light.
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Edmond Oscar Hawks obituary excerpt
The Rossville Reporter, October 28, 1910 |
A volunteer with the FindAGrave website created a memorial page for a girl named Lula May Hawks and linked it to the memorials for Edmond and Iva as their daughter. The volunteer also uploaded a photo of a patch of grass in the Hawks Cemetery near the town of Cuba in Republic County, Kansas. This cemetery, where Iva's father, George Chalkley Haworth, is buried, also contains a lot owned by Edmond Oscar Hawks—a fact that surprised me. The image revealed
Lula May's burial in an unmarked grave within that lot, which is recorded in the cemetery's register.
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| Photo by author, October 2014 |
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Lula May Hawks' unmarked grave
Photo courtesy of FindAGrave user jln |
Edmond’s burial plot, Lot 33, is nestled between those belonging to his brothers, Andrew Jackson Hawks and Robert Johnston Hawks. Each of these lots contains seven graves. Lula May rests in grave #1 of Edmond’s lot.
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Detail of the Hawks Cemetery depicts Lot 33 owned by E.O. Hawks
Photo courtesy of FindAGrave user jln |
But Lula May wasn’t alone. The cemetery’s burial register also notes an unnamed infant interred in grave #2. No other children are buried in the lot, making it almost certain that this child was another of Edmond and Iva’s children who died in infancy.
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| Detail of the Hawks Cemetery directory listing Lula May Hawks and an unnamed infant in E.O. Hawks' Lot 33, graves 1 and 2; Photo courtesy of FindAGrave user jln |
Thanks to the dedication of a FindAGrave volunteer who meticulously documented unmarked graves and their ownership, the lost children of Edmond and Iva—my third great-grandparents—are no longer forgotten. While much about their lives remains a mystery, rediscovering their resting place ensures they are remembered as part of the Hawks family's story. This small but significant discovery helps preserve their memory, even if their lives were too brief to leave behind many traces.
Who in your recent family history might still be waiting to be rediscovered?
