Gooden Hatley and the Other Julia

This document is another piece of the puzzle in my search for the parents of Martin L Lambert. 

Martin L Lambert was born in 1873. He is enumerated in the household of William "Buck" Lambert and his wife Talitha Herrin Lambert in 1880 as their youngest son. He died in 1892 and in buried in Lambert Cemetery No. 1 in the old Lambert community, Almond township in Stanly County, North Carolina, not very far from the Cabarrus County line. The mystery lies in his marriage license. He married on January 9, 1891 at the age of 18, to 16 year old Rose Etta Starnes, daughter of A. M. D. "Mack" Starnes, who lived near him and in the home enumerated just before him in the 1880 census. They must have grown up as playmates. On this document, there is no father listed for Martin, and his mother named as Julia Ann Eudy. 

There were only two Julia Ann Eudy's who lived near the Lamberts who were old enough to be Martin's mother. Other Julia's were not old enough, or born later than he was. I told the story of the one whom I thought most likely to be his mother in my post, "The Interesting Life of Julia Ann Eudy Kirksey". 

The Interesting Life of Julia Ann Eudy Kirksey

But there was another Julia Ann in the Almond community, daughter of John A and Rachel Furr Eudy. This one lived in the Almond Community, not a fair distance from the Lamberts. 

Julia Eady
Age in 1870:	19
Birth Year:	abt 1851
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1870:	Almond, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Albemarle
Value of real estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age John Eady 54 Rachael Eady 50 Julia Eady 19 Franklin Eady 16 Adam Eady 14

This Julia married another Almond Township citizen, Gooden (or Goodwin) Hatley on  September 5, 1874. This was a year and a half after the birth of Martin L. Lambert. 

In the 1880 census, Gooden and Julia were still living in the Almond community.

Julia Hatley
Age:	28
Birth Year:	abt 1852
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1880:	Almonds, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Gorden Hatley
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:	View others on page
Occupation:	Keeping House
Cannot read/write: Blind: Deaf and dumb: Otherwise disabled: Idiotic or insane:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Gorden Hatley 32 Julia Hatley 28 V. R. Hatley 6 Rosa Hatley 4 Ada Hatley 1

All 3 of their children would be born in Stanly County, however, by 1900, they would be living in Texas, just like the other Julia Ann Eudy. 

Julia Hatley
Age:	49
Birth Date:	Mar 1851
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	Justice Precinct 2, Kaufman, Texas [Kaufman]
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Goodwin Hatley
Marriage Year:	1874
Years Married:	26
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother: number of living children:	3
Mother: How many children:	3
Occupation:	View on Image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Goodwin Hatley 51 Julia Hatley 49 Van Hatley 25 Irene Hatley 23 Ada Hatley 21 Fred Deaton 18

The Hatley family, however, would chose the town of Forney, in Kaufmann County, Texas in which to settle.

Forney is a proud little town in the northeastern quadrant of Texas, just 50 miles outside of Dallas. 

Daughtrey's Billiard Parlor. Photo courtesy of  Forney Country, a History of  NorthWestern Kaufman County by Jerry M. Flook

Forney was founded on the black clay prairies near the East Fork of the Trinity River. The earliest settlers did not begin arriving until around the late 1840's. The railroads did not arrive until about 30 years later. It was originally a primarily hay growing area, with cotton becoming the crop later. 

 Open prairie cattle ranches also sprang up in and near Forney. 

Jerry M. Flook's "History or Forney" describes the area in the 1870's and 1880's as a typical western town of hard-drinking, hard-gambling, hard-working men. 

Forney in the 1870s and early 1880s was known far and wide as a hard drinking, hard gambling, and hard brawling frontier settlement, despite the best efforts of the town fathers to build a progressive, respectable, and law-abiding town. Several tales of those rough-and-tumble days survive and are the stuff of Hollywood wild-west scenes.

-quote from 'The History of Forney' J. M. Flooks. 

The Town was incorporated in 1884 and later disbanded. Around 1914, a major highway was built near the community and growth returned. It was near this highway, the Dixie Overland Highway, that the Hatley family were settled and raised. 

Goodson Hatley [Goodwin Hatley]
Age in 1910:	62
Birth Year:	1848
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1910:	Forney, Kaufman, Texas
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Julia Hatley
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Goodson Hatley 62 Julia Hatley 59

Goodwin Hatley Age: 71 Birth Year: abt 1849 Birthplace: North Carolina Home in 1920: Forney, Kaufman, Texas Race: White Gender: Male Relation to Head of House: Head Marital Status: Married Spouse's Name: Julia Hatley Father's Birthplace: North Carolina Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina Home Owned: Own Able to Read: Yes Able to Write: Yes Neighbors: View others on page Household Members: Name Age Goodwin Hatley 71 Julia Hatley 68

View Original Record View original image  G Hatley Gender: Male Birth Year: abt 1849 Birthplace: North Carolina Race: White Home in 1930: Forney, Kaufman, Texas View Map Marital Status: Married Relation to Head of House: Head Spouse's Name: Julia Hatley Father's Birthplace: North Carolina Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina Occupation: Education: Military Service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: Parents' birthplace: View image Neighbors: View others on page Household Members: Name Age G Hatley 81 Julia Hatley 79 Goodwin and Julia lived a long life in Forney, Texas with their 3 children. Oldest son Van Buren Hatley married a Texas born girl, Lottie Elizabeth McFarland, served in World War I and raised a large family of 10 children: Verner Buren Hatley, Lewis Wetzel Hatley, Irene Julia, Fowler, Nora Lee, Lou Ellen "Peggy", Elizabeth A, Warren G, Ernest Young and Carrie Ann Hatley. Middle child Irene Rose Ann Hatley, married Ernest Young Moore from Georgia and had one son, Goodwin C Moore. Youngest daughter, Ada Ida Hatley married John Smith Robetson, who was born in Arkansas and raised their five children in Kaufman County, Texas: Henry, Kenneth, Edith Claire, Ione Gladys and Daniel C Robertson.

Who was Goodwin's firstborn child whom he was served a Bastardy bond on in Stanly County, North Carolina in 1875? Julia Ann Eudy Hatley only confessed on the censuses to being the mother of the 3 children she and 'Gooden' had in Stanly county. They had no more children, which was rare for the time. Was Gooden a man with wandering eyes, and feet? Was Martin L. Lambert the son of Goodwin and Julia? If so, why did they not raise him as they married the year after he was born? If Martin was the child the bond was served on, why was it served 2 years after he was born and a year after Goodwin and Julia married.

Did Martin's daughter Lotha keep up with her grandmother Julia Ann after she too, moved to Texas? And which Julia was her grandmother, Julia Ann Eudy Kirksey or her cousin,  Julia Ann Eudy Hatley? We may never know.

What I know about Julia.

I love a good mystery. My g, g, g, g Uncle Martin L Lambert lived a short life of 19 years, but long enough

to leave a teenaged widow and infant daughter. His daughter migrated to Texas after she married and his descendants all have him listed in their family trees as the son of my direct ancestor, William "Buck" Lambert and his wife Talitha Herrin Lambert. He is,  after just 3 yeasr younger than Jonah, the son listed above his in the list of Buck's children in the 1880 census. And he is listed as a son.

But maybe none of Martin's Texas progeny have accessed a copy of his Stanly County, North Carolina marriage license, wherein it lists his mother as "Julia Ann Eudy" and the spot for his father's name is empty.

So first, I wanted to make sure I had the right Martin L. Lambert before looking any further. There was one other Martin, a Martin Luther Lambert, who wasn't too far off in age, but he married someone else and lived a long life.

The Martin L. Lambert who is buried beside William Buck Lambert in the Lambert Cemetery #1, located in the Lambert Community of Stanly County (that's a whole lot of Lamberting, isn't it?) was born March 5, 1873. His age matches exactly to that of Martin on the marriage license. He died on November 18, 1892, a year to the day before his widow, Rose Etta Starnes Lambert, married Columbus Monroe Kiser on November 18, 1893. The math works.

This Martin also lived in the next house enumerated to the Starnes family in the 1880 census. They would have played together as children, and were only a year apart in age.

So who was Julia Ann Eudy?

These are the things I know about her.

1) Her name. There was a substantial Eudy clan originating in Western Stanly County.
2) She had to have lived within a reasonable area of the Lambert family, as travel was not as easy in those day. I could limit my search to Cabarrus and Stanly counties and be confidant she was not being overlooked.
3) She had to have been old enough to have had a child in 1873.


First to pop up was Julia Ann Eudy born in 1857, daughter of Jacob Wiley Eudy and Elmira Belinda Furr Eudy.

Second was Julia Ann Eudy, born in 1877, daughter of  William Henry Harrison Eudy and  Phoebe Huneycutt Eudy, who married a Lowder

Third was Julia Eudy, born in 1851, daughter of  John and Rachel Eudy, who married Gooden Hatley in 1874.

Fourth was Julia Ann Eudy, born in 1879, daughter of  Ranson Eudy and Eva Hatley Eudy, who married a Thompson.

There was also a Julia Ellen Eudy, born in 1867, daughter of William Monroe and Lucy Moore  Eudy, who married a Sides.

Birth dates knock 3 out of the running, at the get-go. Julia Eudy Thompson and Julia Eudy Hatley, were not even born yet in 1873. Julia Eudy Sides was only 5.

That leaves Julia, daughter of Jacob and Elmira, who would have been about 16 at the time, and Julia, daughter of John and Rachel, who would've been about 22.

These ladies had a lot in common. Both were born near the line of Stanly and Cabarrus Counties, one on one side and one on the other.  Both were born here in the 1850's and died in Texas in the 1930's.

Both were single in 1873, one married in Stanly County the very next year and the other in Arkansas at age 26. 

It will take a close look at the timelines and families of both ladies to figure it out. While Julia Eudy Hatley was still in the Almond community in 1880, Julia Ann Eudy, who would become Kirksey, had migrated to Alabama with her family.

A few things in the censuses can give us a hint at when this happened.

Julia Ann's younger sister, Janice "Jennie" Rose Eudy was born on October 7, 1870 in North Carolina, so the family was still here in 1870. She died in Dover, Pope County, Arkansas on  September 12, 1873, so the family was in Arkansas by that date.

Also, the next child, Minnie Lorena Eudy, was born 6 days after her sister died, on September 18, 1873.

Martin was born on March 5th of that year. It could have been possible that the child was handed over to Buck Lambert before the family migrated out of the state. His birth may have even been the impetus to migrate. Then again, not.


The 1900 census counted how many children a mother had given birth to, and also, how many were living.

For Julia Ann Eudy Hatley, she and husband Goodwin had brought their 3 children into the world by 1900, Ira Van Buren Hately, Irene Roseann Hatley and Ada Mae Hatley. The 1900 census recorded that she was the mother of 3 children with 3 living.


For Julia Ann Hatley Kirksey, she married a widower, Madison Kirksey, whose first wife Sarah had passed away. He had Sarah had 3 children already, Ophelia, Madison Jr, or "Matt" and Fanny. He had Julia had had 4 children together by 1900. The census recorded that she was the mother of 5 children with 4 living.

By 1910, another child, Annie Mae had arrived and it listed her as the mother of 7 children with 5 living. A daughter Arlene had been born and died between Addie Belle in 1893 and Annie Mae in 1900.

Does this suggest she was the mother of Martin L. Lambert and he her other deceased child? Or was it the Julia who married the year after his birth and remained in Almond for a few years after his birth?

I hope research will tell.