The Mollie Ola King Mystery
For members of the Thompson family
Who was Mollie Ola King?
She is the grandmother of my grandmother, who died relatively young. She left limited tangible evidence of her life, primarily in her only son’s memory of her as recorded in his family Bible and a few other assorted — and often conflicting — documents.
What follows is a story about what we think we know about Mollie Ola, so far.
Think of this little post like an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. It is a story about what we know — and don’t know — at this point in time. But it is also a request for help! If you have more information or can provide a helpful clue, please reply to this email or leave us a little comment.
Probabilities
Here’s the info that we can be comparatively confident about.
Origin
Mollie Ola King was born on February 23, 1873 in the small town of Ozan, Hempstead Co., Arkansas. This birth date is based on a handwritten page found in her son Olvin Lloyd Thompson’s family Bible.
Marriage and Children
Mollie Ola King married Emmett Hayes Thompson on November 10, 1898 in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas. They were married at the First Methodist Church by Pastor E.D. Mouzon.
By the summer of 1900, when they were counted in the decennial census, the Thompson family was living on a small farm in rural Johnson Co., Texas. They had just had their first child together, a son named Olvin Lloyd, in May.
In April of 1910, the Thompson family was enumerated on the federal census on a small farm in rural Erath Co., Texas. By this time they’d had their second child, a daughter named Fannie, born in August of 1904. Fannie was still too little for school, but Olvin Lloyd was old enough to attend school and to help support the family with farm labor.
The family had moved to the small city of Stephenville, Erath Co., Texas by the time Mollie Ola’s husband had to register for the draft for WWI in September of 1918. At that time, Emmett was working at Benbrook Field, a U.S. Army Air Service station that was used as a training school for American and Canadian pilots.
Death
Mollie Ola King died on November 28, 1918 — Thanksgiving Day — there in Stephenville, age 45. Her cause of death is not recorded; I have not yet found a death certificate or death index record for her.
Possibilities
This is the section for speculation!
Origin
Up until DNA testing for family history research became common, Mollie Ola’s parents were unknown. AncestryDNA has allowed us to narrow down the possibilities to one most likely family of origin; Mollie Ola’s parents are probably Thomas and Palmetto King.
In the 1880 federal census, Mollie Ola (called “Ollie”) is enumerated as a young child in the household of her probable parents, Thomas and Palmetto King. The family lived on a farm in a rural area called Prairie Township in Johnson Co., Arkansas. Also included in the household were Mollie Ola’s sister, Emma, and brother, Henley.
Mollie Ola could actually have been born as late as 1875 to 1876. In the 1880 census where she appears as a child in the household of her most likely parents, Mollie Ola’s age is recorded as 4. The census records of 1900 and 1910 also indicate a birth timeframe of 1875 to 1876.
Another inconsistency in the documentation is that the 1900 and 1910 census records indicate that both of Mollie Ola’s parents were born in North Carolina. However, the 1880 census indicates that both Thomas and Palmetto King were born in Arkansas.
Furthermore, a scan of a handwritten document of unknown origin that was included in the family history files of my grandparents corroborates the family Bible’s birth and death dates for Mollie Ola, but also includes additional information. This document states that prior to her marriage she taught school in Ozan, Hempstead Co., Arkansas (her birthplace).
This document also states that she was raised by her brothers; the handwriting is difficult to decipher, but the eldest brother appears to be named Hugh. Also listed is a sister who died at age 16, Mattie. These names do not match up with the most likely family of origin as recorded in the census of 1880, which is cause for some concern. Again, Mollie Ola’s probable family of origin is indicated by DNA — but since the genetic connection is several generations removed and the presumed shared ancestors are indicated by family trees of varying quality provided by individual users, there is certainly room for error.
Interestingly, even though she is recorded as “Mollie” on her marriage certificate, and as “Mollie Ola” in the family Bible, she is listed as “Ola” in the census records of 1900 and 1910 and as “Ollie” in the census record of 1880. This indicates that she most likely went by “Ola” in everyday life as an adult, was affectionately known as “Ollie” to her family as a child, and only used her given name “Mollie” in formal situations.
Marriage and Children
Although a marriage certificate for this couple was issued in Texas in 1898, a much later document by a child of Emmett Hayes Thompson and his second wife Bersha Lula Wheat, Truett Thompson, states that he and Mollie Ola were married in Arkadelphia, Clark Co., Arkansas. E.H. Thompson’s obituary also cites Arkadelphia; it is not clear whether this is the source of the aforementioned document’s information, or vice versa, or corroborating evidence. It is possible that the couple were first married in Texas, then held a second wedding ceremony later for their family members who still lived in Arkansas.
The aforementioned unattributed handwritten document from the files of my grandparents states that E.H. and Mollie Ola were married in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas; this matches their marriage certificate. However, this document states that they were married by “Bishop Boaz” — presumably Hiram Abiff Boaz of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South — even though their marriage certificate specifies Pastor E.D. Mouzon (who was also later elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South).
Death
According to the family Bible, Mollie Ola was buried in Oak Dale Cemetery in a small community called Huckabay outside of Stephenville, Erath Co., Texas. However, her grave is not listed among the memorials for this cemetery on Find A Grave, nor is Mollie Ola listed anywhere in a multi-volume collection of cemetery inscriptions from that area provided by the Houston Public Library’s Family History Research Center. It is possible that the family was not able to provide a grave marker for her, or that she was instead buried on private property rather than in a cemetery.
Next Steps
As of right now, this is the extent of the information we have about Mollie Ola King. There is still plenty to learn about her as a person, and multiple avenues of research to pursue in order to learn more about her family of origin.
For example, Ancestry.com’s hints feature has suggested a potentially connected record for Mollie Ola; an index record in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal Indexes, 1892-1947 for an appellant named Mollie Thompson in Tarrant Co., Texas. I have had some difficulty locating the full court report for the case indicated by this index record — which does not include the nature of the alleged crime, nor any information that could clearly link this Mollie Thompson to our own Mollie Ola King. My next step in investigating this possible connection is to request help from the Texas State Law Library.
It would also be worthwhile to investigate the unattributed document’s claim that Mollie Ola was raised by her brothers and its list of siblings. This investigation might involve practicing cluster genealogy, which involves researching the activities of an individual’s extended family, neighbors, and other known associates or acquaintances.
If this were an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, this would be the part of the show where we call for tips from the public.
If you know something more about our Mollie Ola King, please contact me! To do so, just reply to this email or visit the newsletter homepage at tlmk.substack.com and leave a comment on this post.
FYI — if you’re on Ancestry.com, I will shortly add to our family tree a version of this narrative including references and full information about conclusions about family of origin that were based on DNA; reach out to me if you need an invitation to see it, or if you just want me to directly email a copy of the document with citations.