The Family of Rufus B. Hood

Facts by Elsie Hood Colter

Records show that on July 5, 1870, Rufus B. Hood, a native of Tennessee, purchased 640 acres of land about five miles northwest of Jacksonville, which still is owned by his descendants. He raised hogs, later cleared the land for farming, and by the 1880s had established a cotton farm complete with a cotton gin.

Nine children survived to adulthood. A son, Adolphus, married and moved to Gainesville, and James married and moved to Canyon. A daughter, Mollie Josie (Mrs. F. E. Yoakum) eventually moved to Los Angeles. Ima Catherine (Mrs. Tom Gaston) made her home in Gainesville.

The other five children lived their entire lives on or near the land originally purchased by R. B. Hood. Many of their descendants still reside on or near this property.

Doneley Ira, youngest of the family, died while a member of the United States Army in 1915, during World War I. Norman Oscar and his wife, Minnie, had four children: Lillie, Hazel, Odell (all deceased) and Marvin, who resides in Texarkana. Maggie (Mrs. Preston Greer) and her husband had four children: Horace, Myrtle, Inez and Elva (Mrs. Clifford Wiggins), who lives here.

Balvin Otis and Benjamin Omer were twins, born in 1884. Otis, the last surviving child, died in 1967. He and his wife, Dora, made their home at the homesite of Mattie Hood, widow of R. B. Hood. He died in 1888. Until her death in 1915, Mattie Hood successfully operated the farm and reared her children, several of whom were very small at the time of her husband's death. The Otis Hoods had three daughters. Lelia (Mrs. R. H. Cox) and her family make their home here with her mother. Elizabeth (Mrs. Paul Snider) lives in Dallas, and Mattie (Mrs. Stafford Norman) lives in Mc-Alester, Oklahoma.

Omer Hood, who preceded his twin brother in death by three years, and his wife, Ethel, made their home in the original house built by R. B. Hood until it was destroyed by fire. They rebuilt on the same site and reared their six children there.

Six of the grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Hood still live in Jacksonville or nearby. Twenty-six great grandchildren reside here. There are five great-great grandchildren also in Jacksonville. Three of the widows of the sons of R. B. Hood are surviving. They are Minnie (Mrs. Norman Hood)', who lives with her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Odell Hood, in Fort Worth; Dora (Mrs. Otis Hood) and Ethel (Mrs. Omer Hood), both of whom live on land purchased 1870 by Rufus Hood.