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Choate, Mary
Frances
m. 09/03/1847
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 09/03/1847, Spouse: Cushing,
Christopher
City: Andover, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0496897.
Choate, Mary
L.
m. 07/14/1840
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 07/14/1840, Spouse: Sutton,
Richard
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, Mary
G.
m. 08/03/1849
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 08/03/1849, Spouse: Pigeon,
Rev. Charles
City: Newton, County: Middlesex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0745868.
Choate, Mary
C.
m. 11/02/1845
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/02/1845, Spouse: Kinsman,
Obed C.
City: Manchester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0874027.
Choate, Mary
C.
m. 11/23/1845
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/23/1845, Spouse: Kinsman,
Obed C.
City: Essex, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0873749 Item 5.
Choate,
Charles
m. 10/10/1815
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 10/10/1815, Spouse: Low, Polly
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate,
Samuel
m. 03/04/1729
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/04/1729, Spouse: Martin, Mrs.
Damaras
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate,
Samuel
m. 03/19/1761
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/19/1761, Spouse: Day, Abigail
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate,
Samuel
m. 05/15/1793
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 05/15/1793, Spouse: Wyman,
Margaret
City: Salem, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0761210.
Choate,
Samuel
m. 05/15/1793
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 05/15/1793, Spouse: Wyman,
Margaret
City: Cambridge, County: Middlesex
Source: Family History Library, Salt Lake
City, Ut, Film # 0496864.
Choate,
George
m. 01/01/1789
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 01/01/1789, Spouse: Choate,
Susannah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate,
George
m. 12/16/1825
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 12/16/1825, Spouse: Hodges,
Margaret M.
City: Salem, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0761210.
Choate,
George
m. 09/04/1841
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 09/04/1841, Spouse: Choate,
Lucy
City: Lowell, County: Middlesex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0927928.
Choate,
George
m. 11/13/1843
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/13/1843, Spouse: Baker, Lucy
A.
City: Lowell, County: Middlesex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0927928.
Choate, Ruth
m. 01/21/1779
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 01/21/1779, Spouse: Choate,
Jeremiah, Jr.
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, Ruth
m. 06/07/1795
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 06/07/1795, Spouse: Morrill,
Enoch
City: Salisbury, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0845110.
Choate,
Hannah
m. 11/21/1765
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/21/1765, Spouse: Pierce,
Lucas
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate,
Hannah
m. 06/21/1781
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 06/21/1781, Spouse: Marshal,
Moses
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate,
Hannah
m. 01/10/1793
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 01/10/1793, Spouse: Smith,
Samuel
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate,
Hannah
m. 08/08/1822
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 08/08/1822, Spouse: Crowell,
Rev. Robert
City: Essex, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0873749 Item 5.
Choate,
Lucy L.
m. 01/08/1828
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 01/08/1828, Spouse: Haskell,
Ebenezer
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film
# 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate,
David
m. 06/24/1784
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 06/24/1784, Spouse: Cogswell,
Mrs. Mary
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
David
m. 07/18/1789
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 07/18/1789, Spouse: Appleton,
Sarah
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film
# 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate,
David
m. 07/18/1789
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 07/18/1789, Spouse: Appleton,
Sarah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
David
m. 10/15/1791
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 10/15/1791, Spouse: Foster, Miriam
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
David
m. 01/14/1828
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 01/14/1828, Spouse: Wade,
Elisabeth
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 02/24/1721
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 02/24/1721, Spouse: Story,
Solomon
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 01/25/1738
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 01/25/1738, Spouse: Davis, James,
Jr.
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 11/28/1771
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/28/1771, Spouse: Brown,
Nehemiah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 10/06/1791
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 10/06/1791, Spouse: Bailey,
Thomas
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 02/23/1804
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 02/23/1804, Spouse: Choate,
Jeremiah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 06/27/1806
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 06/27/1806, Spouse: Millett,
Thomas, Jr.
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film
# 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate,
Mary
m. 07/16/1806
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 07/16/1806, Spouse: Millet,
Thomas, Jr.
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 08/15/1813
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 08/15/1813, Spouse: Picket,
Richard
City: Newburyport, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film
# 0890256.
Choate,
Mary
m. 11/28/1813
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/28/1813, Spouse: Sewall, Dr.
Thomas
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 07/20/1828
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 07/20/1828, Spouse: Kendall,
James H.
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film
# 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate,
Mary
m. 08/31/1828
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 08/31/1828, Spouse: Kendall,
James H.
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Mary
m. 12/30/1841
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 12/30/1841, Spouse: Lunt,
Benjamin S., Jr.
City: Beverly, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0760604.
Choate,
Mary Ann
m. 06/04/1844
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 06/04/1844, Spouse: Shepherd,
George H.
City: Essex, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0873749 Item 5.
Choate,
Mary Lowe
m. 05/01/1833
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 05/01/1833, Spouse: Savage, Elias
City: Danvers, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0758829 & 0876099.
Choate, John
m. 03/12/1729
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/12/1729, Spouse: Marshall,
Mrs. Prudence
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, John
m. 03/18/1784
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/18/1784, Spouse: Welsh,
Eunice
City: Cambridge, County: Middlesex
Source: Family History Library, Salt Lake
City, Ut, Film # 0496864.
Choate, John
m. 03/18/1784
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/18/1784, Spouse: Welsh,
Eunice
City: Charlestown, County: Suffolk Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0740994-0740995.
Choate, John
m. 03/28/1789
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/28/1789, Spouse: Newman,
Sarah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, John
m. 04/16/1789
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 04/16/1789, Spouse: Newman,
Mrs. Sarah
City: Newburyport, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0890256.
Choate, John
m. 12/23/1806
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 12/23/1806, Spouse: Faye, Eliza
City: Boston, County: Suffolk Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0818093-0818095.
Choate, John
m. 11/09/1819
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/09/1819, Spouse: Fairfield,
Sarah G.
City: Roxbury, County: Suffolk Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0741320.
Choate, John S.
m. 12/25/1833
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 12/25/1833, Spouse: Tarr, Olivia
M.
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate, John P.
m. 03/18/1802
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/18/1802, Spouse: Cogswell,
Lucretia
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, John P.
m. 08/02/1846
CD 231, Marriage Index:
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 08/02/1846, Spouse: Blaisdell,
Sarah Jane
City: Lowell, County: Middlesex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0927928.
Choate, Robert
m. 01/07/1715
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 01/07/1715, Spouse: Perkins,
Unice
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, Robert
m. 02/15/1781
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 02/15/1781, Spouse: Cleaveland,
Mrs. Mary
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, Abraham
m. 03/13/1755
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/13/1755, Spouse: Potter, Sarah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, James
m. 11/16/1786
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/16/1786, Spouse: Perkins,
Abigail
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, James
m. 10/25/1843
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 10/25/1843, Spouse: Babson,
Ruth L.
City: Newburyport, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0890256.
Choate, Asa
m. 03/25/1835
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/25/1835, Spouse: Chapman,
Elisa Ann
City: Tewksbury, County: Middlesex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0874027 Item 4.
Choate, Joseph
m. 11/01/1806
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/01/1806, Spouse: Cummings,
Sarah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0777636.
Choate, Nancy
m. 11/10/1793
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/10/1793, Spouse: Tappan,
James
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate, Nancy
m. 11/10/1793
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/10/1793, Spouse: Tappan,
James
City: Kingston, County: Plymouth Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0873752 Item 2.
Choate, Emily
m. 12/19/1837
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 12/19/1837, Spouse: Pool, James
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate, Ann
C.
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/24/1849, Spouse: Cogswell,
Darius
City: Essex, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0873749 Item 5.
Choate, Lois
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 12/30/1774, Spouse: Kimbal,
Jeremiah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Elizabeth
m. 03/27/1742
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 03/27/1742, Spouse: Jewet,
Jeremiah
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Elizabeth
m. 02/05/1746
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 02/05/1746, Spouse: Farley,
Michael, Jr.
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate,
Elizabeth
m. 05/13/1759
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 05/13/1759, Spouse: Haskell,
Josiah
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate,
Elizabeth
m. 12/04/1793
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 12/04/1793, Spouse: Carman,
John
City: Newburyport, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0890256.
Choate, Anna
m. 11/29/1706
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/29/1706, Spouse: Martin,
George, Jr.
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate, Anna
m. 11/03/1803
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/03/1803, Spouse: Huse,
William, Jr.
City: Newburyport, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0890256.
Choate, Anna
m. 11/07/1816
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/07/1816, Spouse: Rogers,
William
City: Newburyport, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0890256.
Choate,
Maria
m. 11/24/1839
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/24/1839, Spouse: Clark,
Benjamin
City: Lowell, County: Middlesex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0927928.
Choate,
William
m. 09/05/1765
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 09/05/1765, Spouse: Church,
Susanna
City: Barre, County: Worchester Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0874027.
Choate,
William
m. 10/14/1801
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 10/14/1801, Spouse: Marshall,
Sally Soper
City: Gloucester, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0864859 & 0864861-0864862.
Choate,
William
m. 04/28/1839
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 04/28/1839, Spouse: Hickoks,
Mary G.
City: Newburyport, County: Essex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0890256.
Choate,
William
m. 04/08/1840
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 04/08/1840, Spouse: Kimball, Mary
E.
City: Beverly, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0760604.
Choate,
Susan F.
m. 11/02/1845
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 11/02/1845, Spouse: Norten,
Daniel, Jr.
City: Essex, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0873749 Item 5.
Choate, Lucy
m. 10/06/1785
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 10/06/1785, Spouse: Burnham,
William
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate, Lucy
m. 09/07/1794
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 09/07/1794, Spouse: Choate,
Solomon, Jr.
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate, Lucy
m. 12/15/1804
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 12/15/1804, Spouse: Gogswell,
William
City: Salem, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0761210.
Choate, Lucy
m. 01/17/1805
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 01/17/1805, Spouse: Cogswell,
William
City: Ipswich, County: Essex Source: Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut, Film #
0777636.
Choate, Lucy
m. 09/04/1841
Massachusetts, 1633-1850
Married: 09/04/1841, Spouse: Choate,
George
City: Lowell, County: Middlesex Source:
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut,
Film # 0927928.
I have little info but here it goes: I have a line where I have come
across the name Sarah Choate married to a William WILSON. I don't know
much except she had a daughter named Cecilia Ann WILSON who married a
Israel Jackson SHEPHERD and these two lived most of their life in Cane
River, NC - which is in the Western part of NC in Yancey County. As far
as dates go: Israel SHEPHERD (who was a son-in-law of Sarah CHOATE) was
born around 1824. So I would guess that Sarah CHOATE was born around 1800?
If you could give me any INFO at all it would be great!!
Thanks,
Luke Higgins
Joyce
Thank you very much for sharing that. I have saved the various
postings. That is the kind of insight into a personage that is not
always easy to find.
Monroe Choate was not my immediate ancestor, but rather a collateral
one. I have always heard about him when I was growing up. I have
recounted a couple of stories my g. g. grandfather, John Tipton
Barefoot, told about his cousin, Monroe Choate. I won't post them
here, but if anyone is interested they can read them on my webpage.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/5455/index.html
Barbara Rivas
sayona(a)tlelepath.com
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/8595/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/5455/index.html
Part 6 of "Text of a paper read at the 47th Annual Meeting of The Texas
Folklore Society, April 12, 1963 by Sid Cox
Monroe Choate had stood up to Fate, but even a king-sized man cannot stand
up to time. In 1899 Monroe went out with the century into which he had been
born. There is no record of what was said at the graveside at Runge, Texas
on December 10, 1899, but his funeral sermon was one in which it would have
been no exaggeration to say that his spirit transcended his body, for it is
still alive, so strongly so that Monroe Choate seems almost as real to me as
some of the people I see every day.
It is difficult to explain this illusion of reality to myself, much less to
you. I suppose it is that I have established a subconscious image of the
truly humane man and see in the ana which I have uncovered unmistakable
signs that Monroe Choate was such a man, a man much too big to draw to scale
in a paper the length of this one.
Though Monroe had a brother name Crockett and a grandson named Boone, I
doubt that he knew what a folk hero was. Even if he did, it would never
have occurred to him that he was one. Yet he was, as many of the stories
about him show. A considerable body of these stories grew out of what Joe
McCoy described as his 'sincere aim to do right...' . And Monroe had a
knack of doing right so inoffensively that he could get away with it. For
though he was but five-foot-seven in his boots, men looked up to him because
he was genuine. He had no use for sectarian religion, but if a man was
hungry, he fed him; if his shirt or pants were far gone, he clothed him; if
he needed shelter, he took him in with the injunction to find a place to
sleep if he could. And if a poor devil were short on all the necessities of
life, Monroe gave him a job whether he needed a hand or not. Monroe was
almost Spartan in the simplicity of his own wants, but his generosity to
family, friends, and strangers was almost prodigal. An omnipresent symbol
of his hospitality was a five-gallon jug of whiskey in the dog run, free to
all thirsts without prjudice because of name, national derivation, or
previous condition of servitude.
Monroe's tragic flaw was his illiteracy. In the panic of 1873 he lost fifty
thousand dollars because he couldn't read. Normally, Monroe deposited his
money under his bed and did his banking from his saddle bags, but being a
good long jump from home he deposited fifty thousand dollars in a Kansas
bank, unaware that his money would have been safer under his bed. Learning
that the bank was in danger of folding up, another cattleman wrote, warning
him to get his money out, but being unable to read, Monroe put the letter in
his pocket and forgot it. Some days later he remembered it and got John
Henry to read it to him. Too late. The bank had closed its doors.
But Monroe wasn't illiterate on the range. He didn't know as many brands as
Lod Callohan, but he could read marks and brands at a glance. And on the
trail he had a good eye, as many a Mexican raider learned. One day he and a
less literate companion were looking for a horse. His companion shouted,
'Here's his sign!' Monroe rode over and glanced at the droppings. 'Nope,'
he said with finality, 'that's a mare.'
Monroe's fondness for animals was only second to his fondness for children.
Among his pets was a parrot which he had once brought from New Orleans. As
they grew old together, Monroe and the parrot became boon companions. In
imitation of the human members of the household, the parrot learned to call
Monroe 'Grandpa'. Now the most persistent enemies of the parrot were the
owls which nested in the river bottoms. Finally, one spring evening as
Monroe and the parrot were sitting on the gallery, the parrot ventured into
the yard. Hardly had he done so when an owl swooped down and carried him
off. As the parrot was borne off to the expectant owlets, he called back
plaintively, 'Grandpa! Grandpa!' Bird though he was, he had learned what
many a more sentient being had learned in time past: Monroe Choate was a
good man to call on in a time of need."
Part 5 of "Text of a paper read at the 47th Annual Meeting of The Texas
Folklore Society, April 12, 1963 by Sid Cox
During much of his life he operated two ranches. He established the Half
Circle S in 1857 but was never able to establish title to it because of
overlapping by the original Spanish surveys. Later he bought the entire
Encarnacion Vasques Survey, which fronted on the west bank of the San
Antonio River for two miles above the mouth of Hondo Creek and ran back west
for about fifteen miles, getting wider as it left the river. This ranch he
called the H Cross, after his horse brand. But though Monroe Choate was a
practicing rancher for more than half of his life, his career as a cattleman
was centered mainly around his partnership with John Bennett.
After fourteen generally successful years during which Choate and Bennett
prospered in much the same degree that the cattle industry prospered, the
firm was dissolved. apparently by mutual consent, at the end of business in
1884. In that year cattle prices broke, and John M. Bennett demonstrated
his business acumen by getting out.
So as 1884 came to an end, James Monroe Choate and John Mirza Bennett could
count themselves successful businessmen. John Bennett continued to be one.
The National Bank of Commerce in San Antonio is a monument to his business
success, first as a member of the firm of Choate & Bennett and then as a
capitalist.
But Monroe Choate had been running things from the hurricane deck of a horse
too long to make the transition that John Bennett made. He stuck with the
cattle business. His new partner was B. A. Borroum, the second son of his
first partner. They were wiped out on the Kansas prairies in the first year
of their partnership when they lost 18,000 cattle in the worst freeze-up
that had ever hit the Plains.
So Monroe Choate went out with the longhorn -- or almost. The parabola of
his rise and fall in the cattle kingdom was almost parallel to that of the
rise and decline of the longhorn in which he had trafficked.
Taking the end of the Civil War as a point of reference, Monroe entered the
cattle business broke and came out the same way. But that is not to say
that he was penniless, for after he went broke he had more material
resources than most of us will die with. Nevertheless, in the argot of the
cattle business, he went broke. Of course, for a cattleman, going broke is
a relative thing, for he figures that he can go broke three times in a
lifetime and still come out on top. Amd Monroe did, in spirit if not in the
cattle business.
Spirit was the index to the character of Monroe Choate. When Fate wiped him
out, he wasted no time in self-pity, though Kansas had cost him two sons and
his fortune. He had not been wise enough to get out of the cattle business
when John Bennett did, but he was wise enough to know that he was too old to
start over from scratch and buck a ;falling market. His word had always
been as good as grass, and he kept it that way by paying off what he owed.
Then he put some five hundred acres of the H Cross into cultivation and
became a farmer again. On the side he began to raise fine horses and mules
as an avocation."
>From "Text of paper read at the 47th Annual Meeting of The Texas Folklore
Society, April 12, 1963 by Sid Cox"
"Just when he delivered his first herd to the Confederate Army I have not
yet discovered, but he drove two herds in 1862, the last drive of that year
being the one reported by W. D. H. Saunders in the publication of the The
Old Trail Drivers Association in 1925 and summarized or referred to in
numerous publications since. The recounting of the dramatic events of that
drive provides exciting reading, but that trip was little more than a
training exercise for events yet to come in Monroe's life.
Despite such obstacles as the drouth years of the Sixties when dead cattle
sometimes polluted the dwindling water of the San Antonio River until it
stank, Monroe made one or two drives to the Army every year during the war.
Thanks to him and his partner, Jim Borrous, and the hands who drove with
them, beef from Karnes and Goliad went into the lank stomachs of Confederate
soldiers, among whom were six Choates in one company of the Fifth Arkansas
Cavalry. On his last drive, Monroe, all his men, and his herd were captured
by the Yankees. Perhaps in appreciation of free beef, perhaps by whimsy or
perchance as the result of Monroe's persuasive tongue, the Yanks let the
drovers go with the admonition to head west PDQ.
By the end of the War only a handful of cattlemen in Texas had the
experience that Monroe Choate and his crew had. And they soon made use of
it. By the time the grass would support the stock in the spring of 1866
Monroe Choate and Jim Borroum had put up a herd and were ready to start for
Kansas. But after the vicissitudes of two months on the trail, they
approached the promised land only to learn that the Jayhawkers were
determined to keep out Texas stock and the fever they carried. Monroe
responded in characteristic fashion. 'Hell, by God,' he exclaimed, using
his favorite expression, 'We'll just drive around their damned state.' And,
in effect, that is what they did, driving west beyond the fartherest Kansas
settlements and then swinging back into soutwestern Iowa.
McCoy says the drive of 1866 convinced Monroe Choate that the profits from
driving north were not worth the trouble they cost. At any rate, he turned
toward New Orleans in 1867 and thereby lost his partner, Jim Borroum, who
died in New Orleans of Yellow Fever. The death of Jim Borroum resulted in
far-reaching effects on Monroe's life. One was the formation of his
partnership withe John M. Bennett.
With the beginning of his partnership with John Bennett in 1870, Monroe
Choate became a real pro. He had not been a rank amateur when in 1862 he
swam a thousand head of cattle across the Mississippi where it was a mile
wide and forty feet deep, and the drive to Iowa in 1866 proved he was dry
behind the ears. But the partnership with Bennett showed the possibilities
for men with energy, imagination, and good reputation. Whereas he had dealt
in hundreds before, he now dealt in thousands.
John Bennett lived on a small ranch just east of where Yoakum now stands;
Monroe's Post Office was Helena. Between them they put up herds from the
Gulf of Mexico to the Edwards Plateau.
Monroe's four older sons -- John Henry, Bill, Dunk, and Bing -- were active
in the business, as were one or more of John Bennett's brothers,
particularly Pink Bennett, who lived near Helena. In addition, Monroe kept
a sizable force of hands on the ranch. In a deposition filed with the Robb
Commission on April 22, 1873, declared that he had lost 7,716 cattle and 408
horses during the previous seven years but still owned some three thousand
head of cattle and five hundred head of horses. At that time he had three
brands recorded in Karnes, Bee, Live Oak, and San Patricio Counties."
Part 3 of "Text of a paper read at the 47th Annual Meeting of The Texas
Folklore Society, April 12, 1963 by Sid Cox"
"My reconstruction of the personality and character of Monroe Choate is
pretty well borne out by the only early appraisal of him I have been able to
find, that of Joseph G. McCoy in 'HISTORIC SKETCHES OF THE CATTLE TRADE OF
THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST' publishedin 1874. Here is the way McCoy described
him in the first chapter of his book: '...Perhaps no more appropriate
personal sketch of a genuine Texan ranchman could be presented than that of
J. M. Choate; a Tennessean by birth but a Texan of twenty-eight years
residence, (he) is perhaps as true a specimen, both in appearance and manner
of life, of the patriarchichal ranchman and drover combined, as could be
presented. His broad, high forehead, open, frank countenance, full-grown
untrimmed and unshaven beard mark him as a genuine frontiersman, one
accustomed to untold privations and hardships; yet one to whom no phase of
frontier life has either terror or trials that he would fear to face or
shrink from enduring. He is a close observer of transpiring events, an
unerring reader of human countenance and character. A man whose sincere aim
is to do right...'
The census of 1850 for Leon County, Texas, showed Monroe to be a farmer, but
with the move to Karnes County he became a stockman. The implications of
the term on the frontier were a good deal broader than they are today, and
Monroe Choate became a stockman in the broadest sense of the term. In 'THE
CHISHOLM TRAIL AND OTHER ROUTES', T. U. Taylor says succinctly, 'he became
one of the largest cattlemen of Texas.' George W. Saunders, president of
the Old Trail Drivers Association made the following comparison in THE
CATTLEMAN in 1926; 'George W. Littlefield was a wonderful man and I don't
suppose there was a man in Texas that did more towards its development than
he, but he did not drive more cattle than Monroe Choate & Sons.'
These appraisals referred to Monroe Choate at the end of his career, but he
had served a long apprenticeship before he ever started a herd to Kansas.
Like a good amny other cattlemen of his territory, he started by selling
hides and tallow. How early he began to ship cattle from Indianola to New
Orleans I have not learned, but his familiarity with the overland route by
the beginning of the Civil War suggests that he had already trailed herds
through Louisiana."
This is part 2 of "Text of a paper read at the 47th Annual Meeting of The
Texas Folklore Society, April 12, 1962 by Sid Cox"
Monroe Choate was a dynamic man. For thirty years or more he was a human
dynamo astride a horse whose head was always pointed in the direction of
action: first toward the frontier, then toward the arena in which the Civil
War was being fought, and finally toward the Kansas railheads. Aside from
these major theaters of action, he was always on the qui vive for action
taking place nearer home. Dobie's reference to him in the chapter called
'The Big Steal' reveals this characteristic. Dobie tells it this way: 'At
the old Hord Hotel they ran smack into half a dozen of the men they wanted
to see. J. M. Choate did most of the talking, and he concluded by saying
that if any of his auditors ever drove off another cow belonging to a man in
Bee, Goliad, or Karnes County, their bones would be found bleaching on the
hillsides ---even if the thieves and cattle had to be followed clean to
Montana.'
A similar example is Monroe's reaction to the murder of the Bazar family on
the San Antonio River by three Mexican renegades. Though he reached an age
when most men would have ridden nothing more lively than a rocking chair,
his immediate reaction was: 'You fellows can do what you want to, but, by
God, I'm going after them."
Hi All,
I am going to post, in five or six parts, a paper written by Sid Cox of
College Station, Texas. He sent this copy to me in 1963. Sadly, Sid is gone
now. He was a fine man. I am not a descendant of Monroe Choate, but I hope
that this will be of interest to those who are.
Part 1
"Text of a paper read at the 47th Annual Meeting of The Texas Folklore
Society, April 12, 1963
Sid Cox
The first significant episode in my career as a Choate hunter occurred in
December 1944. Having been disqualified for military service by a horse
that had deprived me of a chunk of skull---the part of my head the military
fellows considered the most essential, I was kept home and issued ration
stamps instead of a uniform. It was during this period of my life that
there walked into my office one morning a young woman who identified herself
as Dawn Young. In the normal course of human affairs I learned that she was
the great-granddaughter of L. D. Young, who had once run a store at Dof Town
and who was the father of the John Young of J. Frank Dobie's 'A VAQUERO OF
THE BRUSH COUNTRY'. Not only was she of the same breed as the John Young of
VAQUERO, but she was also the great-granddaughter of J. M. Nichols and
Monroe Choate, two of the Karnes County stockmen who rode hard after the
cowthieves in the chapter of VAQUERO entitled 'The Big Steal'.
So it turned out that I became interested in half a Choate before I did the
whole hog---Monroe, that is. From that point one thing led to another until
I now a half interest in two little quarter-Choates and am hard at work on a
Choate book which, I hope, will be as realistic as the last month of a
two-year drouth.
Measured by the tall-Texan standard so popular in fiction, Monroe Choate was
pint-sized. B. C. Moye of Kenedy, Texas , who from earliest memory knew
him, says: 'Monroe Choate was about five-foot-seven and weighed around a
hundred and forth pounds.' But when one has heard Mr. Moye talk about
Monroe Choate, he realizes that Monroe's real stature was reflected by the
dimensions of his character and spirit rather than in conventional
measurements. By that standard he was a king-sized man in a man-sized
world.
This evaluation seems to be substantial. As a matter of course, most
evidence has long since been filtered through the fine silt of time, leaving
stories that show Monroe's dominant characteristics well enough to support
valid conclusions about him, for just as the paleontologist does not need
all the bones of Tyrannosaurus Rex to reconstruct an accurate likeness of
him, the biographer can reconstruct his subject without minute knowledge.
Having done that, I think it safe to say that Monroe Choate was the kind of
man any one of you out there would have liked as a person, enjoyed as a
neighbor, and cherished as a friend."