Family of Minerva C. Aston

In a large fenced-in family plot located on the north edge of Mount Pleasant Cemetery there stands three large gravemarkers with the name Aston. The plot shows some wear and the weeds are high but it was winter when I found them and I imagine the spring and summer months will bring caretakers to the cemetery to care for these beloved members of the Aston family.

Minerva, husband R. Y. Aston, and 19-year-old son, Jerome, are buried there. The 1900 U. S. Census shows a widowed Minerva with an 11-year-old Jerome and her other children. I have transcribed that census as it is enumerated on the original census.

1900 Hood Co. Texas U. S. Census
Page 222A, Sheet 13, Precinct No: west part of 1, Enumerated 16th June 1900 by J. W. Duvall

House 226
Line #1
Aston, Manervia
Head of Household
White Female
Born June 1867
32 year-old widow
4 children
4 children living
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Mississippi
Occupation: Farmer
Can read, write, and speak English
Rents her home/farm

Minerva C. Aston

wife of R. Y. Aston
Born June 5, 1867
Died Aug. 1, 1904
"Sweet be thy peace,
Thy sufferings are o'er."


R. Y. Aston
Born Dec. 1, 1859
Died Feb. 16, 1898

Line #2
Aston, Gerome
Son of Head of Household
White Male
Born October 1888
11-year-old
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Texas
Mother's Birthplace: Texas
Farm Laborer
Months Unemployed: 5
Months in School: 5
Can read, write, and speak English

"Hope"

Jerome Aston
Born Oct. 5, 1888
Died Oct. 5, 1907
(Jerome died on his 19th birthday.)

Line #3
Aston, Madie
Daughter of Head of Household
White Female
Born September 1890
9-year-old
Months in School: 5
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Texas
Mother's Birthplace: Texas

Line #4
Aston, Andy
Son of Head of Household
White Male
Born June 1895
4-year-old
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Texas
Mother's Birthplace: Texas

Line #5
Aston, Robert
Son of Head of Household
White Male
Born February 1898
2-year-old
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Texas
Mother's Birthplace: Texas

Line #6
Gifford, Mary A.
Sister of Head of Household
White Female
Born August 1857
47-year-old, Single
Birthplace: Arkansas
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Texas
Can read, write, and speak English

Line #7
Aston, Marry
Boarder in House 226
White Male
Born October 1875
24-year-old, Single
Birthplace: Alabama
Father's Birthplace: Alabama
Mother's Birthplace: Alabama

Hood County Marriages, Book C, Page 171, by (41) *
Aston, R. Y. to Gifford, M. C., 5 January 1888

*Indicates Clergy or Officiating Officer's number.

Sources:
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas
1900 Hood Co. Texas U. S. Census
Hood County Marriages
Hood County Genealogical Society

All photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert, 2008
Mount Pleasant Cemetery