Life History

Notes

• Benjamin Franklin Lovin, Jr, was born 28 July 1890, according to family sources reported in genealogies.  This is the birth date given also in his WWI Draft Registration card.  He is reported as born in Washita, which is a town in Caddo County.
  
  The 1900 census reports he and the other children of Benjamin and Mattie Lovin were born in Indian Territory.  However, Caddo County was in Oklahoma Territory, not Indian Territory, and became Caddo County of the State of Oklahoma.  He is first recorded with his parents in the 1900 census for Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Territory.  We are told he was born in Indian Territory.  It seems this was in Chickasaw Nation.
  
  In 1900 we find his two older half-brothers Edward and James Henry living in Township 4 of Chickasaw Nation.  According to this census, Ben's two older sisters Mattie and Anna were also born in Indian Territory.
  
  1900 Federal Census, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Territory, 25 June, Burnett Township, District 194, page 15B, Hse/Fam #278
  Lovin, Benjamin F Head W M May 1850 50 Married 25 yrs MS MS MS
  Lovin, Lucinda P Wife W F June 1852 47 Married 25 yrs AR MS MS
  Lovin, Benjamin F Son W M Aug 1891 9 Ind Terr MS AR
  
  In 1910, B F married Ruby M Lakin.
  
  They are enumerated in the 1910 census in Alex, Grady County, Oklahoma, where her name is spelled Rubie.
  
  1910 Federal Census, Grady County, Oklahoma, 30 April, Alex Township, District 89, page 6B, Hse/Family #94
  Lovin, Benjamin F Head M W 20  Married 0 yrs US US US Farmer  Rents [b abt 1890]
  Lovin, Rubie M Wife F W 16 Married 0 yrs TX US US [b abt 1894]
  
  A granddaughter of Ruby tells us that Ben left Ruby and took the children.  The only child is reported in a genealogy associated with a family photo as Clyde.  He appears to be about 3 or 4 in the photo.  But Clyde is reported in Ben's household in 1920 as 8 years old.  The only other child is a 1-month-old baby named Clarence, presumably the child of the wife reported in 1920, Ida May Dillingham.
  
  There is another discrepancy with the report of children and the divorce from Ruby.  In 1917 when B F registered for the draft, he was single.  Ben is working in the Houston area, in the town of Gladsell, Texas.  So that photo of Ben and Ruby with one son may have been taken before they were divorced in 1917 or earlier.  In the Draft registration he reports his mother and "one child," presumably his child, are dependent on him.
  
  His Draft Registration provides some missing personal details.  Note that he is living in Liberty County, Texas.
  
  U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
  Benjamin Franklin Lovin
  Born 28 July 1890 Washita (Caddo County), Oklahoma
  Residence Gladsell (Liberty County), Texas
  Single, Occupation Log Hauler, Grogan Mfg Co
  Reports his mother and one child are dependent on him.
  Medium Height and Build, Gray Eyes, Light Hair
  Registration 5 June 1917 Liberty County, Texas
  
  By 1920, he has moved to Dallas, Texas, and is married again with two sons.  Clyde is reported by Ruby's grandson as Ruby's son, born in 1917.  If he was born in 1917, it was before July, when Ben reports himself as single, not married (or divorced).
  
  1920 Federal Census, Dallas County, Texas, 2 January, Dallas, Precinct 10, District 27, page 1A, 3404 Swiss Avenue, Hse #6, Family #7
  Lovin, Benjamin F Head Rents M W 29 Okla US Ark  House Carpenter [b abt 1891]
  Lovin, Ida May Wife F W 23 Mass Mass Mass [b abt 1897]
  Lovin, Clyde Son M W 8 Okla Okla Mass [b abt 1912]
  Lovin, Clarence Son  M W 1 month TX Okla Mass [b abt November 1919]
  
  Ben and Ida May are living as a second family in the household of West Moon and his wife Elizabeth.  By 1923, Ben and Ida had moved to California, and were listed in the Santa Monica City Directory.
  
  U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
  Santa Monica, California, City Directory, 1923, p 378
  Lovin Benjamin F (Ida M) carp h 1338 Euclid S M
  
  Ben and Ida May later moved to British Columbia, Canada.  This was likely before 1938, when their son Roy Lovin appears iin the Santa Monica City Direcotry as the sole listing under this surname.
  
  U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989
  Santa Monica, California, City Directory, 1938, p 321
  Lovin Roy r 9 Av 18 Venice
  
  Ben moved to British Columbia, Canada.  His death is reported there on 9 November 1976, in the town of Terrace, British Columbia.  "Terrace is a city on the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada. The Kitselas people, a tribe of the Tsimshian Nation, have lived in the Terrace area for thousands of years."  --  "Terrace, British Columbia," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrace,_British_Columbia
  
  British Columbia, Canada, Death Index, 1872-1990
  Benjamin Franklin Lovin
  Death Age 85, Birth Year abt 1891
  Death 9 Nov 1976 Terrace
  Registration #1976-09-017006
  BCA #B13356, GSU #2050569

Sources

• 1. 1910 Federal Census, Grady County, Oklahoma
  • 30 April, Alex Township, District 89, page 6B, Hse/Family #94
• 2. Ancestry Trees
  • Peggy Conley, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2899172&id=I24114
• 3. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
• 4. 1920 Federal Census, Dallas County, Texas
  • 2 January, Dallas, Precinct 10, District 27, page 1A, 3404 Swiss Avenue, Hse #6, Family #7
• 5. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
• 6. British Columbia, Canada, Death Index, 1872-1990
• 7. 1900 Federal Census, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Territory
  • 25 June, Burnett Township, District 194, page 15B, Hse/Fam #278
• 8. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
  • Santa Monica, California, City Directory, 1923, p 378
• 9. Ancestry Comments
• 10. Canada Obituary Collection
• 11. California Birth Index, 1905-1995
• 12. California, Marriage Index, 1960-1985
• 13. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
• 14. Find a Grave Memorial Registry