Margaret Watkins Hales

Margaret "Maggie" Watkins, daughter of John Watkins and of Ann Evans, born Nov. 18, 1861 at Breconshire, Wales; died 23 May  23, 1934 at Van Buren County, Iowa; buried at Center Chapel Cemetery, Van Buren County. She was married Oct . 1, 1884 at Keosauqua, Van Buren County, Iowa to John Parker Dodds Hales.

At the age of 19, Maggie came to America with her parents and brothers and sisters and located near Keosauqua, Iowa.

The couple lived on a farm northeast of Mount Sterling until the spring of 1924, when they moved to Bonaparte and their son, Ralph took over the farm. John P.D. Hales died August 23, 1928 at the Bonaparte home. Maggie continued living in Bonaparte after her husband's death, but when ill health overtook her she was desirous of being out on the farm "at home" where she was tenderly cared for by the son and wife until she passed peacefully away on May 23, 1934, aged 72 years, 6 months and 5 days.

Children of John Parker Dodds and Margaret "Maggie" (Watkins) Hales were as follows:

Willa, 12, Eunice, 19, and Ralph, 7, children of John P.D. Hales and Margaret Watkins Hales about 1905.

i. Eunice Omega Hales, born March 11, 1885 at Van Buren County, Iowa; died 1940; buried at Center Chapel Cemetery, Van Buren County. She was married December 24, 1908, to Earl E. Payne. Earl died 1948. Eunice and Earl had one son. Stanley Hales Payne, born Sept. 11, 1909. He married Bernece Payne, a distant cousin. Stanley was an electrician at General Motors in Kansas City 1940-1974. He and Bernece purchased homes to live in while they remodeled them, then sold the remodeled homes and started over again with a different house. They lived in the Kearney, Independence, and Excelsior Springs area in Missouri. They had no children. Bernece died in February 1995.

ii. Willa Marie Hales, born April 25, 1893 near Mount Sterling, Van Buren County, Iowa; died May 4, 1972 at Keosauqua, Van Buren County; buried at Center Chapel Cemetery, Van Buren County. She was married November 11, 1916, in Van Buren County to Lewis "Clinton" Mize, son of Lewis Mize and Nannie Fisher. Willa and Clinton built a new home on an 80-acre farm in Vernon Twp., Van Buren County, which had been Clinton's birthplace. They lived and farmed there for their entire married life. Clinton died March 19, 1950 at Mercy Hospital in Burlington. Clinton and Willa had one son, Dale.

Dale D. Mize, born 24 Aug 1919 at Vernon Twp., Van Buren County, Iowa; died May 12, 1993 at Vernon Twp., Van Buren County, Iowa; buried at Center Chapel Cemetery, Van Buren County. Dale was the valedictorian of his senior class at Keosauqua High School. He lived his entire life in the same house where he was born. He never married.

iii. Ralph Watkins Hales, born September 16, 1898 in Vernon Twp., Van Buren County, Iowa; died August 20, 1957 at Van Buren County, Iowa; buried at Center Chapel Cemetery, Van Buren County. He was married December 23, 1922, to Gladys Margaret Brassfield. Ralph and Gladys farmed the Hales family farm in Vernon Twp., Van Buren County, Iowa. After Ralph's death, Gladys married John "Gaylord" Dempster. She and Gaylord lived in Grinnell, Iowa, and later retired to Sun City, Ariz. Children of Ralph Watkins and Gladys Margaret (Brassfield) Hales were: Charles Eugene "Gene" Hales, born Oct. 1, 1924 and Lela "Margaret" Hales, born Nov. 13, 1931.

Charles Eugene "Gene" Hales born Oct. 1, 1924 at Mount Sterling, Van Buren County, Iowa. He was married Sept. 12, 1948, to Janice Gwendolyn "Jan" Dempster, daughter of John "Gaylord" Dempster and of Florence Pease. Gene served as a petty officer in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946. He then enrolled at Iowa State University in Ames, where he met Jan. Gene graduated from Iowa State with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering in 1950. He worked as a county engineer in Van Buren, Lee, and Pottawatamie counties in Iowa. Children of Charles Eugene "Gene" and Janice Gwendolyn "Jan" (Dempster) Hales were: Esther Marie Hales, James Ralph Hales, John Wayne Hales, Stephen Eugene Hales and Myrna Jean Hales.
Lela "Margaret" Hales, born Nov. 13, 1931 at Mount Sterling, Van Buren County, Iowa. She was married (1) Nov. 6, 1949, at the Christian Church Parsonage, Keosauqua, Iowa to Oscar Neil Gregg; and was married (2) July 26, 1966, to Marvin "Whitey" Meyer; and was married (3) 1996, to Jim Troutman. Margaret graduated from Keosauqua High School May 19, 1949. She and Oscar, a truck driver, were divorced. Margaret worked for several years for the Fort Madison Police Department then as a drivers license examiner. She later owned the Two of a Kind Night Club in Fort Madison. Her second husband, Whitey Meyer, worked at the Iowa State Penitentiary. Jim and Margaret own a motor home and enjoy traveling. Children of Oscar Neil and Lela "Margaret" (Hales) Gregg are Denise Gregg and Dianne Gregg.

Return to John Watkins

Return to Main Page