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Cawood
Apparently, the Cawoods originate in the town that bears their surname
located in Yorkshire, England. The line of Cawoods leading to my
great-grandmother sretches back to 1200 A.D. to a Johannes of Cawood. My
link to the Cawoods is through my great-grandmother, "Okla Pearl Cawood"
(Austin, Stewart). I had the pleasure of knowing this wonderful woman. I
will have more to say about her later.
The Cawoods are of special interest to me (as are the Austins) because of
the interesting lives that many of them led. "William Harrison Cawood"
fought in the Civil War for the Union and followed Sherman on his march
across Georgia to the Atlantic. My father, "Danford Austin Hall", has
stated on many occasions that if any genetic connection could have
contributed to our preoccupation with reading, writing, and education, such
a gene was passed to us from the Austins or Cawoods. The Halls were good
people, but as far as we can tell they, in general, tended to be a more
handy and practical than concerned with books and learning. This is not to
imply that the Halls are a less respectable branch of my family, but merely
a fact. This is an important fact for understanding my father's life story
and for comprehending my journey out of Oklahoma through Texas, New Mexico,
Louisiana, and eventually to Florida. The pursuit of education is feared
by my agrarian ancestors because it is not only a threat of discontinuity,
but the embodiment of it. Education is seen as the force that drives
family members apart to farflung regions of the county. While this is true
to some extent, this view is a simplification of the general cultural clash
between the agrarian culture and the corporate culture that is killing the
former. This competition between agrarianism and capitalism is another
theme of my family story.
Obituaries:
- Wednesday Rites Set For Mrs. Stewart, 84 -- "Okla Pearl Cawood"
Links:
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Cemetery Data from Benton County Arkansas for Cawoods
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