Louisa Amanda Barnes Hanks

b. 3 June 1847, d. 2 February 1912
Louisa Amanda Barnes Hanks|b. 3 Jun 1847\nd. 2 Feb 1912|p67.htm|John Armstrong Hanks|b. 19 Apr 1812\nd. 27 Apr 1889|p87.htm|Euphemia Matthias Morris|b. 10 May 1822\nd. 29 Mar 1850|p88.htm|John Hanks|b. 1770\nd. 29 Jun 1839|p99.htm|Jane D. Armstrong|b. bt 1768 - 1769\nd. 22 Nov 1851|p100.htm|Enos Morris|b. c 10 Apr 1773\nd. 18 Feb 1832|p1929.htm|Elizabeth (—?—) (Hough-Morris)|b. c 1785\nd. 25 Aug 1824|p1930.htm|

Mother of Louise Underwood.
Great-grandmother of Laura Jane Munson.
Family Background:
Underwood and Allied Families
Appears on charts:
Pedigree for Louise Underwood
Click to view thumbnails
Lou Hanks
     Louisa Amanda Barnes Hanks was born on 3 June 1847 in Pittsboro, Chatham County, North Carolina.1 She was the daughter of John Armstrong Hanks and Euphemia Matthias Morris. She married Joseph Patterson Underwood, son of Ammon Underwood and Rachel Jane Carson, on 23 July 1867 in the Underwood home, Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas.2,1 She died of "appoplexy" on 2 February 1912 at her home in Columbia at age 64.1 She was buried in Old Columbia Cemetery, West Columbia.1 Click to view image
     
     Louisa was named for two aunts, Louisa and Amanda Morris. Lou's granddaughter, Virginia Munson McGee, says that it appears she reversed her given names at some point because in the Hanks Family Bible, her name is written "Amanda Louisa." Also, she was told that "Barnes" was for a family friend that wished her to be named for him.

     In May 1866, Louisa, her brothers John and Martin, and sister and brother-in-law, Virginia and Jim Taylor, moved to Brazoria County, having been encouraged by their uncle, Dr. Anthony T. Morris. Why some of the Hanks children chose to move and others stayed in Pittsboro is not known. Apparently Lou didn't get along with her stepmother, so that may have been a deciding factor for her. In a letter, Catherine Walker Hanks wrote to her stepson John about his plans to visit that summer: "...you said nothing about Louisa coming has she given it up because Kate is not here? fearing it will not be pleasant, you know she never mentions my name, or alludes to me, in any of her letters to Pa, you would not think there was, or ever had been such a person in existence."

     Joe Underwood would later say that at the moment he saw Louisa step off the steamboat at Columbia, he vowed she would be his wife. They lived with the elder Underwoods, Ammon and Rachel, who in 1875, presented Joe with a deed to the house as a Christmas present.3 She was called "Lou" and usually signed her name "L.A.B. Underwood." Joe called her "Loulie" in a letter Click to view image he wrote to her several weeks before they married, but the writer doesn't know if he continued to use the pet name over the years.

     Louisa died of a massive stroke at her home in Columbia in 1912. In her journal Click to view image, Lou's daughter Kate described the circumstances of her mother's death.4

Additional Data

Louiza B. Hanks appeared on the 1 June 1850 Federal Census of Lower Regiment, Chatham County, North Carolina, in the household of her father John A. Hanks.5 Click to view image

Louisa Hanks appeared on the 1 June 1860 Federal Census of Pittsboro, Chatham County, North Carolina, in the household of her father John A. Hanks.6 Click to view image

Louise Underwood appeared on the 1 June 1870 Federal Census of Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas, in the household of Ammon and Rachel Underwood, her husband's parents, with her husband, Joseph Underwood, and their daughter, Kate.7 Click to view image

L.A.B. and J.P. Underwood appeared on the 1 June 1880 Federal Census of Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas, enumerated 3 June 1880. Their children Katie, Laura and John H. were listed as living with them.8 Click to view image

Louisa B. Underwood made a will dated 26 February 1891 at Brazoria County, Texas. She made her husband J.P. Underwood sole heir and executor, but provided that should he predecease her, their children would inherit equally.9 Click to view image

Louise and J.P. Underwood appeared on the 1 June 1900 Federal Census of Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas, enumerated 4 June 1900. Their children Katie, John H., Laura and Louise were listed as living with them, as was Louisa's brother John W. Hanks.10 Click to view image

Lou A. and Joe P. Underwood appeared on the 15 April 1910 Federal Census of Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas, enumerated 15 April 1910. Their children Kate, Laura and John were listed as living with them, as were their daughter Louise with her husband George Munson and their children George and Cathern.11 Click to view image

Children of Louisa Amanda Barnes Hanks and Joseph Patterson Underwood

Citations

  1. [S8] Louisa Hanks Underwood tombstone, block 18, lot 16, site 3, Old Columbia Cemetery, West Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas; photographed by the writer on 31 July 1997.
  2. [S2] Brazoria County Marriage Book 1: 327, no. 516, County Clerk's Office, Angleton, Texas.
  3. [S81] Brazoria County Deeds, P: 273, 274, County Clerk's Office, Angleton, Texas.
  4. [S56] "A Brief Record of Facts kept by Kate Underwood," (MS, 1903-1912; Columbia, Texas), unpaginated, Brazoria County Historical Museum; Angleton, Texas.
  5. [S59] John A. Hanks household, 1850 U.S. Census, Chatham County, North Carolina, population schedule, Lower Regiment, page 451B-452A, dwelling 4, family 4; National Archives micropublication M432, roll 624.
  6. [S58] John A. Hanks household, 1860 U.S. Census, Chatham County, North Carolina, population schedule, Eastern Division, Pittsboro post office, page 13/7A, dwelling 105, family 101; National Archives micropublication M653, roll 892.
  7. [S53] Ammon Underwood household, 1870 U.S. Census, Brazoria County, Texas, population schedule, town of Columbia, post office Columbia, page 186, dwelling 1674, family 1674; National Archives micropublication M593, roll 1576.
  8. [S52] J.P. Underwood household, 1880 U.S. Census, Brazoria County, Texas, population schedule, Precinct No. 2, Columbia, enumeration district (ED) 18, sheet 5B, dwelling 41, family 41; National Archives micropublication T9, roll 1292.
  9. [S57] Louisa B. Underwood will (1891), Brazoria County Will Book U: 605, 606, County Clerk's Office, Angleton, Texas.
  10. [S51] J.P. Underwood household, 1900 U.S. Census, Brazoria County, Texas, population schedule, Justice Precinct 2, village of Columbia, enumeration district (ED) 2, sheet 5A/23, dwelling 99, family 103; National Archives micropublication T623, roll 1614.
  11. [S50] Joe P. Underwood household, 1910 U.S. Census, Brazoria County, Texas, population schedule, Precinct 2, Columbia, enumeration district (ED) 5, sheet 1A/13, dwelling 6, family 6; National Archives micropublication T624, roll 1534.
  12. [S1168] Kate Underwood, death certificate 15292 (no file date), Texas Department of Public Health, Austin.
  13. [S1210] John Hanks Underwood, death certificate 41664 (5 Oct 1937), Texas Department of Public Health, Austin.