Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Do You Know Hoot?

Question:
Do You Know Hoot?

Answer:
We are not sure who Hoot really is. Based on one of the photos below, he could be Louie "Lou" Steckly, the husband of Velma Phillips. But based on some further research, we highly doubt that.

In our research, we ran across an undated article from the Hooker County Tribune that mentions "Hoot." But Hoot appears to be brothers with Paul Prentice. It also mentions that Hoot "played ball" and "pitched for the Diamond Bar team." His brother Paul "played with Cody." These two teams appear to be baseball teams.

That particular information led us to a Prentice family living in Calf Creek in Cherry County, Nebraska in 1930. The family had four children, Paul (age 24), Dorothy (age 22), Howard (age 20), and Adaline (age 16). The parents were Benjamin (age 66) and Laura (age 59). Two older sons, William and John, were absent from the 1930 Census, but still listed on the 1920 Census. Our best guess is that Howard is Hoot.

But we cannot confirm that guess with any factual data. So if you know Hoot, let us know!

Photos:
Hoot standing alone:


Velma Phillips and Hoot:


This photo has the title "Old Married Couples"
Hoot, Velma, Virginia, and Frank:


Undated Hooker County Tribune article:


Jess Phillips and Paul Prentice (who appears to be in a baseball uniform):


References:
- 1920 United States Federal Census.
- 1930 United States Federal Census.
- "Rolf News Notes." Hooker County Tribune [Mullen, Nebraska]. Print.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello:

Yes, Hoot was Howard Prentice (my grandfather). His son was my Father, Howard Orville Prentice. My grandfather went by the name "Hoot". No one really called him Howard.

My name is Preston Prentice. Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know. preston.prentice@verizon.net

Neil Richard said...

Preston - That's great! I'll send you an email shortly with some questions.