Florine Hankla

Notes:

Florine Hankla Ramsey

Florine Hankla Ramsey was born in Geneva, Sabine County, Texas on December 19, 1920 and died December 5, 2009 in Austin, Texas. She was the third of four children born to Samuel Flournoy and Elma Smith Hankla.

She found the love of her life when she married Ben Ramsey, an attorney and Texas State Senator from San Augustine, in 1943. They were married in Boulder, Colorado, where she was a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder. They honeymooned on a road-trip back to San Augustine through Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, using precious gasoline ration coupons given to them by friends and family as wedding gifts.

While she loved Austin and resided there for most of her adult life, her roots were in East Texas. She maintained a home in San Augustine and continued to vote there for the rest of her life. She attended Stephen F. Austin State College in Nacogdoches, North Texas State College in Denton as well as the University of Colorado at Boulder. She taught first through third grade in a one-room schoolhouse in San Augustine County.

Florine was a proud member of the Ezekiel Cullen Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and her ancestors were early settlers in Sabine County in East Texas.
She grew up on a farm where every meal was made from scratch and learned from her mother to be a masterful cook and baker. She even gave renowned cookbook author and teacher, Helen Corbitt (director of food service for Neiman Marcus, the Driskill Hotel and The University of Texas), a few tips and recipes. To this day, a meat processing company in Austin still uses her recipe for making the best venison sausage ever. Florine loved to travel and for more than 50 years was part of a monthly poker group.

For more than 30 years, Florine was a political wife: when Ben was a State Senator, Texas Secretary of State, Lt. Governor of Texas, and Railroad Commissioner for the State of Texas. She cut an elegant and stylish figure at the Capitol and was known throughout her life for being smart, witty and charming. You could just as easily find her beautifully attired in a ball gown or up on the roof of their home repairing a shingle. She was one of the lucky few able to call the Texas State Capitol home, living in the Lt. Governor's apartment for more than a decade with her family. She recalled having to haul groceries through the chamber when the Senate was in session. She was the longest serving member of the Senate Ladies Club having joined in 1944.

She is preceded in death by her parents; by her brothers Randolph and Jim Hankla; and by her beloved husband of 41 years, Ben Ramsey. She is survived by her older sister, Ernestine Hankla Henry, of Nacogdoches; by her three daughters: Rita Ramsey Kreisle and husband Matthew of Austin; Ann Hankla Ramsey of San Augustine; and MariBen Ramsey and partner Karen Kahan of Austin; by her only grandchild, Claudia Ramsey Kreisle of Houston; and by many nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at the First United Methodist Church in San Augustine, Texas on Tuesday, December 8 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Florine and Ben Ramsey Scholarship Fund at the San Augustine Scholarship Foundation, PO Box 671, San Augustine, TX 75972, to the Austin Community Foundation, P.O. Box 5159, Austin, TX 78763 (www.austincommunityfoundation.org) or to a charity of your choice.

Arrangements by Wyman Roberts Funeral Home, San Augustine

Published in the Austin American Statesman on December 6, 2009

Published in The Sabine County Reporter, December 9, 2009

Published in The San Augustine Tribune, December 19, 2009

Florine married Ben T. Ramsey about 1943 in Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado. Ben (son of Judge William Charles Ramsey and Emma T. Jenkins) was born on 28 Dec 1903 in San Augustine County, Texas; died on 27 Mar 1985 in Austin, Travis County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Living
2. Living
3. Living

Notes:

On his Texas Death Certificate, viewable online at FamilySearch.org, Texas Deaths, 1890-1976, he was listed as a retired farmer, and the son of John Hankla and Martha Evans. The informant was his daughter, Florine Hankla Ramsey.

Samuel married Lula Elma Smith. Lula was born on 23 Sep 1895 in Texas; died on 18 Jan 1964 in San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas; was buried in Myrtle Springs Cemetery, Geneva, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.2/MM2V-CMF/p1
Name: Lula Elma Hankla
Death Date: 18 Jan 1964
Death Place: San Augustine, San Augustine, Texas
Gender: Female
Race: White
Death Age: 68 years 3 months 25 days
Estimated Birth Date:
Birth Date: 23 Sep 1895
Birthplace: Texas
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name:
Father's Name: Homer D. Smith
Father's Birthplace:
Mother's Name: Bula Green
Mother's Birthplace:
Occupation: Housewife
Place of Residence: San Augustine, Sabine, Texas
Cemetery: Myrtle Springs
Burial Place: Geneva, Texas
Burial Date: 19 Jan 1964
Additional Relatives: X
Film Number: 2117404
Digital Film Number: 4028320
Image Number: 932
Reference Number: cn 5515
Collection: Texas Deaths, 1890-1976

Notes:

(Research):Census Listings:

1870 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Beat No. 3, P. O. Brookeland
Enumerated 21 Aug 1870
633-633
Hankla, John F 35 M W Farmer $2000 $500 Ky
Hankla, Martha 24 F W Keeping House Texas

John married Martha Catherine Evans. Martha was born about 1846 in Texas; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"Settled in Sabine County in 1839, and were granted 640 acres of land."

Google Books has a .pdf copy of "Daughters of the Republic of Texas" by Turner Publishing Company online. The bio of Randolph Allen Hankla, shown on page 121, states that he was born in Halifax County, VA to James Hankla and Mary Ann "Polly" West, and the grandson of James Hankla, a revolutionary patriot, and Fanny Lockett.


.

(Research):Census Listings:

1850 Census
Texas, Sabine District
Enumerated 14 Oct 1850
92-92
Randolph A. Hankla 47 M Farmer $2000 Virginia
Martha M Hankla 37 F Ky
Pendelton F Hankla 18 M Ky
James M. Hankla 17 M Ky
John T. Hankla 15 M Ky
Manerva Hankla 12 F Miss
Mary S Hankla 10 F Miss
Eliza Y. Hankla 9 F Tx
Martha T. Hankla 6 F Tx
Josephus Hankla 3 M Tx

1860 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Redland Beat No. 4, P.O. Milam
Enumerated 10 Jun 1860
183-183
R. A. Hankla 57 M Farmer $4000 $1780 Va
Martha M. Hankla 50 F Ky
Pendelton Hankla 26 Ky Idiot
Martha Hankla 15 F Ky
Ella Hankla 5 F Texas

1870 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Beat No. 5, P. O. Milam
Enumerated 13 July 1870
Stamped 36
208-208
Hankley, R. A. 67 M W Farmer $1500 $500 Ky
Hankley, Martha M 58 F W Keeping House Ky
Hankley, Pendleton 39 M W Ky Insane


1880 Census
Texas, Sabine County, 5 Precinct
Enumerated 28 and 29 June 1880
171-171
Hankla, Martha W F 67 Farming Ky Va Va
Hankla, Pendleton W M 47 Son At Home Idiot Tx Ky Ky

Randolph married Martha Matilda Flournoy on 29 Jan 1827. Martha was born on 15 Aug 1813 in Kentucky; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Said to be the daughter of Samuel Flournoy and Nancy Ann Martin of Mercer County, Kentucky, and granddaughter of Matthew Flourney who settled Fort Flournoy in Kentucky, and was killed by Indians.