Rebecca’s Treasures · Daddy’s Memory Quilt

Aunt Mollie
Mary Ellen (White) Hatton

October 15, 1873 or 1874 – September 9, 1958
Midwife of Menifee County, Kentucky

Through Kentucky hills, by horseback and helping hands, Aunt Mollie welcomed generations of little ones into the world—each a precious stitch in her story.

A Life Woven into the Kentucky Hills

Mary Ellen White, remembered by family and neighbors as “Aunt Mollie,” was born in Kentucky in October of the 1870s. She was a daughter of Aquilla (also recorded as Quillard) White and Rachel White. Her story stretches from the hills of eastern Kentucky to the homes of the families who relied upon her as a midwife.

Her gravestone gives her birth as October 15, 1873, while her death certificate records October 15, 1874. Both dates are preserved here until the discrepancy can be resolved.

John Henry Bud Hatton and Mary Ellen Mollie Hatton — John Henry “Bud” Hatton and Mary Ellen “Mollie” Hatton. Photograph courtesy of Barbara Ingram.

Mollie married John Henry “Bud” Hatton on April 13, 1892, according to their marriage register. Together they raised a large family, and the surviving census records let us follow their household through the years.

Home and Family

The home of John Henry Bud and Aunt Mollie Hatton — The home of John Henry “Bud” and Aunt Mollie Hatton. Photograph courtesy of Don Rogers

Their children included Jesse, Edgar Lee, Alafair, Minter, Nettie, Sylvia, Gertie, Etta, and Fannie, along with other children named in the family’s early census records. As with many large families of that era, their story held both celebrations and losses.

Bud died on October 3, 1945. Mollie lived another thirteen years, remaining closely connected to the family whose lives she had helped shape.

Aunt Sarah Brown at left and Aunt Mollie Hatton at right — Unknown (left) and Aunt Mollie Hatton (right).

Mollie Hatton and Mina Day standing together — Mollie Hatton and Mina Day.

The Midwife of Menifee County

For many families, Aunt Mollie was more than a familiar face. She was the woman who came when a baby was ready to be born. Family recollections place her traveling on horseback in the countryside near Pitts Cemetery, carrying her experience and steady hands to homes where she was needed.

Her surviving physician’s record books offer a remarkable glimpse of this work. They are being preserved and indexed as a separate historical records project, so that the names and details recorded within them can be explored in their own right.

Aunt Mollie’s Midwife Records

The birth and physician’s record books are a separate collection, linked here for readers who wish to explore them.

Explore the Midwife Record Books →

Small Glimpses of an Ordinary Day

A brief item in the Clay City Times reported that Mrs. Mollie Hatton made a business trip to Frenchburg on a Thursday in 1938. Such a small notice, yet it places her in the bustle of everyday community life.

1938 Leatherwood Creek newspaper column mentioning Mollie Hatton’s trip to Frenchburg — A mention of Mollie in the Leatherwood Creek news, *The Clay City Times*, May 5, 1938.

Family Ties That Endured

On May 26, 1974, five of Bud and Mollie’s six daughters gathered at Fagan, Kentucky, for a family reunion: Alafair Pitts, Gertie Conway, Etta Rogers, Sylvia Powell, and Nettie Jones. Their sister Fannie Rogers, then living in Kokomo, Indiana, was unable to attend.

The newspaper tells us that children, grandchildren, and cousins gathered together. After lunch, the family visited the cemeteries. It is a lovely glimpse of how Mollie and Bud’s family continued to honor the generations who came before them.

1974 newspaper article Hattons have first reunion — “Hattons have first reunion,” *The Clay City Times*, May 30, 1974.

Remembering Aunt Mollie

Aunt Mollie died on September 9, 1958, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Bud Rogers, in Means, Montgomery County, Kentucky. She was laid to rest at Fagan Cemetery in Menifee County, beside the history of the family and community she knew so well.

Newspaper obituary of Mrs Mollie Hatton — Newspaper notice of Aunt Mollie’s death, September 1958.

Gravestone of Mary Ellen Mollie Hatton — Mary Ellen “Mollie” Hatton’s grave marker at Fagan Cemetery.

Her obituary counted 41 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. Yet numbers alone cannot tell the story of the many lives she touched, especially the children whose first moments she helped usher into the world.

Some lives leave their mark in grand gestures. Others leave it in the quiet work of caring for family and neighbors. Aunt Mollie’s story is stitched into both.

Records Behind the Story

Family research for this page includes the 1880–1950 federal census schedules, the 1892 Hatton–White marriage register, Bud Hatton’s 1945 death certificate, Mollie Hatton’s 1958 death certificate, her obituary and grave marker, family photographs, and contemporary newspaper notices. The 1958 death certificate identifies her father as Quillard White and her mother as Katie Hall; the earlier census and family research should be compared before treating all parental names as fully reconciled.

1892 marriage register with John Hatton and Mary Ellen White — Marriage register, April 13, 1892.

1958 Kentucky death certificate for Mollie White Hatton — Mollie Hatton’s Kentucky death certificate, 1958.