Walter Coombs Cessna was the third of the six children of William Wallace Cessna and Marion Wallace Coombs. He married Susan Walters, nicknamed Sudie, youngest of the seven children of Joseph W. Walters and Susan Cessna. Walter and Susan had nine children, four of whom died young. Two are buried in the South Fork Baptist Cemetery, Larue County, Kentucky.

Walter was born on the remnants of the old Cessna homestead established by his grandfather, William Cessna, whose father had been killed in a raid on the Indians at the future location of Louisville, Kentucky. Walter’s grandpa Willie was one of the pioneer settlers of Larue County, Kentucky, and one of the founding members of Hodgenville. He was the first state representative from the area. Indeed, the families named Walters, Friend, Cessna and others which populate this family tree are all prominent in the area’s pioneer history.

The 1920 census lists Walter as “C. Watt Cessna.” He was the last Cessna in his ancestral line to own a farm. The specialty of “Cessna and Cessna” was five gaited horses, possibly a parnership with his brother William (Billie).

The US census of 1910 shows the family, Walter, Susan and five children, in eastern Oklahoma. Walter had purchased an oil well in that newest of states, but the well turned out to be a failure, and by 1920 the Cessna family had returned east. One prominent thing to come out of this: daughter Mary Alice Cessna met and married Cecil Edward Rudick in Oklahoma. They were my great-grandparents, and their first child was born there.

From the obituary of Walter Cessna:

Mr. Walter C. Cessna, formerly of this city and known to his many friends as “Watt”, passed away at the home of his son, Howard, in Detroit, Mich. May 26, 1942, at 4:50 p.m. He was a member of one of the oldest families of the state. He was born Sept. 28 1856, near Hodgenville on the old Cessna Homestead and was the son of William Wallace and Marian Coombs Cessna, and a grandson of Willie Cessna IV, one of the pioneer settlers of LaRue County.

He was married June 16, 1881 to Susan Walters of South Fork, who preceded him in death several years. To this union were born nine children.

Mr. Cessna and his partner, the late Nicholas Head, were in the live stock business for years and he was widely known throughout the state. Later he bought a farm at New Hope, Ky., and devoted the remainder of his life to farming and raising fine saddle and harness horses. Like all true Kentuckians, he was a lover of good horses and rode nearly every day up until two years before his death.

Walter and Susan Cessna are buried in the Red Hill Cemetery, Larue County, Kentucky.

Joseph Walters Cessna did not go west to Oklahoma, but remained in Kentucky. His wife died in 1913, probably of tuberculosis, and the girls were then raised by their Lowery grandparents in Kentucky. In 1910 Joseph was a streetcar motorman in Louisville, but by 1920, and now a widower, he had the same job in Detroit, Michigan. As far as I know, Joseph ran that streetcar for the rest of his career.

Mary Alice Cessna married Cecil Edward Rudick. By1920 Cecil was working for the railroad in Louisville as a “delivery clerk,” according to the census. Their son Walter was born in Oklahoma, daughter Dorothy (my grandmother) was born in Kentucky, and by the time Vera was born Cecil and Mary lived in Detroit. Cecil was also a streetcar motorman, and like his brother-in-law Joseph, it was his carreer.

Samuel Head Cessna lived in Detroit in 1920 with his brother LaRue, LaRue’s new wife, and brothers Joseph and Howard. In 1925, Samuel was in California with his second wife, Mignon Scott. In 1930 children Mina and Walter lived with Mauretia and her new husband, Walter Henry, while Samuel and Mignon were back in Detroit with a new daughter, Mildred Jane Cessna. In both 1920 and 1930, Sam was a streetcar conductor. Samuel and Mignon eventually returned to California, and remained there.

Squire LaRue Cessna (LaRue), like his brother Sam, was a streetcar conductor in Detroit for a few years, and went on to other jobs, like insurance salesman (1930) and auto plant manager (1940). LaRue Cessna was a minister in Detroit of the Church of God, 7th Day, and was was a pioneer in the “Sacred Name Movement.”

Leslie Howard Cessna (Howard) worked for the Chrysler auto company early on, but his career was with the Detroit Police Department.