Marcus Winchester Parrish (1818 – ABT 1869; age 51)

Father: Thomas Parrish (TN) (1760 - 1845) NC then TN

Mother: Rebecca Bearden-Parrish (1786-UNK); Thomas's 2nd wife.

Born: Sumner County, TN (1844)

Marcus and Fannie Parrish family: Marcus W. Parrish was born in 1818 in Sumner County, TN. His parents were Thomas and Rebecca Bearden-Parrish, from Granville, NC. In ABT 1837, he married and Francis (Frances) "Fannie" Proctor-Parrish in Sumner County, TN. The records suggest, Fannie was born in 1817 in Sumner County, TN. The Proctors and Parrish families were friends as there were other marriages between the two families. Marcus had an older brother named Jessie who stayed in TN and a younger brother named Thomas O. D. Parrish who followed Marcus to IL, MO, and eventually to Parker County, TX. Child mortality was very high in the 1800's, particularly in rural and remote areas. Certainly, Marcus and Fannie lost more children than just James (born in 1848 in IL) children as between 10-year increments of federal census. The census records support that, Henry Marcus Parrish was born in TN in 1852, but James (1848) and Martha Rose (1853) were both born in Fayette County IL, suggesting that the family (or Fannie) travelled back to Sumner County, TN for Henry's birth in 1852.

Based on records, which are sometimes conflicting, the time line of Marcus Winchester Parrish and Fannie Proctor-Parrish and estimated dates of children is as follows:

1837: Married in Sumner County, TN

1839: Birth of son John D. Parrish, Sumner County, TN

1841: Birth of son Jessie Lambert (J. L.) Parrish, Sumner County, TN

1845: Birth of daughter Nancy R. Parrish Blythe, Sumner County, TN

1848: Birth of son James, Fayette County, IL (one record 1850 showing age 2)

1852: Birth of son Henry Marcus Parrish, Sumner County, TN

1853: Birth of daughter Martha Rose Parrish-Sisco-Roberts, IL

1857: Birth of daughter Rebecca Ann Parrish-Pearl, MO

Texas:

1859: Arrived in Weatherford, Parker County, TX. Marcus was 42 and Fannie was 43 years old.

1860: Worked as a brickmaker in Weatherford, TX

1861: Enlisted in the Confederate's 8th Battalion, Texas Cavalry (Taylor's Battalion, Mounted Rifles)

1860-1869: Acquired additional lands in the Easley Patent within a few miles and NW of the Weatherford town center. Sons H. M. Parrish and J. L. Parrish acquired patents. Nancy married Sidon Blythe, who had a 160-acre patent in the same area.

1869: Marcus died in 1868 or 1869 and was buried at an unknown location near Weatherford, Parker County, TX.

TEXAS LAW of 1854: Texas land grants drew settlers from across the U.S., but primarily from the Upper South (NC, KY, and TN). In 1854 the land grant program reduced the land grant size from 320 acres to 160 acres (typically a block of land that was 0.5 miles X 0.5 miles). The state required the settler to build a home and live on the land for three years. After three years, the settler would pay for a land survey (not always particularly accurate) and file for a "land patent". The most desirable lands were adjacent to perennial streams, as water wells were not an option at the time in the semi-arid climate of the region west of Dallas, TX where the water table was too deep for shallow (dug) wells.

The Parrish land grants, located 1.5 miles NW of the Weatherford town square, had a small tributary of the South Fork of the of the Trinity River, which is now called Town Creek. The method of surveying the land was crude based on today standards. Measurements were commonly made by tying a rope of a known distance between the front and back legs of a horse to somewhat shorten their stride (to a consistent and known distance). The surveyor would count the steps of the horse to gain a measurement. Parker County was not open grasslands, but rather a mosaic of prairie and very thick forests. The thick forests made accurate surveys more difficult. However, because properties in Parker County in the 1860's were not fenced or cropped, accurate locations of properly lines were not important to the early settlers. These crudely located property boundaries between neighboring land patents became a legal challenge in later years when fencing became a common practice.

PARKER COUNTY, TX: Parker County was established in 1855. The first settlers arrived at a valley adjacent to the south-fork of the Trinity River (now called Town Creek). They called the areas Goshen in 1854. A year later, the area became the Parker County seat with its new name Weatherford, TX. This was "Comanche country" at the time and was considered the edge of the frontier. Some estimate that over 400 settlers in the county were killed by Comanche's in the 1850's, 1860's and 1870's. The Parrish family were some of the early citizens of the new county seat (Weatherford), but their close proximity to the town of Weatherford added security from Comanches.

Contrary to most square land-grants, the Parrish patents were odd-shaped land-grants of what appears to be 160+-acres about 1.5 miles northwest of the Weatherford courthouse. Between his arrival in Parker County 1859 and his death in 1869, Marcus acquired additional land in the Chapman patent and acquired the 160-acre Easley patent located ½ mile west of his patent.

In 1859, when the Parrish family arrived in Parker County, the county was mostly unsettled mosaic of natural grasslands (prairie) and forests. The grasslands occurred on the black clay soils (considered poor soils for farming at the time) and the rocky limestone soils common to the area, also unsuited for farming. Riparian forests were adjacent to streams. Thick upland post-oak forest was the dominant native plant community. This "forest" was titled the "cross-timbers" as settlers had to cross this thick forest when moving west. The post oak forests occurred on the reddish sandy soils very common to the area, and was tangled with low limbs and vines.

The Cross Timbers of Parker County was almost impenetrable by horse and wagon, gaining another name by early travelers "The Cast Iron Forest". Although the county lacked easily cropped lands, the mosaic of oak forests, riparian areas, and grasslands provided an abundance of wildlife (e.g., whitetail deer, turkey, and black bear) for the settlers. Wood was abundant. Small patches of corn and wheat, grown on the sandy soils after the trees were removed for the log home (and life-saving stove-wood), was used to feed their stock and make bread. Parker County settlers did not farm grain (corn or wheat) for sale. Rather, they were subsistence farmers raising cows (milk and meat), horses for transportation and to pull logs and wagons, chickens, and free-ranging swine. Their cash-crops were the few cows and horses raised on their land. These early "farms" were not fenced, as barb wire was not invented until 1867 and its availability in Parker County would have been limited until after the railroad reached Weatherford in 1880.

Trees in Parker County were not like the tall trees in the southeastern U.S. states, a 15-foot log was a long log for the area. Thus, homes were small log-structures constructed from mostly post-oak trees cleared from the homestead. If needed, longer logs were obtained from riparian areas supporting bur-oak trees, but even these are not comparable to the tall and straight trees in the eastern forests. Wood-post fences (picket) surrounded most homes to protect the house, yard, and garden from the free-ranging livestock.

Of interest, the 1860 federal census showed Marcus as a "brickmaker" in the 1860 census. The courthouse was constructed of local bricks and was completed in 1858, 1874 and again in 1979 (all destroyed by fires losing many legal records). Clearly, Weatherford produced a significant number of local bricks in the 1860's and 1870's. The soils that "birthed" the cross timbers region (reddish sandy surfaces) had a red clayey subsoil that was uniquely suited to brick manufacturing. In fact, in 1891, Acme brick started 15 miles SW of Weatherford, near the Millsap community.

Death and Burial: No records are available as to the date of Marcus's death. However, various records demonstrate that he died shortly before 1870. In 1869, Parker County was still considered the frontier, with residents relying on supplies by wagon. "Commercial" headstones were not accessible, particularly for families living mostly a subsistence live-style off the land. Death and burials were common, with the burial location not necessarily given deep consideration. Headstones were commonly, just a local stone/rock without inscription.

According to Weatherford's "Old City/Greenwood Cemetery" information, the "cemetery was formerly established by the Weatherford Town Council in 1863 when lots were surveyed and the exact cemetery location was staked. Previous interments were made in the unmarked streets of the town. The mayor directed those remains to be moved to the new cemetery." The courthouse fires prior to 1890 destroyed most death and burial records. Even the ownership of the Old City cemetery was lost in the fires. The cemetery was abandoned to maintenance for decades. Vandalism was a problem, made worse because the cemetery was not fenced. Restoration efforts began in the 1980's, and today the cemetery and its marked graves are well maintained.

Logic would suggest that Marcus was buried in the Old City Cemetery with records lost in the courthouse fires. An alternative theory is that he was buried on the family's land (at the time) located a few miles NW of the town center, off current Peaster Highway).

Fannie remarried William Bragg and both died well prior to 1900 and while living in Parker County. The locations of their graves are similarly unknown. John D. Parrish, the oldest child of Marcus and Fannie, died prior to 1900. No grave locations are known of John or his 3 wives, each of which died in Parker County. The fact that so many grave locations are unknown, suggests that the Parker County Parrish family members were most likely buried in the Old City Cemetery, with lost records and headstones.

Developed by Lee Davis, husband of Cindy Parrish.