FRANCIS PROCTOR-PARRISH-BRAGG (1817-1889; age 72)

FATHER: William Proctor (TN) (1773-ABT 1837)

MOTHER: Henrietta

Bearden (1790– UKN)

BORN: Sumner County, TN

PARRISH/PROTOR FAMILY:

 Francis "Fannie" Proctor-Parrish-Bragg

The Parrish (from Paris as in Paris, France) and Proctor families (England) settled in VA in the 1600's.  Similar to many from VA, some of the Parrish and Proctor families moved to North Carolina in the 1700's for new opportunities. The Proctors settled in Edgecombe County, NC.   Today, the name "Proctor" remains a very common name in the county.  In the late 1700's and early 1800's, some of the Proctor family, as well as Parrish families, moved to Sumner County, TN. 

Fannie's parents took the leap of faith and moved to Sumner County and started a family. Francis "Fannie" was born in Sumner County, TN where the Proctor and Parrish families were family friends.   Other Proctors and Parrish's married.

Between 1844 and 1847, Marcus, Francis (Fannie) and their three children departed TN to farm in Fayette County IL (1950 Census).  Marcus and Fannie then moved to MO (birth records of Rebecca Ann Parrish) for a short time.  Then, With the lure of free land (160-acre homesteads), the couple and their 6 children eventually arrived in Weatherford, Parker County, Texas in 1859 (per the 1860 census and 1869 voter rolls).  Parker County, TX was the unsettled frontier with all the risks and excitement inherent to living on virgin unsettled land.

One child is known to have died before their arrival in Texas. His name was James L. Parrish, who was born in 1848 and died sometime after 1850. The 6 living children who arrived in Parker County, TX in 1859 were:

John D. Parrish (TN 1839 – UNK After 1889); Jesse Lambert (J.L.) Parrish (TN 1841 – 1918); Nancy R. Parrish (TN 1844-1928); Martha Rose Parrish Rose Parrish-Sisco-Roberts (IL 1851-1935); Henry Marcus Parrish (IL 1852 – 1916); and Rebecca Ann Parrish-Pearl (MO 1857-1913).

Note to the Chester Parrish clan: John D. Parrish was George's father, while J. L. Parrish was Mary's father, first cousins and parents to Chester C. Parrish, Sr.

FANNIE'S LIFE

AFTER ARIVAL IN PARKER COUNTY, TX:

1861: As required by law, John (age 23), his brother Lessie Lambert (J. L.) Parrish (age 20), and his father (age 43) enlisted in the Confederate Army. They joined the Confederate's 8 battalion of mounted rifles, who primarily defended Texas from Comanches. Fannie was left to maintain the "farm" and raise the younger children while the men were serving in the war.

1865: The war ended, allowing the men to return to their families. Fannie and Marcus acquire a 160- acre tract owned by Josh Eastly, west of Henry Marcus's paten, west of J. L.'s patent, and NW of Nancy's husband Sidon Blythe's 160-acre patent. Together, the Parrish and Blythe families owned about 350-acres, located about 1.5 miles NW of the Weatherford town square, around Town Creek and what is now the Peaster Highway.  

ABT 1869: Fannie's husband Marcus W. Parrish died ABT 1869 (age 51), a short 10 years after arriving in Parker County, TX. 

1870:  The 1870 census records show (Fannie) as a widow living with her youngest son, Henry Marcus Parrish and youngest daughter Rebecca Ann Parrish. John was married to his 1st wife and they had a child, and J. L. was recently married with an infant daughter. Nancy was married with two young children.

1880: The 1980 census finds Fannie living with her new husband, William Bragg and her oldest son, John D. Parrish. John was recently widowed and he had three children (George, a daughter named Willie, and Dick Parrish).  William Bragg was a widower and of the famous Bragg clan who settled Young County and were attacked by 600 Comanches in the famous "Elm Creek Raid" of 1864.  Fannies oldest daughter Nancy R. Parrish-Blythe suffered a tragic mental episode in 1880 and was hospitalized for the remainder of her life.  The railroad came to Weatherford in 1880, bringing civilization in the way of wood boards for construction, barbed wire, and other basic goods. 

1886: Nancy's husband Sidon Blythe was charged with an unknown crime, lost his appeal, and escaped to the Indian territory, abandoning the children. The courts granted guardianship to J. L. Parrish, as Fannie and William were helping John raise his three children, and John was a widower with his 3 children.

1888: William died ABT 1888, and like all the Parishes of Parker County, he was buried at an unknown location in the area. 

1889: John D. married his third wife, Sarah J. Smith in September of 1889. There are no records of how this marriage ended.  However, John and Sarah sold 20 acres out of the Easley patent acquired by Fannie and Marcus in the 1860's, providing evidence of Fannie's death in 1889, at the age of 72.  Fannie is presumed buried with Marcus Winchester Parrish, William Bragg, and John D. Parrish's first two wives in Weatherford, TX. The most likely location is the Old City Greenwood Cemetery, which holds many a lost soul. The other option is they are all burial at a long-lost family cemetery on the land just NW of Weatherford, off the current Peaster Highway and inside the current loop (Rick Williamson Memorial HYW).

Compiled in honor or Fannie Proctor-Parrish-Bragg for the descendants of Fannie and Marcus Winchester Parrish by Lee Davis, Granbury, TX February 2023