Zachery Williams
and
Fannie Owens
| Fannie Owen was born August 9, 1872.
It is believed that her Father's name was Thomas H. Owen and her Mother's name was Hannah
Mitchell. There is no proof of who her parents were. These name's "Thomas H. Owen and
Hannah Mitchell" were told by trustworthy ancestor's who have passed on; Mary
Williams and James Morrison. Research has been long and unfruitful. Birth Records were not
mandatory at this time and no records have been found. We do know that Fannie was
born in Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia during a period when the Nation was recovering
from Civil War. She had a sister, Mary Elizabeth Owen born April 16, 1855 in Saltville,
Virginia and a brother Andrew Owen. They were both older than Fannie. When Fannie was fifteen she became an orphan. At that time, her sister was married to Trigg Farris and lived on a farm in Sealy, Travis County, Texas, near Austin. Fannie and her brother Andrew moved to Sealy to live with their sister Mary Elizabeth. During this time she met Zachery Williams, a farm manager of Trigg Farris and fell in love. They got married in Austin, Texas. Zachery Williams was born in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on December 1, 1871. His parents were William Joseph Williams and Frances Tamplin Williams, both from Georgia. It has been determined through signatures and documents that they were all literate. According to family legend, Fannie was raised on a plantation and was brought up as as an aristocrat. Zachery was just a poor farm manager and life was hard on Fannie. Still, she brought her children up to believe that they were just as good as royalty. Fanny was very socially astute and taught her girls to be elegant ladies. She also pushed them to achieve their highest potential. Good looks and total fashion was instilled in them, but also astuteness, knowledge and self-sufficiency. They all filled the bill. It has been said that all of Fannie's children loved being around her. Fannie had a gift of healing and a tremendous Faith in God. She and Zachery had a total of thirteen children. Zack, Fanny and Family moved to Kenlock (Madill) after daughter Mary was born May 17, 1902 and before Iva was born April 20, 1904. Zack was Postmaster and General store manager in Kenlock. Grandmother Frances Williams lived with them. William and family moved to Kenlock a few years after Zack. Lola, their daughter said they rented a house and finally were able to buy one. Lola started school in second grade when they moved there. It was during this time that Fannie contracted Tuberculosis from a family down the street that she was helping. At that time, those who lived in Oklahoma and had TB were being placed in isolation to prevent the spread of the disease. Zachery took Fannie out of the hospital and back to Sherman, Texas and she eventually passed away from Tuberculosis on October 10, 1925. She was buried in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas. Zachery returned to Oklahoma, completely distraught and lost without his Fannie. The oldest girls raised the youngest children and helped their Dad. Mary, their oldest daughter took on most of the responsibility and to Zack and her brother James; Mary became their buddy and they nicknamed her "Jack" since she would listen to them and spoil them with her good coffee. Zachery passed away March 4, 1939 in Ardmore, Oklahoma. They buried him beside his Fannie in Sherman, Texas. The children all achieved professionally, even in an era when it was basically a man's world. Mildred Martha was a registered nurse, Mavis was an officer in the military and an executive for Bell telephone. Aunt Mary was in a management position at Bell telephone. Iva ran a dress shop, Lena was a married lady, and Winnie ran the concessions at the train station. All the kids reached the top of their ladders. Aunt Mary knew what was going on in the government as well as the names and vital statistics of all the baseball teams and players. Winnie could give a college lecture on astronomy and gardening. (When Stephanie and James Morrison once visited their Aunt Winnie sometime in the very late 60's, Stephanie remembers Aunt Winnie showing her the "money safe". It consisted of her ready cash carefully tucked under the mattress and a shotgun neatly tucked under the pillow of her beautiful bed. Stephanie thought this was an excellent idea and couldn't understand why banks were even necessary. Aunt Winnie's money was in a safer place than any bank! Winnie being elderly and unable to commute to the local bank whenever she wanted to check her money had found that her six foot shotgun worked as well as any security system!) The family can be found in the 1900 census for Williamson County, Texas. Many tales have been told of the families of Zachery and his brother William Joseph William Jr. moving to Oklahoma from Georgetown, Texas where they were living at the time of the move. Much speculation has been made as to the reasons for the sudden move but memories from the children of these two brothers fording the river at night was enough of an ordeal that two generations after the fact the reasoning is still at question. As pieces of the puzzle fall into place, very slowly, the character and love of these wonderful people begin to unfold. |
Information Contributed by Frances Colling
Click here to see a Picture of Mary Elizabeth Owen and Trigg Farris Family |
