MY RIVERSIDE CEMETERY TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS
SCRAPBOOK PART VI
by Jonathan K. T. Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 1995PARKER
(with information on the Cross family of Fayette County)(Page 19)
LOT 171-B. PARKER
MADISON PARKER
Born Nov. 10, 1819
Died Dec. 1, 1880FRANCES C. PARKER
Born March 1, 1828
Died March 15, 1909Madison Parker was a successful Jackson merchant. In his will-testament executed March 12, 1875 and probated in December 1880, he left a $5000 life insurance policy to his wife, Fannie C. Parker and the three youngest children, "commencing at Elvira." Personalty to wife and she to be the executor. Codicil, June 4, 1880. Son, Horace W. Parker, now past 21 years of age so that he is appointed co-executor along with Fannie C. Parker.
In Madison County Deed Book 25, page 576, Frances C. Parker's purchase of a parcel of land is recorded, bought from William F. Still, to be hers and any children she had with Madison Parker. This land was sold (IBID., Book 46, page 275), naming her with her children, who were with ages suggested by the U.S. 1870 Census, Jackson, page 14: Arthur M. Parker, born about 1853; Horace W. Parker, born about 1855; Elvira C. Parker, born about 1861; Robert J. Parker, born about 1866; John M. Parker, born about 1869. In Dec. 1895, Robert J. Parker of Ft. Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas conveyed an interest in some Madison Co. land to his mother. (Madison Co. Deed Book 54, page 251)
Madison Parker and Frances C. Cross were married in Fayette Co., Tenn., December 30, 1847. She was a daughter of Major Reddick Cross (177?-1847) and Elizabeth D. (Tyner) Cross, whose plantation (some 1009 acres), Elysian Grove, was located in western Fayette County; the red-brick house thereon is now a forlorn derelict compared to its former splendor. It is described by Bernice Cargill in an article that appeared in the "Fayette County Historical Society Bulletin," volume one, number seventeen (July 1987), pages 67-70. The Crosses had come there from North Carolina about 1836.
According to her obituary that appeared in the NASHVILLE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, a Methodist publication, April 19, 1873, written by John W. Shelton, her son-in-law, Elizabeth Cross was born in Northampton County, North Carolina, May 8, 1796, a daughter of Nicholas Tyner, a "soldier of the Revolution." She died in Fayette Co., April 1, 1873. (In the WHIG-TRIBUNE, Jackson, April 12, 1873, "At her late residence in Fayette county, Tenn., on the 4th inst., Mrs. E. D. Cross, in the seventy-fifth year of her age." Note April 4 not 1st.)
Elizabeth D. Tyner was married to James H. "Sowersberry" August 8, 1817 (bond) in Northampton County. In the 1820 U.S. Census of that county, James H. "Somerley" appears with a male, aged 16-26; a female, aged 16-26 and a female, aged to ten years old. Evidently, Sowersby died and as a widow, Elizabeth "Sowerly" was married to Reddick Cross of Hertford Co., N.C. March 15, 1827 (bond). The RALEIGH REGISTER, April 6, 1827 announced the marriage of Maj. Reddick Cross of Hertford Co to Miss Elizabeth "Sowerby" of Northampton Co. March 15, 1827.
In the land settlement, Elizabeth D. Cross received the homestead and land; of her children, receiving portions of the real estate of the late Major Cross were (their order of birth suggested by their ages listed in the 1850 U.S. Census, October 23, Fayette Co., Civil District 9, household of Elizabeth Cross): Martha, born about 1829; Rebecca E., born July 1834; Thomas C., born about 1831; Susan, born about 1836; Cornelia A., born April 1839; William, born about 1840.
Major Cross' will-testament was presented for probate May 2, 1847, soon after his demise (Fayette Co. Court Minute Book C, page 377); as his wife, Elizabeth D. Cross and a son, David C. Cross, whom he had designated as co-executors, failed to act, Joel Jones was appointed estate administrator,
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Oct. 2, 1848. (IBID. Book D, page 12) After Jones' death, Madison Parker was appointed to act in this capacity, January 4, 1854. (IBID., Book E, page 248)
There appears to have been some contention among his heirs over the disposition of Major Cross' estate and the case, John W. Shelton v Susan V. Cross and others was heard in Fayette County Chancery Court, the results of which were recorded in Chancery Minute Book K, page 321, but that record was destroyed when the courthouse burned in 1925.
In her will-testament, Oct. 16, 1869, Elizabeth D. Cross bequeathed $15 to her daughter, Sarah R. Fain (evidently the surviving child of her first marriage); daughters Frances C. Parker, Martha A. Shelton, Rebecca E. Bartlett, each were left $25; daughter, Susan Cross, a bedstead and bedding; son, Thomas C. Cross, a loungestead; daughter Cornelia A. Cross, rest of her personalty except William Cross' bed. Her son, William Cross, was to receive "the homestead on which I now reside, the same willed to us by my late husband Maj. Reddick Cross." If he died without children, the homeplace was to be inherited by Cornelia A. Cross. Son William, executor. Witnesses G. M. Bartlett and N. Blackwell (Fayette Co. Will Book B, pages 327-328) As the witnesses to her will lived in Shelby Co., Tenn. the court ruled Oct. 9, 1873 that the probate would be postponed on this will until it could be proven appropriately. (Fayette Co. Court Minute Book M, page 485) Finally, on April 7, 1875, Dr. Nicholas Blackwell of Shelby Co., Tenn., one of the witnesses, deposed that he saw Elizabeth D. Cross execute the document as her will; that he was familiar with G. M. Bartlett, the other witness, etc. The will was admitted to probate on this date. (IBID. Book N, page 542)
Martha Cross was married to the Rev. John Anthony Winston Shelton (July 5, 1822-Nov. 18, 1880), at Elysian Grove, August 21, 1849 (Memphis DAILY EAGLE, Sept. l, 1849) Shelton was a graduate of Randolph-Macon College, 1844. He was a teacher and Methodist minister and lived several years in Bartlett, Tennessee but moved with his family to Kentucky in 1867; finally to Nashville, Tenn. where he died. Buried in Russellville, Ky. (MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH, Nashville, 1880, page 297) They had a daughter who died in infancy and a son, William Garland Shelton (1861-1929), who was twice married; lived in Fayette Co. and was a farmer, magistrate, sometime chairman of the county court. (THE FAYETTE FALCON, Somerville, Tenn., Oct. 11, 1929). He has numerous descendants.
Rebecca E. Cross was married to Gabriel Maston Bartlett (Nov. 27, 1821-June 18, 1876), at Elysian Grove, January 4, 1854. He was a native of Robertson Co., Tenn.; lost his first wife in death. Established residence in the town later named in his honor, Bartlett, Tennessee, 1847. He was a planter, sometime merchant, once a member of the Tennessee legislature (CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, Nashville, volume 36, number 27, page 12). He was also a sub-agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, 1865-1867. By financial reverses the Bartletts lost their lovely mansion and most of their property before his death. She afterwards returned to live with her sister, Cornelia, at Elysian Grove, doing so until 1905 when this place was sold. She went to live with a niece, Elvira Parker Lowe (married E. H. Lowe in Madison Co., Dec. 15, 1892. Marriage Book K, page 314) in Texas where she died some time after December 1908. The Bartlett children: Martha, 1854-1861; Robert C., born Dec. 3, 1855; Ethel, April 30-July 18, 1857; Peter Mason, June 4, 1858-Oct. 23, 1859; Nannie, July 20, 1859-Oct. 16, 1859.
Robert C. Bartlett (1855-1923) was married to Rosa Evelyn Askew (Dec. 4, 1866-August 2, 1924), January 22, 1885 and had children: Nannie Rebecca, Sept. 22, 1885-Dec. 19, 1951, never married and lived in Bartlett, Tenn.; John Dorris, Nov. 11, 1886-Oct. 7, 1887; Lynn Thomas, Feb. 20, 1889-April 5, 1957, who married and had one child, Ellen, who though married had no
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children; Jane Evelyn, Jan. 12, 1891-Oct. 23, 1892; Robert Royster (Buzz), June 9, 1892-Nov. 11, 1909; Richard Edwin, March 15, 1896-1898. (Askew family Bible record, owned by the late Mrs. Ruth Askew Sammons of Fayette Co. when copied by the author in 1991)
Cornelia A. Cross married late in life to Charles Lynn, Jan. 7, 1886. An older man, he lived for only a short time. In November 1905, she sold the Cross homeplace (Fayette Co. Deed Book 30, page 322) and moved into Memphis, Tenn. where she died December 18, 1914. Buried in Elmwood Cemetery there.
Susan V. Cross, who was never married, became emotionally ill and was institutionalized for years before her death. A jury appointed to determine her mental condition declared that she was "at this time /March 6, 1883/ the subject of insanity and is a lunatic and probably incurable and that she has been a lunatic since 1873"; was hospitalized at the "Lunatic Asylum" at Louisville, Ky. Incapable of handling her own affairs, her: brother, Thomas C. Cross was appointed her guardian. (Fayette Co. Court Minute Book R, pages 285-286). Her 118 acres of the Cross real estate was acquired by Cornelia A. (Cross) Lynn and by her sold in 1905.
William Cross, who inherited his mother's share of Elysian Grove survived her until 1878 or early 1879. He died unmarried and the Cross place then went to his sister Cornelia. In July 1876 he had mortgaged his land, his rights to the Cross property "the estates of my father R. Cross, deceased and of my mother E. D. Cross, deceased," to J. T. Braswell (Fayette Co. Deed Book 6, page 13) William L. Cross was appointed administrator of William Cross' estate, February 1879. (IBID., County Court Minute Book P, page 581) In May, thereafter, the new administrator, J. Braswell, was appointed to this task. (IBID., Book Q, page 51) As Braswell died, H. P. Hobson became administrator in October 1880 (IBID., page 292), who settled this estate. (IBID. Book R, pages 276, 319)
A child of Major Reddick Cross' first marriage, David C. Cross, born about 1809 in North Carolina, was named in his father's will to serve as co-executor but he failed to agree to so serve. He moved to Poinsett County, Ark. in the 1840s and acquired in the next several years some 83,000 acres of land. When Cross County, Ark. was established in 1862, it was named for him. He died there August 21, 1874 and is buried in the Wilkins Cemetery. His wife, Catherine J. Cross, nee Delmar, whom he married as a young widow, in 1853, was born in Charlestown, Indiana, May 5, 1825. She died in Memphis, Tennessee on December 22, 1904 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery there. (THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL, Dec. 22, 1904) Her child, born of the marriage with Colonel D. C. Cross, was named William Reddick (Red) Cross (August 12, 1854, Cross Co., Ark.-Nov. 9, 1915, Memphis), who married Loula Person in 1875 and they had several children. He was cashier of Security Bank for some thirty years. (Goodspeed's HISTORY OF TENNESSEE, Shelby Co., 1887, pages 946-947; THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL, Nov. 10, 1915)
Colonel D. C. Cross and family had moved to Memphis, Tennessee by 1866 but he died while on a visit to Cross County, Arkansas where he is buried.
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