Francis McMordie

Born: 14 Jun 1832, Montgomery Co., TN
Died: 14 Dec 1906, Hamilton Co., TX
Married: Mary Louise McGuire

Francis McMordie, the eldest son of Hans and Martha Eskridge Kenner McMordie, was born 14 June 1832 on the family farm in Montgomery County, Tennessee (McMordie Bible, 1903; Census of Tennessee, #733, 1850).  Francis (Frank) moved with his family from Montgomery County, Tennessee, to Williamson County, Texas in 1853 (Montgomery County Deed Book 1, 1853).  He was made a Mason in the old Round Rock Lodge No. 227 in 1854, of which he was Worshipful Master 1869 - 1870, 1873 (McMordie, W., 1962: Thompson & DiGesualdo, 1985).  Frank married Mary Louise McGuire on February 24, 1857 in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Round Rock, Texas (Williamson County, Marriage Book, 1857).  The children of this marriage were:

  1. George Kenner McMordie
  2. Martha J (Nettie) McMordie
  3. Margaret (Maggie) McMordie
  4. William Emmett McMordie
  5. Oscar R McMordie
  6. Myra McMordie
  7. Arthur McMordie
  8. Edgar McMordie
  9. Lenna McMordie
  10. Nora McMordie
  11. Susie McMordie
Frank and Mary had two other sons, both died as infants.  At the beginning of the Civil War, Frank and his brother, Abe, enlisted as privates, and his brother James as a 2nd Sergeant in August 1861, in the Williamson County Company, 27th Brigade, Brig. Gen. E. S. 0. Robinson, Texas Militia, Capt. H. M. Burrows, Company Commander (Texas Confederate Index).  By 8 Jul 1862 he was mustered-in the 30th Texas Calvary at Fort McCulloch.  His horse and equipment were valued at $225 and $25, respectively.  He contacted measles in April of 1863 which caused him to be absent from duty (Confederate Company Muster, 1863).  Because of complications from this illness, in November of that year he requested, and presented a Doctor's certificate, that he be transferred to the Quartermaster or Commissary Corps (McMordie, F., 1863; Black, 1863).  This was done.

On 16 Feb 1864, Mary L McMordie, with 4 children, was listed as a wife of a Soldier who is in the Army of the Confederate States, who was in indigent circumstances (Mearse, 1996).

In September 1864, he was back in the field and stationed at Brownsville, Texas.  In an 11 Sep 1864 letter to his wife, Mary, he wrote:

Brownsville Texas Sept 11th 1864

Dear Mary

I read your letter yesterday of the 11th of August which I was glad to get.  I've not had a letter from you was glad to hear you & the children were well & doing So well.  I am well & getting along about as usual.  I neglected writing to you last as I wrote to you by Ed Rogers on the first.  We have been under considerable excitement for a week past.  The Mexicans & the Yanks at the mouth of the river advanced upon our forces below this place.  Cortinas the Mexican Marauder crossed & he & the Feds attacked us.  We had Several Skirmishes with them.  We killed Some & Captured Some Mexicans & had only one man killed.  The Mexicans have gone back across the River & the Feds have gone back to the Mouth of the River.  So I am in hopes we will not be troubled any more by them.  I've no news to give you from the other side of the Mississippi as we have had no Federal papers lately.  We have had a good deal of Rain in the last week.  Our Streets & all low ground has been covered with water & the Rio Grande is very full.  My Dear you Say you got the Box I sent you.  I wish I could Send you more.  You Say you are Sending me Some presents by Capt & Will _____.  I will appreciate any thing from you but I don't want you to rob yourself or children of any thing to Send to me.  I've got plenty of clothes & if you can clothe yourself & children you will do well.  I am Sorry you have to work as hard as you do but you Say it gives your mind employment.  I want to See you & the children badly.  It has been Six Months Since I parted with you but I am in hopes it will not be many Mon before I get home if it is only for a Short time.  I don't know what will turn up but I will try to get off about Nov.  I wrote you by Ed Rogers which he promised to take to you as Soon as he got home he has been detached for three months & if you will get one fixed as he did maybe So you may get me detailed as wheelwright.  If I could get a detail for even Three Months it would be considerable help.  I am in hopes though the war will End this fall or winter.  It is not long till the Presidents Election & as sone as we can hear from that I think we can give a pretty good guess how things will work.  Let us hope & pray for better times, if it never comes.  Our Chaplain did not preach today.  I went to the Catholic Church.  Our Chaplain is forming what he calls a Christian Association of all Names he Says his object is to do good & he wants us to know Each Other.  There was a good many of us gave him our names.  He is a Methodist preacher by the name of Cox.  I think he is a nice man.  Well My Dear, I have wrote you about all I can think of.  You must write me all that is going on about home.  I wrote to you to try to have the field Sowed in barley or wheat but for fear you did not get it I will tell you in this.  I am in hopes there will be mast to fatten the hogs but if not try to get corn to fatten them.  My Dear you didn't tell me any thing about that fine boy of yours in your last but I Suppose you don't want to have me bragging on your children.  I would like to meet Abe at home this fall.  If I knew what time he would be there I would try to come at that time.  My respects to all the friends, Uncle George and Aunt Mat.  Kiss all the children for me and imagine one for yourself.

Remember me in your prayers to Almighty God.

Yours Affectionately F Mc

PS I will look for Capt Armstrong next week.

In a second letter he wrote:

Oct the 14th 1864

Post 2 M Off ice Brownsville Texas

Dear Mary, As I have an opportunity of Sending you a letter directly to Round Rock by some men that will Start in the morning.  I've no news to write you only I am very well & healthy & that is really no news for I have been well all the time.  If it is not news I am in hopes it will be interesting to you to know that I am well.  It is always a great Satisfaction to me to hear that you & the children are all well.  The Army here is healthy.  There has been but few deaths Since we have been in Brownsville There is no Yellow Fever here yet & I am in hopes there will be none.  We have not had any news here for Several days.  I heard the other day there was some late Northern papers & magazines which Said Gen. Early had driven Sheridan from Virginia but the paper has not come on this Side.  Every thing is quiet on the Rio Grande.  Some Yanks at the Mouth of the River but they didn't bother us.  The Mexicans are also quiet only they are Stealing our horses.  I have got Ned yet.  He is in fine order.  I intend to sell him if I can & get me a pony that will answer my purpose as well as he will.  Business is getting Started here.  Cotton is coming in & goods going out.  Several large trains had left in the last few days.  Mostly Government goods Shoes, Blankets & Clothes.  Mr. Hendricks of Austin left here yesterday for Austin.  Capt Armstrong bought Some things to Send home by them but he had So much for himself he could not take it.  I bought Aunt Mat a pound of Tea & & put it in the Box but I will have to wait now for another chance.  I would send it by the Men that will start tomorrow but they are going by horse back & they will all have as much as they can carry for themselves.  Well My Dear, I am getting along very well.  I & the Capt & Nash Long mess together & we Eat very well.  We have some vegetables everyday We have Beans, Turnip Greens and Irish Potatoes & we have Milk Sometimes & Sometimes for a change we have Oysters & Sardines.  Will is well & Still driving the Team.  My Dear I don't know when I will get off but I will try to get home by Christmas.  You must try to feed your hogs to keep them about home.  I want to get home & kill them if I can.  I've not had a letter for Several day but expect one by the next mail.  Write often.  My Regards to Aunt Mat & Uncle George.  Kiss all the children for me & one for yourself.  Yours F Mc".

Frank was able to get home to Round Rock from Brownsville every few months In the winter of 1864-65 he was able to send a lot of goods home".  Frank took a string of horses to Tennessee (McMordie, G. K., 1936).  On 5 Mar 1863 he bought 32 acres of land in Williamson County for $270.  On 25 Apr 1869 he paid $50 for a lot in Round Rock and on 27 May 1871 $50 for a plot of land near Round Rock Williamson County Deed Book, 1863),

He was recorded as a farmer in the 1880 Williamson County Census Precinct 8.  His eight younger children still lived at home, but George Kenner had left, Martha (Nettie) was married, and the youngest daughter, Susie, had not been born.

Before 1900 Frank and his family moved to Quanah, Hardeman County, Texas.  The 1900 Census showed that Frank was 68 years old and was a day laborer.  Wife, Mary L. McMordie, was 61 and had 13 children, nine of whom were still living.  Two sons had died at birth and Myra died in 1889 at age 21 Their youngest daughter, 19 year old Susie, was a cashier at a dry goods store.  Nettie's husband, Charles Walker died before 1900, so Nettie and her four children were living with Frank and Mary.  Nettie was 39 years old at this time and she had five children, one died before 1900.  Her son, George, was 20 years old, almost two years older than his Aunt Susie.

George was' a clerk at a dry goods store.  Nettie's daughters, Bessie, Lillian and Myra E. [Ethel] were in school.  Nora [Maurine] Stone was four months old.  Her mother died shortly after her birth and Mary was adamant that she care for her motherless granddaughter.

Frank was living in Hamilton, Texas, at the time of his death, on 14 Dec 1906, and was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas.  Died in Hardeman County on 22 May 1925 (Texas Death Certificate, 1925).

McGuire Excursus

More is known about the McMordie ancestors in Colonial America than is known about the McGuire family in Tennessee in the mid nineteenth century.  Probably Mary Louise McGuire's parents, James and Miranda Bailey, died intestate before 1850, because there are no US Census nor county records of them in Tennessee after 1840.  Additionally, no records of James or Miranda McGuire have been found in Texas.  Never the less, there are enough bits of information available to draw inferences about them.

James McGuire and his sister, Martha McGuire, were born in North Carolina; James between 1810 and 1820 and Martha on July 3, 1815 (US Census of Tennessee, 1840; US Census of Texas, 1880; Faubion, 1978).  As the Western District of Tennessee was opened for white settlers, the McGuires moved from North Carolina and settled in what is now Madison County.  There, in the village of Medon, James McGuire bought a town lot in 1834 (Williams, 1946) and married Miranda Bailey (McMordie, 1956) probably in that year.  Medon received its name in a most unusual manner.  As the workman finished laying out the town, he laid his tools down and said, "Me done."  Therefore, the village was named Medon.

The 1840 Census for Madison County listed the James McGuire household as consisting of one male between 5 and 10 years old, two males, 20 to 30, two females younger than five years old, one female, 15 to 20, and two females between 20 and 30 years of age.  By 1840 James and Miranda McGuire had a daughter, Mary Louise, born February 8, 1839 Texas Death Certificate, 1925) so she was one of the females age less than 5.  The male born 1830-1835, and the other female born 1835-1840 were probably a son and daughter of James and Miranda.  The female could possibly been a sister of either James or Miranda.  Martha McGuire and Miranda McGuire were probably the two females born between 1810 & 1820.  James was one of the males born 1810-1820; the other male during that time was possibly a relative of James or Miranda (US Census of Tennessee, 1840).  After 1840 the only records found as of now are those of Martha McGuire and her niece Mary Louise.  In all likelihood James, Miranda and the two other children died before 1850.  Perhaps they were killed by Indians or succumbed to cholera, yellow fever or another fatal disease.

On February 9, 1848, Martha McGuire married George D. Blair in Madison County Tennessee (Sisler, 1983), and, according to the Census, by 1850 George and Martha Blair had moved to Gibson County, Tennessee.  Mary McGuire, age 11, lived with them there.  George D. Blair was born in Kentucky on August 12, 1801, the son of Andrew and Jane Blair (US Census of Tennessee, 1850; Faubion, 1978; Thompson & DiGesualdo, 1985).  By 1815 the Blairs had moved to Alabama and then to western Tennessee probably in the 1830's (US Census of Texas, 1880).  In 1855 the Andrew Blair family, George D. and Martha Blair and Mary L McGuire moved to Williamson County, Texas Thompson & DiGesualdo, 1985; Confederate Veterans Widow's Pension Application, 1917).  Two years later, Mary married Frank McMordie on February 24, 1857 in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Round Rock, Texas (Williamson. County Marriage Book, 1857).

George and Martha Blair had no children of their own so Mary must have seemed to be more of a daughter than a niece, and Mary looked upon them as her parents.  Mary named her first son George in honor of George D. Blair.  In two letters Frank McMordie wrote in 1864 to his wife, Mary, from the Confederate base in Brownsville, Texas, he ended the first with "My regards to all the friends, Uncle George & Aunt Mat.  Kiss all the children for me & imagine one for yourself.  Remember me in your prayers to Almighty God.  Yours Affectionately, F Mc". In his second letter one month later, he wrote "My regards to Aunt Mat and Uncle George.  Kiss the children for me and one for yourself.  Yours F Mc"(McMordie, 1864).  In his Autobiographical Sketches, Frank and Mary's oldest son, George Kenner McMordie, wrote of "Aunt Matt and Uncle George Blair" taking care of him when he was a young boy (McMordie, 1936).

George Blair was a cabinet maker, and Martha was a mid-wife who assisted in the delivery of Mary's 13 children.  In 1880 they were living in Williamson County and his brother, Robert D. Blair, was living with them (US Census of Texas, 1880).  George was a member of the Round Rock Masonic Lodge #227 and was the Treasurer in 1864 (Thompson & DiGesualdo, 1985).  George died on June 7, 1891, and Mary on May 12, 1897.  Both are buried in the Round Rock Cemetery (Faubion, 1978).

References

Black, J. M., MD, Letter, 18 Nov 1863.

Confederate Company Muster Roll #661,Texas State Archives, 1863.

Confederate Veterans Widow's Pension Application #34173, 1917.

Faubion, L., Williamson County Cemeteries, Williamson County Historical Commission, Georgetown TX, 1978, Vol. 11, p. 304.

Gravestone, Masonic Cemetery, Gatesville, TX.

McMordie Family Bible, A. McMordie, Calvert, Jan 2nd, 1903.

McMordie, F., Letter to Maj. C. M. Mason, 22 Nov 1863.

McMordie, F., Letter to Mary L. McMordie, 11 Sep 1864.

McMordie, F., Letter to Mary L. McMordie, 14 Oct 1864.

McMordie, G. K., Autobiographical Sketches, Unpublished, 1936, pp. 2-4.

McMordie, W. C., Written Communication, 10 Aug 1965.

Mearse, L., Confederate Indigent Family Lists of Texas, 1863 - 1864, 1996, p. 408.

Montgomery County, Tennessee, Deed Book 1, Letter M, 1853, p. 75.

Sistler, B & B, Madison County, Tennessee Marriages, Sistier, Nashville, 1983, p. 5.

Texas Confederate Index, Reel 10, n. d.

Texas State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death # 18085, Form D, 1925.

Thompson, K. R. & DiGesualdo, J. H., Historical Round Rock, Texas, Eakin Press, Austin, 1985, pp. 84, 356-7, 422, 527.

United States Census, 1840, Madison Co., Tennessee, # 091.

United States Census, 1850, Gibson Co., Tennessee, # 283 - 285.

United States Census, 1850, Montgomery County, Tennessee, #744-370.

United States Census, 1880, Williamson Co., Texas, # 567.

United States Census, 1880, Williamson County, Pct 8, Texas, #573.

United States Census, 1900, Hardeman County, Texas, ED 32, Sheet 5.

Williams, E. I, Historic Madison, Madison County Historical Soc., Jackson TN, 1946, p. 340.

Williamson County, Texas, Deed Book 10, 1863, pp. 59, 284, 404.

Williamson County, Texas, Marriage Book 1,1857,p. 172.