GENEALOGY
OF PERCY ALLEN PARRISH
FROM JESSE PARRISH
1. PARRISH, JESSE (see notation 1)
born in Ireland in 1806
died in Warrensburg, Missouri, December 14, 1874
married Malinda Messer
born in Tennessee, July 30, 1807
Died in Warrensburg, Missouri, September 23, 1863
2. PARRISH, THOMAS MESSER
born in Dresden, Weakly Co., Tenn. in 1829
died in Boone Co., Ark. in 1863 (see notation 2)
married Nancy Wyatt Buckley (Dunlap*) (see notation 3)
born in Weakly Co., Tenn., November 20, 1829
died in Lead Hill, Boone Co., Ark. in 1911
they had 8 children (Rufus M. was 4th)
3. PARRISH, RUFUS MARION
born in Lead Hill, Boone Co., Ark., November 15, 1853
died in Floydada, Floyd Co., Texas, September 22, 1935
married M. Adelia Manning (see notation 5)
born in ??, March 5, 1859
died in Dickens Co., Texas, July 10, 1889
they had 6 children
married Elyda Ledufsia Jones on September 2, 1889 in Mangum, Greer Co., Ok.*
born in Little Rock, Ark., January 15, 1868
died in Floydada, Floyd Co., Texas, September 23, 1944
they had 9 children (Creed was the 7th)
4. PARRISH, CREED
born in Cone, Crosby Co., Texas, June 29. 1905
died in Lubbock, Lubbock Co., Texas, June 2, 1979
buried in Floydada Cemetery, Floydada, Texas
married Myrtle Adeline Hobbs on Dec. 24, 1924 in Dickens, Dickens Co., Texas
born in Washita Co., OK. on August 14, 1905
died in Gainesville, Cooke Co., Texas on February 20, 1990
buried in Floydada Cemetery, Floydada, Texas
they had 5 children (see notation 7) (Percy was 5th)
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5. PARRISH, PERCY ALLEN
born in Mayfield, Beckham Co., OK. on November 8, 1935
married Ruth LaVerne Cox on June 12, 1955 in New Deal, Lubbock Co., TX.
born in Montague, Montague Co., Texas, August 9, 1937
they have 3 children (Curtis Allen, Melissa Aileen & Kevin Dean)
NOTATIONS:
1. JESSE PARRISH. Some records show that Jesse was born in Ireland in 1806 and came to America in 1825. Other records indicate he was born in North Carolina in 1806. He first settled in Boling Green, Kentucky, where he married. His family moved to Dresden, Weakly Co., Tennessee in 1850. Later the family moved from Tennessee to Lead Hill, Boone Co., Arkansas. At some later date, he moved to Warrensburg, Missouri. He and his wife are buried in the Liberty Cemetery located on Highway 13, about 6 miles north of Warrensburg, Missouri.
Records indicate that his wife’s last name was either Measles or Mizell.
2. THOMAS MESSER PARRISH fought for the South during the Civil War. He was taken prisoner of war and was paroled sometime in 1863. He and LeRoy McWorter (his brother-in-law) were returning home to Boone Co., Ark, when both men disappeared a short distance from the Parrish farm.
There was never any trace found of the two men.
3. Following the disappearance of Thomas, his widow NANCY WYATT married a widower by the name of David Dunlap. They continued to live in Boon Co., Ark., until her death in 1911.
4. RUFUS MARION PARRISH left home in 1868 at the age of 14, and came to Texas. This was following the marriage of his mother to Mr. Dunlap. He lived in several counties in Texas, as well as in Greer Co., OK before settling in the Cone community in Crosby Co., Texas in about 1898. In about 1924, he built a small house in Floydada, TX., where he was living at the time of his death in 1935. He is buried in the Floydada cemetery.
5 ADELIA MANNING was the first wife of Rufus Parrish. Her parents were Darius Strong and Susan (Love) Manning. She was born March 4, 1859 and died July 10, 1889. She is buried in the Tapp (Red Mud) Cemetery close to Spur, Dickens Co., Texas.
6. ELYDA LEDUFSIA JONES was the second wife of Rufus Parrish. Her parents were John Newton and Mary Ann (Campbell) Jones. She and Rufus were married in September, 1889 in what was at that time Greer Co., Texas. Sometime before 1898, Greer County was ceded to the state of Oklahoma.
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7. CREED PARRISH and Myrtle (Hobbs) Parrish had twin daughters that were born prematurely on June 28, 1925. The babies lived for only a few hours and are buried in the Cone, Crosby Co., Texas cemetery. The surviving children are: Marion Archie Parrish - born October 11, 1926, died November 24, 2002; Claud Arion - born May 28, 1930; and Percy Allen - born November 8, 1935.
ADDITIONAL NOTATIONS
The first United States census for North Carolina in 1800 lists a Jesse Parrish as being a “white male who owned no slaves,” and living in Lincoln County North Carolina.
In as much as the family has no record of any of the Parrishes that goes back further than Jesse Parrish, the father of Thomas, it is very possible that this is the grandfather of Thomas Messer.
It is altogether possible that this is the father of the Jesse Parrish who was the father of Thomas and grandfather of Rufus. If this is true then it would solve the question as to whether Jesse was born in Ireland or North Carolina. This Jesse would have been born in Ireland and his son Jesse born in North Carolina.
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GENEALOGY
OF
PERCY ALLEN PARRISH
FROM JOQUES LaFOURE
1. LaFOURE, JOQUES
born in France in the 1600’s
died in France prior to 1699
2. LaFOURE (FOURE), PIERRE (see notation 2)
born in France in 1680
died in Goochland Co., Virginia. prior to 1745
Pierre came to America in 1699 aboard the “Mary Ann” at the age of 18 years
He was accompanied by his mother and two brothers
3. FOURE, PIERRE, (PETER) JR. (see notation 3)
born in Henrico Co., Va. in 1719
died in Ft. Ruddles Station, Kentucky in 1780
4. FOURE (FORE), JOSEPH (see notation 4)
born in Henrico Co., VA in 1744
died in Shelby Co., KY in 1835
married Ann Ridgeway in 1782
5. FORE, NANCY ANN
born in Prince Edward Co., VA in 1787
died in Weakley Co., TN in October 1826
married Richard Ridgeway, Jr.
6. RIDGEWAY, PHOEBE (see notation 6)
born in Shelby Co., TN in 1809
died in Lead Hill, Boone Co., Ark in 1872
married Walter W. Buckley, Jr. in 1827 (see notation 6)
7. BUCKLEY, NANCY WYATT
born in Weakley Co., TN in 1829
died in Boone Co., Ark in 1911
married Thomas Messer Parrish in 1847 (see notation 7)
married David Dunlap in either 1864 or 1865 (see notation 7)
8. PARRISH, RUFUS MARION
born in Lead Hill, Boone Co., Ark in 1853
died in Floydada, TX in 1935
married M. Adelia Manning in 1873 (see notation 8)
married Elyda Ledufsia Jones in 1889 (see notation 8)
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9. PARRISH, CREED
born in Cone, Crosby Co., Texas in 1905
died in Lubbock, Lubbock Co., Texas in 1979
married Myrtle Hobbs in 1924
10. PARRISH, PERCY ALLEN
born in Mayfield, Beckham Co., OK in 1935
married Ruth LaVerne Cox in 1955
NOTATIONS:
1. The widow of Joques LaFoure (name unknown) came to America in July 1699 with her three sons aboard the ship “Mary Ann.’ The family settled in Jamestown, Virginia.
2. PIERRE LaFOURE changed his last name to FOURE when he came to America.
3. PIERRE FOURE, JR. changed his name to PETER.
He and his brother THOMAS are said to have married Cherokee Indian women.
Peter fought in the American Revolutionary War from Kentucky.
4. JOSEPH FOURE changed the spelling of his name to FORE.
According to Vol. II, Roster of Revolutionary Ancestors, Texas Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1976, he served as an infantry private in the army from Virginia. This book also states that Joseph was born in Powhatan Co., VA on May 31, 1742 and died in Shelby Co., KY in July 1835.
He married Ann Ridgeway in 1782.
5. WALTER W. BUCKLEY, SR. father of Walter W. Buckley, Jr., and grandfather of Nancy Wyatt (Buckley) Parrish {Dunlap} served in the American Revolutionary War from Pittsylvania Co., Virginia, and received a pension for his services. This is documented from the National Archives in Washington, DC.
6. WALTER W. JR. and PHOEBE (RIDGEWAY) BUCKLEY, parents of Nancy Wyatt (Buckley) Parrish {Dunlap}, are buried in the Raley Cemetery about two miles west and one mile north of Lead Hill, Boone Co., Ark. There is a section of this cemetery with a number of graves that are simply marked “UNKNOWN.” Roger Logan of Harrison, Ark., also a descendent of this couple, states that according to family tradition this is where the couple is buried.
7. Following the disappearance of THOMAS M. PARRISH, his widow, NANCY WYATT (BUCKLEY) PARRISH married David Dunlap. This was in 1864 or 1865. Nancy died in 1911 and is buried beside David in the same cemetery as her parents. Her head-stone bears the inscription: “N. W., Second Wife of David Dunlap.” At the foot of her grave is a flat “military type” marker with the inscription: “IN MEMORY OF THOMAS M. PARRISH, 1829 - 1863.”
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8. RUFUS MARION PARRISH was first married to M. ADELIA MANNING. They were married in 1873 and had six children. She died in 1889. After the death of Adelia at age of
thirty, Rufus married ELYDA LEDUFSA JONES. He and "KITT" as Elyda was known had nine children (see notation 6 under Parrish).
ADDITIONAL NOTATIONS
PARRISH, THOMAS MESSER:
The great family mystery is what became of Thomas following the Civil War. All that is known is that he had been a prisoner of war and in 1863 he and his brother-in-law LeRoy McWorter who had also been a POW were paroled and started home but never arrived. They both disappeared and were never heard from again. There are three accounts given concerning their disappearance. None of these can be substantiated, yet each one is plausible.
1. Some of the Buckley family descendants (family of Nancy Wyatt Parrish) report that Parrish and McWorter left and went to the Oklahoma Territory where they married Indian women and lived out their lives there.
2. Some of the children and grandchildren of Thomas and Nancy felt that David Dunlap had something to do with the disappearance of these men. They believed that David Dunlap was having an affair with Nancy and when he discovered that Thomas would soon be home and perhaps find out about this affair, he murdered Thomas, or at least had someone do it. It was simply McWorter’s misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is known that Nancy did marry Dunlap in either 1864 or 1865.
3. The most plausible explanation is given by one of McWorter's great-granddaughters who reports that McWorter family records indicate that the reason for McWorter's parole was that he had contracted small pox while a prisoner and died on the way home (many POWs did contract this disease while confined). If this is true, then perhaps Parrish also had small pox and died from the disease at about the same time McWorter did. There were many men who died and were buried where they were found with no record of their deaths or place of their burial.
PARRISH, RUFUS MARION:
Rufus Marion ran away from home when he was either fourteen or fifteen years old. According to one story he joined a group of men who were driving a heard of hogs to Texas. According to another, he went out one evening to feed the hogs and just kept going. In either case, when he left home and came to Texas, Rufus never did return to Arkansas.
It is reported that there were ill feelings between Rufus and his step-father, David Dunlap, which could account for his leaving home at this time. It is also known that in past years there were ill feelings between the children of Thomas Parrish and the Dunlap family. This might have been caused by the fact that after their marriage, Nancy deeded the 160 acre Parrish farm to David Dunlap. The Parrish farm is located just across the road east of the Raley Cemetery.
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When he first came to Texas, Rufus joined a group of buffalo hunters and hunted buffalo for a time. He made a hat rack from the horns of some of the buffalo that he killed. This hat rack is in the Floyd County, Texas museum in Floydada, Texas.
Following his marriage to Adelia Manning, Grandfather lived near Greenville, Hunt Co., Texas where their two oldest children were Born. Between 1876 and 1878, they
moved to near Baird, in Callahan Co., Texas where the other four children were born.
Later, the family moved to Dickens County, near Spur, Texas. It was here that Adelia died in July, 1889. Following the death of Adelia, Grandfather married Elydia Ledufsia Jones in September 1889 in Greer County (Texas) Oklahoma, near the town of Mangum. It is here that their four oldest children were born.
A dispute over the boundary between the state of Texas and Oklahoma Territory was settled in favor of Oklahoma, giving Greer County, as well as other land, to Oklahoma. The joke is to keep his children from growing up in Oklahoma, Grandfather moved his family to Texas.
When he first came to the Plains of Texas, Grandfather found some land south of Cone, in Crosby County that he was interested in buying. However, the price was 50 cents per acre, which he thought too high. So he went a mile north and a mile east of Cone and bought four hundred acres of land for 25 cents per acre (it is here that the five youngest of the Parrish children were born). He also leased several sections of grazing land with the intention of engaging in ranching. However, about that time, there was a drought and the price of cattle dropped to almost nothing.
Grandmother told of the time of the great prairie fire which started in eastern New Mexico that ranged for hundreds of miles. She told of being at home alone with the girls and smaller children (Grandfather was away, perhaps on a cattle drive). Grandmother said she was afraid that the fire would reach the house and destroy it, so she took the children and ran to the middle of a forty acre plowed field to wait out the fire. However, just before it reached the house, the wind shifted and the house was spared. This is when Grandfather broke out a lot of grass land to raise wheat, maze, and a little cotton.
In 1905, Grandfather had a windmill tower fall on him and break his back. From then until his death in 1935, he could walk only with the aid of canes and in later years with crutches.
Grandfather was very talented craftsman with a pocket knife and did a lot of whittling of figurines. Several of the grandchildren still have some of these. I have his last pocket knife.
PARRISH, CREED:
Creed Parrish was my father. He was a very gentle man in every respect. I do not recall him ever becoming angry to the point of losing his temper. The only why I would know that he was angry or upset about something is when he would start whistling, but not any tune, just whittling. He would also whistle if he hurt himself in any way. I do not recall him ever using any curse words or even saying “gosh,” “golly” or even “gee.”
It is said that if any of his family became ill, it would be he. Shortly after my brother Marion (Scotty) was born, Daddy came down with pneumonia and almost died. After this he always had trouble with his lungs. Almost every winter, he would have pneumonia at least once.
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In 1933, Daddy, Mother, and my two brothers moved to the Mayfield community in Beckham Co., Oklahoma, where I was born. Daddy worked on farms for both Grandpa and Grandma Hill.
After I was born in 1935, doctors in Oklahoma said that because of the dust, Daddy
would have to move off the farm. So, in October, 1937, just prior to my 2nd birthday, we moved to Floydada, Floyd Co., Texas. It was here that we lived for the next fifteen years. Daddy worked for the Charlie Massey Wholesale Grocery Co. as both salesman and delivery man.
On October 31, 1952, when Massey’s closed, we moved to Lubbock, Texas where Daddy worked at Reese Air Force Base. Then in the summer of 1953, he began working for the Lubbock Independent School District as custodian. He worked here until he retired. Mother worked for the schools as cafeteria manager (both in Floydada and Lubbock).
When I was a teenager at home, one of the things that I remember is that, no matter what time I came home (even if he was already in bed), Daddy and I would have a cup of coffee together and talk. (I wish I could still have that nightly cup of coffee with him.)
Daddy was a very talented man with his hands. He enjoyed working with wood. When I was five years old, Dad, Mother, Claud and I all had the mumps at the same
time (Scotty escaped them). It was at this time he made a desk without any power tools. He simply used a hand saw, hammer, nails and glue (he believed in a lot of glue). I have often wondered what happened to that desk and wished for it.
After retirement, Daddy began working with rocks. He made tie-tacks from polished
rocks. I still have a number of these.
Daddy died on June 2, 1979, just twenty-seven days short of his 74th birthday (June 29). He is buried in the Floydada cemetery. On February 22, 1990, we buried Mother beside him.
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