FRANCIS MARION BRIDGES

The following bio was taken from page 121 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Francis Marion was born in Carroll County, Georgia, October 9, 1863 and was christened in 1867. He was one of J. C. A. Bridges’ eight sons and two daughters. He came with his family by wagon caravan the Christmas of 1869. His family purchased land in the Chapman Community, which became their homes. On October 18, 1884 Frank married Mary Elizabeth Lowrie, born September 22, 1866 in Rusk County, daughter of Samuel Hays and Tabitha Jane (Wylie) Ross Lowrie. Frank bought land and settled near his family’s home place in Chapman where the family home still stands.

Frank was a jack-of-all-trades. He was a teacher, a farmer, a ginner and ran a syrup mill, and a grist mill and was appointed first Postmaster of Chapman, April 24, 1894 when the post office was in his home, and was later moved to Marvin Bridges’ store. The Bridges family were all early members of Blossom Hill Methodist Church and were very active in church and community affairs.

Ten children were born. Of these George and Dora died young. All the children settled in Rusk County except Julius Hays, who died on October 31, 1918, from gas on the battlefields of France while serving in WWI. His body was brought to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia and buried there with other members of the Armed Forces.

Daughter Josie married Ross Maddox and had five children, and Bertha married Mark Camp. Both made their homes in Henderson. All others – Jack, Willie, Tom, Linda (Patterson) and Winnie (Langston) – settled in Chapman with homes.

Jack and Emmie D. (Ross) had one daughter. Willie married Eula (Gossett), and they had one daughter. Tom and Thelma (Bearden) had two sons and two daughters. Linda and J. W. Patterson had two sons.

Winnie married Edward Lee Langston, son of Mr. & Mrs. Lee Langston of Henderson on April 30, 1927. They had one son, Lee Bridges of Beaumont, where they lived until just before Edd died on April 20, 1947. They moved back to Chapman, where Winnie taught, then later at Henderson until she retired. She bought a home in Henderson, where she now lives. Her son, Lee Langston, attended South Park High School, A. & M College, and Lamar College and now works for Mobil Oil Electrical Plant.

Lee Bridges Langston married Elaine Fisher, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Bud Fisher. They have three children – Jennifer Lee, Sandra Gail, and Stanley Ryan. All finished South Park High School and Lamar College in Beaumont.

Jennifer married Bobby Martin. He works for Mobil Oil, and she teaches in Lamar College.

Sandra married Gary Tolbert, who works for Gulf Oil Company. She is a dental hygienist and lives in Nederland.

Stan lives in Houston and works for Cooper Accounting Firm.

The members of the family who died are buried in Bridges Cemetery.

All the Bridges girls were teachers. Tom retired from the Henderson Post Office; Jack was a farmer; and Willie retired from the State Highway Department.

Ed Langston was a farmer and then worked for Sun Oil Company, in Beaumont. When he became ill with cancer, he returned to Chapman, where he died. When his dad was ill, Lee Bridges Langston was a marine in the Replacement Army of WWII in China.

Submitted by Mrs. Winnie Langston