Lola Frances "Fannie" Bridges Francis -- Wife of Farmer and Carpenter

 

Homer and Fannie Bridges Francis

Lola Frances “Fannie” Bridges was born on February 23, 1902 in the Maple Grove community of Trigg County, Kentucky.  She was the third of eleven children of John Trice Bridges and Maggie Dora Cunningham Bridges.  John Trice was a farmer, carpenter and surveyor and he and Maggie were natives of Trigg County.  Maggie was a descendant of the large pioneer Cunningham family that had settled in Trigg County.  Fannie was a descendant of Cullen Bridges and Cullen Thomas.

Fannie’s siblings were Lillie Jane Bridges, born in 1899 and died at the age of two; Lucy Lee Bridges, born in 1900 and married James Stevenson “Jimmie Fant” Thomas; Dora Virginia Bridges, born in 1903 and married Otis Taylor Boyd; John Carl Bridges, born in 1904 and married Julia Bell Thomas; Mary Pauline Bridges, born in 1908 and married Preston Hoover Thomas; Queen Alexander Bridges, born in 1909 and died at the age of one; Hilda Agnes Bridges, born in 1910; Beulah Louise Bridges, born in 1913 and married Homer Blane Thomas; Clifford Elmo “Pete” Bridges, born in 1917 and married Lillie Frances Smith; and Dorothy Allene Bridges, born in 1920.

On March 31, 1918, Fannie married Homer Ervin Francis at a ceremony near Dover, Tennessee.  Homer was born on February 5, 1897 in Trigg County.  He was the son of George Washington Francis and Maranda Arthelia Brown Francis.  George was a farmer and both he and Maranda were natives of Trigg County.

Homer and Fannie settled in the Maple Grove community where they lived for the rest of their lives.  Homer worked as a farmer and as a carpenter.  He worked as a carpenter at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and at the construction sites of several dams, including Kentucky Dam at Gilbertsville, Kentucky, Dam 53 on the Ohio River at Grand Chain, Illinois and on the Pickwick Dam on the Tennessee River.  He was the leader in the building of his church, the Maple Grove Baptist Church.  Fannie was the first organist for the church, playing on an old-fashioned pump organ.  Homer was called to active duty for service in World War I, but the war ended and his group of inductees was cancelled and he did not have to serve.

Homer and Fannie were the parents of four children, an unnamed infant, born and died in 1919; Garnett Edward Francis, born in 1920 and married Mabel Evelyn Tuggle and then married Eunice Armento Wills Simmons; Edith Lucille Francis, born in 1922 and married Roy Vernon Witty; and Lacy Rex Francis, born in 1927 and married Eva Marie Kennedy.

Homer died on April 24, 1976 at the age of 79 at his home.  He was buried in the Drewry Bridges Cemetery in Trigg County.  Fannie died on September 27, 1986 at the age of 84 at the Shady Lawn Nursing Home in Cadiz.  She was buried in the Drewry Bridges Cemetery next to her husband.

Homer and Fannie tombstone

LINEAGE: (Lola Frances “Fannie” Bridges was the daughter of John Trice and Maggie Dora Cunningham Bridges.  John Trice was the sixth child of Cullen T. and Martha Ann Virginia Thomas Bridges.  Cullen was the twelfth child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges.  William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges. Martha Ann was the third child of Peyton and Sarah Ethridge Thomas.  Peyton was the third child of Cullen and Elizabeth Futrell Thomas.  Cullen was the first child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)