Mary Frances “Fannie” Morris
1835 – 1916
A Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Woman and Her Family
Meet Fannie
Meet Mary Frances Morris, who shows up in the records as Fannie, Fanny, or just Mary F. She was born on 25 January 1835 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, and she died there on 22 February 1916, about four weeks after her 81st birthday. In between, she lived in both South Carolina and North Carolina and left a paper trail that is thin in exactly the places we wish it were thick.
Here is the part that makes her story such a good one: no marriage record has been found for Fannie, yet the 1880 census finds her at the head of her own household in Anson County, North Carolina, with her nine-year-old son Albert. Later census pages show her living in Albert’s home, and two young McDuffie relatives turn up in that same household. Her death certificate, as transcribed on Find a Grave, lists her as a widow, but no husband has ever been identified. She sounds like a tough lady who did what she had to do, and she is a genuine research puzzle for the family.
This biography follows Fannie from her parents’ home in Chesterfield through her years in Anson County and back again, introduces the children linked to her on the family group sheet, and sets out the open questions plainly. Everything stated as fact here comes from the records. Where the records disagree or fall silent, we say so.
Quick Facts
Full name | Mary Frances “Fannie” Morris (also written Fanny; “Mary F.” on census and death records) |
Born | 25 January 1835, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina |
Died | 22 February 1916, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina (age 81) |
Buried | 23 February 1916, Westfield Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Chesterfield County, South Carolina |
Parents | Wiley Morris (1795–1866) and Charity Short (1816–1866) |
Marriage | No marriage record found. Find a Grave lists her marital status as “widow.” |
Children | William Albert Morris (documented son); Ada McDuffie and Thomas Landy McDuffie (listed with her on the family group sheet; parentage unproven) |
Where she lived | Chesterfield County, SC (1850, 1860, 1910, death) and Anson County, NC (1880, 1900) |
Find a Grave | Memorial #205421615 |
Roots: Parents and Family Background
Fannie’s parents were Wiley Morris and Charity Short. The family group sheet gives Wiley’s years as 1795–1866 and Charity’s as 1816–1866, so both are shown as passing in the same year. Fannie’s death certificate names her mother as Charity Morris and gives her father as unknown. Find a Grave, however, notes that her father was Wiley Morris and her mother was Charity Short.
The 1850 census finds the household in Chesterfield: Wiley (55), Charity (44), and five young Morrises, all born in South Carolina. Ten years later, in 1860, the household was Wiley (60), Charity (50), and five children again, with a new name in the mix. The census pages do not spell out relationships, but the children listed are presumed to be Fannie’s brothers and sisters. The family group sheet itself does not list siblings, so this table comes straight from the census.
Name | Age 1850 | Age 1860 | Notes |
Elizabeth Morris | 17 | — | Not in the 1860 household. See the research notes below about an Elizabeth Morris McDuffie. |
Mary Frances “Fannie” Morris | 15 | 25 | Our Fannie, still living at home and unmarried at 25. |
Ann Morris | 13 | 18 |
|
Joseph Morris | 11 | 21 | Find a Grave memorial #35453466 is linked as Fannie’s brother. |
William Morris | 9 | 15 |
|
James Morris | — | 12 | First appears in the 1860 household. |
Research note: ages on paper The census ages for Fannie’s parents don’t quite line up with the birth years on the family group sheet. Wiley is 55 in 1850 and 60 in 1860, which fits 1795–1800. Charity is 44 in 1850 and 50 in 1860, which points to roughly 1806–1810 rather than 1816. It is worth another look at Charity’s birth year. |
Growing Up in Chesterfield (1835–1860)
Fannie was born on 25 January 1835 in Chesterfield. That date comes from her Find a Grave memorial, which was created using her death certificate information, and her death certificate gives her birth year as 1835 and her age as 81. The 1850 census fits as well, recording her at age 15.
By 1860 she was 25 and still in her parents’ household, listed as Mary Morris with Wiley and Charity and four of her siblings. The census transcriptions we have don’t give an occupation for the household, so we can’t say how the family made a living. What we can say is that Fannie’s early life was spent in one place, among her parents and brothers and sisters, in the Chesterfield area.
Historical context When Fannie was born, Chesterfield was known as Chesterfield District, part of the Pee Dee region of northeastern South Carolina. South Carolina’s districts were renamed counties in 1868, which is why the records for her later years say Chesterfield County. |
War, Loss, and Change (1861–1870)
Fannie was 26 when the Civil War began in April 1861 and 30 when it ended in 1865. The family group sheet has no personal record of how the war touched her household. For context, Union troops under General William T. Sherman moved through the Cheraw area of Chesterfield County in March 1865, so the war was not a distant matter in her corner of South Carolina.
The next big marker is the loss of her parents. The family group sheet shows both Wiley and Charity passing in 1866, when Fannie was 31. South Carolina was then in the uncertain early years of Reconstruction.
Then comes her son. William Albert Morris, who went by Albert, was born in 1870 or 1871. The family group sheet carries two birth entries for him: February 1870 in Anson County, North Carolina, and 22 February 1871 in Chesterfield, South Carolina. Fannie would have been about 35 or 36. Albert’s later census ages (9 in 1880, 30 in 1900, and 38 in 1910) are scattered across the same few years, so the exact date and place are still open.
Making a Home in Anson County, North Carolina (1880–1900)
By 1880, Fannie and Albert were living in the community enumerated as Gulledges in Anson County, North Carolina. The census lists the household of Mary Morris: Mary, age 40, and her son Albert, age 9, both born in South Carolina. In other words, she was the head of the household, and the transcription on file shows just the two of them.
Twenty years later, the 1900 census shows the two in Morven Township, Anson County, but now the household is Albert’s. Albert is listed as head, age 30, and Mary is listed as his mother, age 60. Two children with the surname McDuffie are living with them, recorded as cousins: Ada, age 10, and a boy transcribed as “Landon,” age 50. That age is clearly a mistake. The boy in question would be Thomas Landy McDuffie, born in March 1898, who would have been about two years old.
Research note: Fannie’s changing age Fannie’s age floats around in the records. Find a Grave and her death certificate point to 1835. The 1850 and 1860 censuses fit that, but the 1880 and 1900 censuses (ages 40 and 60) suggest about 1840, and the 1910 census (age 72) suggests about 1838. Her birthplace also varies: South Carolina in most records, but North Carolina in the 1900 transcription. These are the sort of small differences you often see from census to census. |
Back Home to Chesterfield (1910)
By 1910, the household had moved back across the state line. The 1910 census shows Albert Morris in Court House, Chesterfield, South Carolina, age 38, with his wife Susanna, age 22, and his mother Mary F. Morris, age 72. The family group sheet shows that Albert and Susanna Hildreth were married in 1910 in Chesterfield. Also in the household was a cousin, “Thos. L. McDuffy,” age 12, our Thomas Landy McDuffie.
So in the last documented decade of her life, Fannie was in a full house: her son, his new wife, and a young McDuffie relative who had been in Albert’s household since at least 1900. The records can’t fully explain how he came to be there, but they do show Fannie surrounded by family.
Final Years and Passing (1916)
Mary F. Morris died on 22 February 1916 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Her death certificate (no. 026885, volume 49) gives her age as 81 and her race as white, names her mother as Charity Morris, and lists her father as unknown. She was laid to rest the next day, 23 February 1916, at Westfield Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. Her Find a Grave memorial, created in December 2019 from the death certificate information, gives her marital status as widow.
Historical context When Fannie passed away in February 1916, World War I was raging in Europe, though the United States had not yet entered the war. That came in April 1917. |
Her Children
The family group sheet lists three children with Fannie. Only one of them, Albert, can be tied to her by records: he appears in her household in 1880 and she appears in his in 1900 and 1910. Ada and Thomas Landy carry the McDuffie surname and appear in Albert’s household as cousins, so how they fit is addressed in the research notes below. Here is what the records show about each.
Child | Born | Died / Buried | Spouse(s) |
William Albert “Albert” Morris | 22 Feb 1871, Chesterfield, SC | Died 30 Apr 1944, Red Springs, Robeson Co., NC. Buried 1 May 1944, Alloway Cemetery, Red Springs. | Susanna Hildreth (1884–1924), m. 1910, Chesterfield, SC. Ada Johnson (1883–1939), m. 14 Aug 1925, Stanly Co., NC. |
Ada McDuffie | 10 May 1890, Chesterfield, SC | Died Nov 1977 (Social Security Death Index; last residence Ruby, Chesterfield Co., SC). Burial not shown. | Elijah Calvin Purvis Sr. (1905–1969), m. 22 Oct 1921, Chesterfield, SC. |
Thomas Landy McDuffie | 7 Mar 1898, Chesterfield, SC | Died 9 Nov 1973, Huntersville, Mecklenburg Co., NC. Buried 11 Nov 1973, Fairview Memorial Park, Albemarle, Stanly Co., NC. | Evelyn Thomas (1886–1919), m. 18 Mar 1918, Stanly Co., NC. Bessie Mae Teal (1902–1973), m. 28 Nov 1920, Chesterfield, SC. |
William Albert “Albert” Morris. Albert is the thread that ties Fannie to the later generations. He was in Anson County at the time of the 1880 and 1900 censuses and in Chesterfield in 1910, and the family group sheet lists a 1930 census entry as well. He was married twice: first to Susanna Hildreth in 1910, and then, after Susanna’s death in 1924, to Ada Johnson in Stanly County, North Carolina, in 1925. Albert died on 30 April 1944 in Red Springs, North Carolina, and his obituary carried the headline “William A. Morris Rites at Red Springs Today.”
Ada McDuffie. Ada was born on 10 May 1890 in Chesterfield. She was ten years old in 1900, living in Albert’s household in Morven Township. On 22 October 1921 she married Elijah Calvin Purvis Sr. in Chesterfield County; the marriage license lists Elijah as age 16 and his birth year as 1905. As Ada Purvis, she died in November 1977, with her last residence listed as Ruby, Chesterfield County. A family researcher notes that Ada died childless.
Thomas Landy McDuffie. Thomas, who appears as Landon, Landy, and “Thos. L. McDuffy” in different records, was born on 7 March 1898 in Chesterfield. He was about two in 1900 and twelve in 1910, both times in Albert’s household. He was married twice: to Evelyn Thomas on 18 March 1918 in Stanly County, North Carolina (she passed away in 1919), and then to Bessie Mae Teal on 28 November 1920 in Chesterfield. He died on 9 November 1973 in Huntersville and was buried two days later in Albemarle. His North Carolina death certificate (no. 41901) gives his age as 75, his residence as Albemarle, and his parents as Joe McDuffie and Betty McDuffie.
The Joe McDuffie Question
On the family group sheet, Joe McDuffie is listed as the father of the family, but every line for him is blank: no birth, no death, no burial, no marriage, and no parents. No marriage record has been found for Joe McDuffie and Mary Frances Morris, and no other information about Joe has turned up. The only document found that names him as part of this family is Thomas’s death certificate, which lists his father as Joe McDuffie and his mother as Betty McDuffie.
The preparer’s own note puts it honestly: Fannie may have had three children by or with Joe McDuffie, but no proof has been found that they were ever married, and it is even an open question whether there was a Joe McDuffie at all.
Family Puzzles and Research Notes
Fannie’s story is full of open questions. Here are the main ones, along with the theories a fellow family researcher, Martha Rogers, has shared. These are theories, not proven facts.
Who was Albert’s father?
Martha’s family Bible names Albert as the father of her grandmother Lee, The Family Bible was in the possession of Uncle Kelly. A male descendant of Albert Morris has been located and agreed to take the Y111 YDNA Test. Eleven out of 13 matches for the tester have a surname of Timmons. His haplogroup is R-CTS5601. There are no matches in the FTDNA Timmons Surname group. I have changed my working theory to Albert’s father was a Timmons. The tester also shares 228cm of autosomal DNA with my mother which provides more evidence that Albert Morris was the father of Grandmother Lee.
Were Ada and Landon Fannie’s children?
No but William Albert Morris claimed them as children in his obituary.[1]
Was Fannie ever married? Were Ada and Landon Fannie’s children?
No but William Albert Morris claimed them as children in his obituary.[2]
Landon’s DNA clue. Using Ancestry ProTools, I am able to tell that the matches for two granddaughters of Thomas Landon McDuffie and Bessie Mae Teal appear to be matching through Gulledge not through Landon.
Landon’s death certificate says his mother was Betty. His birth certificate says Fannie? Both say his dad is Joe.
Timeline of Fannie’s Life
Date | Event |
25 Jan 1835 | Born in Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, SC. |
1850 | Census: age 15, in the household of Wiley Morris, Chesterfield, SC. |
1860 | Census: age 25, still in Wiley’s household, Chesterfield, SC. |
1861–1865 | Civil War. Union troops pass through the Cheraw area in March 1865. |
1866 | Parents Wiley Morris and Charity Short both pass away (per the family group sheet). |
Feb 1870 or 22 Feb 1871 | Son William Albert Morris born (the sheet shows both dates). |
1880 | Census: head of household in Gulledges, Anson Co., NC, with son Albert, age 9. |
10 May 1890 | Ada McDuffie born in Chesterfield, SC. |
7 Mar 1898 | Thomas Landy McDuffie born in Chesterfield, SC. |
1900 | Census: age 60, living with Albert in Morven Twp, Anson Co., NC, with McDuffie cousins Ada and “Landon.” |
1910 | Census: age 72, in Albert’s household in Court House, Chesterfield, SC. Albert marries Susanna Hildreth. |
22 Feb 1916 | Dies in Chesterfield County, SC, age 81. |
23 Feb 1916 | Buried at Westfield Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. |
Remembering Fannie
There are no letters or diaries from Fannie, and no photograph is mentioned in the records we have. What we do have is a record of more than eight decades: a girl growing up in a Chesterfield household, a woman of 35 with a new baby, a head of household in 1880 with a young son, and then, in her last decades, the senior member of a household that included her son and the McDuffie youngsters. She appears in the records as the one constant while the names around her shift.
Whatever the full story turns out to be, her son Albert lived until 1944 and married twice, and the two McDuffie youngsters who were in his household both went on to marry. Finding out who their parents were, and who Albert’s father was, is the open job for the next researcher. If you have a Bible page, a deed, an obituary, or a DNA match that might shed light on Fannie or on Joe McDuffie, please share it. She has waited a long time for the rest of her story.
Puzzles:
Albert Morris claims Landon and Ada in his obituary as children. Maybe they are just “social” or adopted children.
Landon claims Fannie in his delayed birth certificate as mother. Mary Frances Morris “Fannie” is too old and she says in 1900 she only had one child.
Landon claims Mr. and Mrs. Joe Mcduffie in his obituary as parents. On his death certificate, Betty unknown is listed as mother.
In the 1900 census, Ada and Landon are claimed as cousins to the head of the house (Albert).
Mary Frances "Fannie" Morris is my 2nd Great GrandAunt.
Sources
Find a Grave, memorial #205421615, Mary Frances Morris, Westfield Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
1850 U.S. Census, Chesterfield, Chesterfield Co., SC, p. 180B, dwelling and family 1258, household of Wiley Morris (NARA M432, roll 851).
1860 U.S. Census, Chesterfield Co., SC, p. 128, dwelling 490, family 489, household of Wiley Morris (NARA M653, roll 1217).
1880 U.S. Census, Gulledges, Anson Co., NC, ED 003, p. 361A, household of Mary Morris (NARA T9, roll 951).
1900 U.S. Census, Morven Twp, Anson Co., NC, ED 7, p. 19A/145, household of Albert Morris (NARA T623, roll 1181).
1910 U.S. Census, Court House, Chesterfield Co., SC, ED 36, p. 2B/104, household of Albert Morris (NARA T624, roll 1455).
South Carolina death certificate no. 026885 (vol. 49), Mary F. Morris, 22 Feb 1916, South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
North Carolina death certificate no. 41901, Thomas L. McDuffie, 9 Nov 1973.
South Carolina marriage license, Elijah Purvis and Ada McDuffie, 22 Oct 1921, Chesterfield County.
Social Security Death Index, Ada Purvis (death November 1977).
Find a Grave, memorial #84121777, Thomas Landy McDuffie, Fairview Memorial Park, Albemarle, North Carolina.
Correspondence from Martha Rogers to Charles Purvis (family research theories, cited as theories only).
Family Group Sheet for Joe McDuffie and Mary Frances “Fannie” Morris, 16 October 2026, prepared by Charles Purvis.
1. Newspapers.com - The Robesonian - 1 May 1944 - Page 1.
Prepared by Charles Purvis with suggestions from Martha Rogers using Claude Sonnett 5.5 Medium. CPurvis1@gmail.com |
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