Frances “Fanny” James
b. 20 July 1833, Rush County, Indiana, to Elisha and Frances (Herndon) James, Sr.
d. 31 March 1925, Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois
m. 17 October 1850, Sangamon County, Illinois
Morris Turley Robertson
b. February 1829, near Cantrall, Sangamon County, Illinois
d. September 1905, Sangamon County, Illinois
Children with Morris Turley Robertson:
- Francis (1852–1896)
- Oscar (1856–1935)
- Ida (1859–1937)
- Fannie (1862–1953)
- Morris Turley, Jr. (1864–1954)
- Millison (b. 1867)
- Maude (1871–1929)
- Elizabeth (1874–1941)
Frances left Rush County, Indiana, with her mother after her father’s death in October 1841 and before the 1850 census. In Springfield, Illinois, Fanny would make deliveries for her mother, who was a seamstress. She also attended a private school directed by Professor Beaumont Park.
Just before her death at age 91, Fanny was still an energetic and active, petite little woman. Five years prior to her death, she visited her two sons in Mississippi, making the trip alone, handling her own luggage, and making the necessary arrangements and changes.
Fanny, who was a first cousin of William Henry Herndon, a law partner of Abraham Lincoln, witnessed the first burial at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, where Lincoln, William Henry Herndon, and Frances Herndon James, Fanny’s mother, are all buried.
Submitted by:
Sharon Hohimer
Chatham IL