Typed by: Jan Shelfer

FANNIN, WARREN OSCAR

 

Surnames: FANNIN, CAMPBELL, VARNADO, DAVIS, HUNNICUTT, COBB, SWINNEA, HOLLOWAY, MAXWELL, TOMLINSON, LOPER, TOWERS, SMITH

     Warren Oscar Fannin, b. July 7, 1860 in Copiah County, Mississippi, d. June 1, 1932 at Stranger, Falls County, Texas and buried there in Stranger Cemetery, had resided in that community since 1875 when his mother and two brothers moved from Mississippi to Texas-a son of James O. and Sarah ("Sallie" Campbell) Fannin. Warren was only two years old when his father died in the Civil War, and fifteen years old when the widowed mother moved her family to Texas.

     In 1885, Warren Oscar Fannin returned to Mississippi, where he married December 17, 1885 to Sarah Varnado, b. August 16, 1869 in Copiah County, Mississippi, d. January 14, 1950 at Stranger and buried by her husband in Stranger Cemetery - a daughter of Charles and Rebecca Jane (Davis) Varnado, and a sister of Cornelius Willington Varnado and William Howell Varnado who also settled with their families in the Stranger Community. Her older sister, Rosella S. Varnado, also had moved to the Stranger-Blue Ridge area when she married Robert Smith Hunnicutt. Sarah Varnado (called "Sallie") and her brothers and sister were first cousins of the wife of Warren Oscar Fannin's brother, William Thomas Fannin - and the mothers of the Varnados were twin sisters who had married brothers (Howell Varnado had married Assenith Elizabeth Davis; his brother, Charles Varnado, had married her twin sister Rebecca Jane Davis).

     Warren and Sallie returned to Falls County from Mississippi to establish their home-traveling via New Orleans, Louisiana, where they had to cross the Mississippi River by ferry. They had ten children - all born in Stranger:

     Lillis Ruby Fannin, b. December 31, 1886, d. 1961 - married a Mr. Cobb.

     John Elton Cornelius Fannin, b. December 8, 1888, d. December 22, 1905 and buried in Stranger Cemetery.

     Infant Fannin, b. & d. 1890 and buried in Stranger Cemetery.

     James Durrett Fannin, b. October 19, 1891, d. December 19, 1916 - was not married; was a Woodman of the World, and was buried in Stranger Cemetery.

     Rebecca Thora Fannin, b. March 18, 1894 - no further information.

     Fred Baker Fannin, b. December 12, 1895, d. December 5, 1971 - married Lela Mae (maiden name unknown), b. February 16, 1896, d. July 23, 1963 and buried in Stranger Cemetery.

     Mary Ellen Fannin, b. August 18, 1898 at Stranger, d. May 25, 1986 at Kerrville, Texas and buried there -married first to Floyd E. Swinnea, b. April 1887 in Tennessee - a son of James Richard and Susan C. (Holloway) Swinnea, and had Lola Margareet Swinnea who married J. C. Maxwell and resides in Hobbs, New Mexico, Beulah Swinnea, and twins, Floyd and Florene Swinnea. Mary Ellen married second to Frank Tomlinson, who worked for Exxon Oil Company. After his death, Mary Ellen moved to New Mexico, where she lived with her daughter, Lola Margareet (Swinnea) Maxwell, until she was moved into a nursing in Kerrville, where she died.

     Belva Lockwood Fannin, b. May 27, 1902, is deceased - married a Mr. Loper.

     William Warren Fannin (called "Bill"), b. April 25, 1904, resides in Marlin, Texas in 1986 - married Juanita Towers, b. November 18, 1907, d. February 24, 1985 - a daughter of Juniou Elbert and Mae Sue (Smith) Towers.

     Mamie Lucille Fannin, B. November 11, 1906 at Stranger, d. May 1, 1907 and buried in Stranger Cemetery.

     Warren Oscar Fannin was a "modern-day computer" in math. He could figure his cotton weights and value in a split second, although the Civil War prevented his having any formal education in Mississippi. Some of his grandchildren inherited his aptitude in mathematics and educational ability. Warren Oscar and Sarah (Varnado) Fannin were members of the Baptist denomination, and their membership was in Stranger Baptist Church.

     Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing these bio of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County," compiled and edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 143, column 2.

     Member of Falls County Historical Commission