Clayton Marshall Briggs
Clayton Marshall Briggs, b May 7, 1894 in Kosse, Limestone County, Texas, d October 4, 1925 in McClanahan, Falls County, Texas and buried in McClanahan Cemetery - was a son of Benjamin Franklin Briggs and his first wife, Lottie Lela (Godfrey) Briggs; and a grandson of Lee Marshall and Mary Ann (Williams) Briggs and Lott Leguin and Nancy ("Nannie" Roark) Godfrey.On December 29, 1913 in the McClanahan Baptist Church in Falls County, Texas, Clayton was married to Etta Mae Saxon, b December 20, 1894 in Falls County, Texas, d March 30, 1976 and buried in Mc-Clanahan Cemetery - a daughter of Joshua and Emma S. (Varnado) Saxon - natives of Mississippi who settled in Falls County in 1883; and a granddaughter of Marcus and Emma (Price) Saxon and Charles and Rebecca Jane (Davis) Varnado - all of Mississippi. Clayton worked with his father as a farmer and cattleman; and he and Etta Mae were members of McClanahan Baptist Church. Her brother, Reverend Charles E. Saxon - a Baptist minister - had performed their marriage ceremony.
Clayton and Etta Mae (Saxon) Briggs had three children before his death:
Joshua Benjamin Briggs, b May 24, 1915, d May 16, 1922 when the Brazos River Bridge collapsed during a bad flood - killing six people. Joshua had accompanied his father to the bridge, where Clayton was assisting the emergency crew in trying to save the victims. Joseph was swept down the river, and his body was found a week later near Bryan, Texas. He was buried in McClanahan Cemetery.
Lottie Loraine Briggs, b ca 1918 in McClanahan, Falls County, Texas - married December 29, 1940 in Falls County to Robert Lee Pharis - a son of William T. and Lola Eugenia (Goode) Pharis. Robert and Lottie had two daughters, Susanne Pharis, and Mary Kay Pharis.
Jacqueline Briggs, b September 11, 1925, was only three weeks old when her father died. On December 27, 1947, she married William Earl Shelton, b April 29, 1921, and they had Carol Claire Shelton, and William Earl Shelton, Jr. After Clayton's death, Etta Mae married second on April 20, 1935 in Falls County, Texas to Frank John Stewart, b June 4, 1872 in Chicago, Illinois, d March 30, 1947 and buried in McClanahan Cemetery. He came to Falls County in 1934 - retired as a Railroad Bridge Foreman for Missouri-Pacific Railroad, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Some biographies from "Families of Falls County", compiled and edited by the Falls County Historical Commission.
Permission granted to Theresa Carhart by the Falls County Historical Commission, for use on this page.
