Brief History - Fleenor

John Morgan Fleenor, (father of Belva Mae) was born 23 March 1864 and died February 1918. He married Mary Jane Mise on 7 May 1885.  She was born on 15 February 1866 and died February 1932.  Mary's death certificate is recorded at Hunt County Court House in Greenville, Texas.  Her mother and father were L. and Lucinda Mise.  She was born in Tennesse (Mary). They were married in Virginia (probably at home) by a Camelite Minister by the name of J.C. Hall. They farmed the land near Clinton and a community near Commerce, Texas known as Smith Chapel.

They moved to Texas around 1900 as all but four of their children were born in Virginia (should be Kentucky?).  They were on the 1900 Hunt County Texas census.  He had a grocery store and then went to school to become a watch repairer.  He thought it was bad for his health so they moved to Texas.  The community of Smith Chapel was also known as Smith Prairie. They bought the home place in Campbell, Texas.

He was injured while scooping corn when the horses moved and threw him out of the wagon.  He had an abscess on his head which turned black.  Even the best of doctors did not know what the trouble was or how to treat it.  He lived on the farm until his death.  After his death, Mary and the girls ran the farm till she got in poor health. She died suddenly while getting ready for bed one night.  My mother remembers the night she died, even though she was young, because they came to their house and then walked to the house where Mary Jane had died.  She remembers they used a door to put her body on. She had her funeral dress on by the time they had got there. She remembers so well because they walked in the dark for about two miles.  She was only seven at the time.  Her exact date of death according to the death certificate is 6 February 1932.

Mike Massey