Frank Sexton Pratt

Notes:

It appears he may have remarried. Check for marriage/s and dates.

Drayton married Mary Benena J. Low. Mary (daughter of James Low, M. D. and Susan A. Green Speights) was born on 21 Sep 1848 in Texas; died on 17 Sep 1900; was buried in Speights Cemetery, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

On the 1900 census, a widowed Eliza Pratt was living with her son, Hampton Pratt. She was born circa 1838. Is Eliza the same person as Mary Benena Low?

Notes:

He moved to Hemphill after the Civil War, and he and J.H. Speights were in business together. Hampton operated a store and a saloon. His two-story home was located where Perry Brothers store now is. He owned the east half of the square. He came to Hemphill with all his wordly goods tied to a kerchief at the end of a stick across his shoulder, and died a wealthy man (White and Toole, p 80).

The first family member to settle in Saing County, (he) was one of the earliest volunteers in "Cotton's Southrons' First Unit, Hood's Brigade. This brigade was one of the hardest fighting, most famous units in the Civil War. (Sabine County Reporter, October 22, 2003, Page 1 article titled "Civil War reenactment set on November Event planned at Pratt House in Hemphill.")

Hampton married Mary Lucinda Potts on 1 Jan 1846. Mary was born on 29 Feb 1828 in Alabama; died on 24 Mar 1908 in Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Parents born in Ireland per census.

James married Susan A. Green Speights in 1848 in Sabine County, Texas. Susan (daughter of William Myrick Speights and Rebecca Hopkins) was born on 7 Aug 1826; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

White and Toole show him as a son of Richard Pratt (1765-1822) and Rebecca Beavers (1770-1847).

Hopkins married Sarah Dickerson. Sarah was born before 1811; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Might instead have been born in South Carolina.

From FindAGrave:

"William and a brother, probably Asa, signed on a note for yet another brother, when he could not pay the note, William and Asa were unwilling to pay the note so to protect their assets, they left the state in the middle of the night, crossing the Mississippi River family and slaves.

William was suffering from yellow fever, and died in the river crossing and was buried on the banks of the river. His new widow, Rebecca Hopkins Speights continued the journey to Texas and settled in Sabine County in 1843...

William married Rebecca Hopkins on 17 Dec 1817 in Virginia. Rebecca was born about 1796 in South Carolina; died on 4 Oct 1857 in Texas; was buried in Speights Cemetery, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Per "1850 Census Sabine County, Texas with added Family Information and Corrections", Rebecca Hopkins Speights owned 20 slaves. She might instead have been born in North Carolina, or Virginia.

On April 27, 2013, a Historic Marker was dedicated at the Speights-Pratt Cemetery in Sabine County and reads "Rebecca Hopkins Speights (b. 1796) arrived in Sabine County in 1842 as a widow with four sons and a daughter*. She owned about 250 acres including this site, which became a cemetery with her burial in 1857. Sited near the Speights' home, the cemetery was actually on land granted to Mathew Arnold Parker, a Texas Revolutionary veteran and First Chief Justice (County Judge) of Sabine County. Joshua M. Hopkins Speights, buried here, was a State Legislator and County Judge. he and Hampton Pratt were among the first merchants in Hemphill. Of fifty-one marked graves, more than half bear the Speights surname. An unknown number of unmarked graves include Speights family slaves. The Speights-Pratt Cemetery Association manages this historic burial ground. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2010."

*Most family descendants instead have attributed four daugthers to Rebecca, the eldest Susan, dying as an infant. The other daughters generally are shown as Susan Green Speights Low, the wife of Dr. James Low; Amands Melvina Speights, who died at age 14; and Mary A. F. C. Speights Caraway, wife of Nathaniel Caraway. More work should be done to verify the exact family makeup, and ensure which children commonly attributed to William Speights and Rebecca Hopkins were actually born to them. It may also be possible that the historical marker is incorrect, though that seems less likely.