Pet Franks (abt. 1856 - abt. 1941)

Born about 1856 in Mississippi, United States

Husband of Dora (Brewer) Franks — married 4 Jan 1875 in Monroe County, Mississippi, United States

Died about 1941 at about age 85 in Monroe County, Mississippi, United States [uncertain]

Biography

Pet Franks is a part of US Black heritage.

Pet Franks and his wife Dora were both interviewed as part of the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Much of the information in this profile comes from these interviews.^[1][2][3]

Pet Franks was born about 1856, near Bartley's Ferry, which was likely in Monroe County, Mississippi, United States of America. His parents were Martin and Martha Franks. The were enslaved, by Tom Franks of West Point before Pet's birth, by Harry Allen at the time of Pet's birth, and later by Jimmy Tatum after he married Harry Allen's widow.^[1]

Pet fondly recalled playing on the docks in Bartley's Ferry as a child. His parents had a hotel there on the river. When Pet was old enough to start working, he worked mostly around the lot, but sometimes in the fields.^[1]

When the American Civil War broke out, Pet went with "de Marster" (Tatum?) to Corinth where he mostly cared for the wounded. When they moved camp, Pet was sent back home, where he tended cattle. At one point, about 100 "Yankees" came and took about half of the cattle.^[1]

After the war, Pet moved around a lot. While working on the Cox place, Pet met Dora Brewer and they married on 4 Jan 1875.^[4] They had eight children,^[2] including:

• Joe Franks (b.1876)
• Lucien Franks (b.1878)
• Dee Franks (b. 1880
• Franklin Franks b.1884)
• Carrie Franks (b.1886)
• Nannie Franks (b.1897)

After their marriage, they lived for a time near Hamilton, Monroe County, Mississippi on the Troup place. Both Dora and Pet remembered a lot of Ku Klux Klan activity in the area there.^[2][1]

When Dora and Pet were interviewed by the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration in about 1937, Dora said that they hadn't gotten along well and had been separated for about 23 years (since about 1914).^[2] At the time of the interview, Dora was living in town in Aberdeen with their daughter Nanny and Pet was living 14 miles north of Aberdeen at Ackers' Fishing Lodge where he was employed as the cook.^[1]

Pet probably died in 1941.^[5]

Research Notes

• Birth date: The birth dates given on Pet's census records vary widely, from 1844 to 1868. Given that Pet married in 1875, he was probably born in 1857 or earlier. His earliest record with a birth date, the 1880 census, gives an estimated birth date of 1856, so that seems a reasonable choice for the most likely birth date.

Slave Owners

• Henry W Allen (abt.1813-abt.1855)
• James D. Tatum

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} The Federal Writers' Project, Slave Narratives; A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, Vol. 9, Mississippi, p. 56-60, Pet Franks narrative, Washington, District of Columbia : The Library of Congress, 1941; image copy, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.090/?sp=60 : accessed 26 Oct 2021).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} The Federal Writers' Project, Slave Narratives; A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, Vol. 9, Mississippi, p. 49-55, Dora Franks narrative, Washington, District of Columbia : The Library of Congress, 1941; image copy, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.090/?sp=53 : accessed 26 Oct 2021).
3. ↑ Between 1936 and 1938 approximately 2,300 former slaves were interviewed as part of the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The results are presented in narrative form, most, allegedly, in the first person, and made available by the Library of Congress. Please be aware that this project took place in the Jim Crow Era and some scholars believe that the narratives themselves may be, in part, adulterated. You may find that in the narratives many of the freedmen actually have praise for the institution of slavery and/or their slave holders. The vernacular in which the narratives are written can be cringe inducing and are most certainly contrived. Their value is that many of the narratives include names of relatives and slave holders, dates, places, and other genealogically important information.
4. ↑ Mississippi, Monroe County, Marriage Records, 1867-1875 Vol. 4, p. 450, Pet Franks and Dora Brewer, 4 Jan 1875; image copy, "[Monroe County, Mississippi] Marriage records, 1821-1825, 1834-1918," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BJ-839B-C?i=659 : accessed 26 Oct 2021).
5. ↑ Full death certificate should be examined to better determine if this record corresponds to this Pet Franks.
   Mississippi Death Index, 1941, Pat Franks; image copy, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/Mississippi_Death_Index_1941_lighter_version/page/n30/mode/1up : accessed 26 Oct 2021). Note: Given information from the Coogan Research Group, the codes in the index give the following information: Name: Pat Franks, Death County: Monroe, Color: non-white, Death Certificate Number: 21923.

• "United States Census, 1880," ED 129, Beat 3, Monroe County, Mississippi, USA; sheet 106A, family 475, dwelling 356, lines 34-38, Pettit Franks household; 23 Jun 1880; NARA microfilm T9, Roll 658; image at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4G5-4B7
• "United States Census, 1900," ED 73, Beat 3 Ross Mill Precinct, Monroe County, Mississippi, USA; sheet 14A, family 312, dwelling 292, lines 7-12, Peter Franks household; 20 Jun 1900; NARA microfilm T623, roll 821; image at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9XK-LPR
• "United States Census, 1910," ED 64, Hamilton, Monroe County, Mississippi, USA; sheet 5A, family 79, dwelling 79, lines 43-50, Pet Franks in Henry Harris household; 25 Apr 1910; NARA microfilm T624, roll 752; image at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPD4-8MC
• "United States Census, 1920", ED 68, Beat 4, Ward 4, Aberdeen, Monroe County, Mississippi, USA; sheet 5A, family 93, dwelling 89, lines 24-30, Peter Franks household; 29 Jan 1920; NARA microfilm T625, roll 887; image at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNT9-TV8
• "United States Census, 1940," ED 48-24, Beat 4, Monroe, Mississippi, USA; sheet 5B, family 94, line 69, Pet Frank household; 10 Apr 1940; NARA microfilm T627, roll 2050; image at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBSJ-57J