(1844-1919)
« return to database listElizabeth Frances (sometimes seen in research as Frances Elizabeth), known as Fannie, was the daughter and oldest child of a wealthy Person County planter. According to a 1965 letter from her granddaughter, Bessie D. Beam to historian Mary Claire Engstrom, Fannie and her sister Virginia both attended the Burwell Female School for a brief time around 1856 and 1857. Fannie would have been around 12 years old, and her sister Virginia only 7 or 8.
Fannie married Stephen Glenn in 1867 at the age of 23 following the Civil War, and in the 1880 census (after 13 years of marriage) they were listed as having five children: Minnie E., Ira T., Myrtle, John A., and Mable C. In the 1910 census, two additional children are shown – Mary A. (then age 27) and James A. (then age 26) – and Francis [sic] is shown as a widow and head of the family. Fannie’s husband Stephen died in 1889.
ELIZABETH FRANCES "FANNIE" LUNSFORD (Updated March 2018 by a BSHS Researcher)
Elizabeth Frances was listed on some census records as Elizabeth F, others as Fannie. On her gravestone, she is shown as Fannie E. On her mother’s gravestone, Fannie is listed among her mother’s children as Elizabeth Frances. In a letter to researcher and historian Mary Claire Engstrom, Fannie’s granddaughter, Bessie D. Beam, said “My grandmother, Frances Elizabeth Lunsford was a student [at the Burwell Female School] about 1856-1857 or maybe earlier.”
In spite of the various ways her name has been recorded, we can presume that Fannie’s given name is correctly “Elizabeth Frances,” because:
1) Fannie’s mother’s gravestone (showing “Elizabeth Frances”) was likely created while Fannie was still alive, and
2) As the oldest child and one who lived in the same county where the mother died, Fannie herself was likely involved in the creation of that gravestone.
Mrs. Beam’s letter goes on to say, “From the dates in her Remembrance Album it seems most of the dates [her grandmother was] there were 1856. She married Stephen W. Glenn in 1867. Her sister, Virginia Lunsford was also a student there, but moved to Texas soon after that and Married a Mr. Bumpass.”
In 2008, Burwell researchers met with Kent Williams, a local history enthusiast and lifelong resident of Person County who is familiar with many Person County families. On that 2008 visit to the area, Mr. Williams located Fannie’s gravestone and that of her husband Stephen on Glenn family property on State Road 49 southwest of Roxboro in Person County. Mr. Williams took photographs of both gravestones, which are in our files. On the same visit, Mr. Williams also found the dilapidated remains of Fannie and Stephen’s farmhouse where they lived as a married couple (photos also in our files).
SOURCES
NC Standard Certificate of Death for Fannie Glenn (copy in Burwell files)
Letter from Bessie Beam to Mrs. Alfred G. Engstrom (copy in Burwell School files). Mrs. Beam was Bessie Glenn Daniel Beam, the daughter of Fannie’s daughter Myrtle Glenn Daniel.
The Book of Burwell Students, by Mary Claire Engstrom, 2007
US Census records
Notes on visit to Person County written by Burwell researcher Kathleen Faherty, 2008
familysearch.org
Family genealogical records generously shared by Sue Howard Wilkerson, great granddaughter of Burwell student Virginia Elmira Lunsford Bumpass and great, great niece of Burwell student Elizabeth Frances “Fannie” Lunsford Glenn).
Elizabeth was called Fannie.
Elizabeth Frances Lunsford was born on February 11, 1844, in Roxboro, Person County, NC, USA. She died on May 17, 1919.
and Rebecca Ella Lunsford (b. 1858).