Frances “Fannie” Elizabeth Johnson was
born in Georgia on 19 July 1839 and died in Georgia on the
1st day of December 1865.
In 1860, Fannie Johnson, age 21, was residing in the household
of John
Renwick in Newberry District, South Carolina; her occupation was listed
as school mistress. She was the daughter and oldest child of
William Johnson and Rebecca Callahan.
Children of William
Johnson & Rebecca Callahan:
1. Fannie Elizabeth,
born 19 July 1839, Georgia – 1 Dec 1865, Georgia
2. Mary Isabella,
born 28 Jan 1841, Georgia – 6 Nov 1910, Bonham, Fannin Co., Texas; married Edwin
L. Burton
3. Nannie Rebecca,
born 10 Sept 1844, Georgia – 12 April 1917, Grayson Co., Texas
Robert Gilliam Goree ( ? - 1911) was the son of Redden Goree (1802-1843) and Sarah
"Sallie" Thompson Gilliam (1809-1843) from Newberry District, South Carolina. R.G.
was the only one of his family to migrate to Texas.
Frances "Fannie" Elizabeth Johnson Goree, about 1864
Elizabeth Johnson married Robert
Gilliam Goree in South Carolina
on 22 January 1861. A year and a half later the young couple
had their only child, James William Goree, born 26 June 1862, Georgia.
After Fannie’s death, Robert
Gilliam Goree and his young son, James William, moved to Fannin Co., Texas
by 1870 and then soon after to neighboring Grayson Co., Texas
The oldest
daughter of William Johnson and Rebecca Callahan and sister of Fannie
Johnson Goree, Nannie B. Johnson married 1) Thomas J. Sanford
about 1868.
After being widowed, she married 2) Robert Gilliam Goree, her
widowed brother-in-law, on 28 January 1875 in Grayson Co., Texas
Their children were:
1. Sallie Endora, born January 1876; died October 1876
2. Mary Ophelia, born June 1877; died February 1957
3. Rosadalias D. Goree, born
October 1879, Texas; died November 1920
4. Edgar Goree, born
March 1881, Texas; died May 1966
Robert Gilliam Goree
died in 1911 and is buried with his 2nd
wife, Nannie R. Johnson Goree, who died in 1917, in Virginia Point Cemetery;
this cemetery
is on the Fannin/Grayson County Line.
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James
William Goree and Mary Ella Gowdy, taken on their wedding day 20 Oct 1892
by J.F. Northern Photography in Whitewright, Texas. All of their
children were born in Grayson County, Texas.
J.W.
was a railroad bridge builder and contractor. James and Mary Ella had one
of, if not the first, greenhouses in north Texas; after he and Mary Ella
Gowdy married in 1892, he built her a greenhouse from old church windows
for her to pursue her passion for growing plants and flowers and sharing
them with friends and family. This developed into
a successful greenhouse/florist business that they moved to Paris, Lamar
Co., Texas in 1909.
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Their children were all born in Grayson County:
 Goree Children, 1908
Left to Right : Ruth, age 15; Pearl, age 13; John, age 10; Sarah, age 5, Mabel, age 1
Sallie Porter Gowdy and granddaughter Ruth Goree, d/o
Mary Ella Gowdy Goree & James William Goree, about 1894
(photograph taken by J.F. Northern Photography, Whitewright,
TX)
Ruth
Goree Eubank (1893 - 1986)
LAMAR COUNTY ECHO, 4 Dec 1986
Ruth Goree Eubank, widow of S.J. Eubank, 2464 Cherry
St., died at McCuistion Regional Medical Center at 10:57 p.m. Friday, 29
Nov 1986.
Services were held Monday, 1 Dec, at Evergreen Cemetery
with Dr. George Faison officiating. Fry & Gibbs Funeral Home had charge
of arrangements.
Ruth was born in Whitewright, TX, a daughter of James
William Goree and Mary Ella Gowdy. She attended Paris schools and married
Sira J. Eubank on 6 Jun 1931. She lived in Houston until the death of her
husband when she returned to Paris. She was a member of the Central Presbyterian
Church and the Mary Baker Sunday School Class.
Preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Sira
J. Eubank on 17 Sep 1975; brother, John Robert Goree in 1966.
Surviving are three sisters, Pearl Barnett of Paris,
Sarah Goree of Paris and Mable (Manson) Hutchison of Paris; nephew, James
Hutchison of Rt. #6, Paris; one niece, Sarah Dene Goree of Paris; and several
great nieces and nephews.
Mary Pearl Goree (1895 - 1993)
Pearl Goree, abt 1913
THE PARIS NEWS, 1993
Pearl Barnett, 97, 2464 E Cherry, died Sunday, Aug.
23, at her home.
Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday,
Aug. 24, at Evergreen Cemetery with the Rev. Cline Davis officiating. Fry and
Gibbs Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. The family will be at the home
of Mrs. Barnett.
Mrs. Barnett was born Oct. 18, 1895, in Whitewright,
a daughter of James William and Mary Ella Gowdy Goree. She attended schools in
Paris and was a member of Central Presbyterian Church. She married Frank Barnett
in 1923. He died Dec. 19, 1951. She was a longtime partner with the former Goree
Greenhouses of Paris.
Surviving are two nephews, James Hutchison of Paris
and Charles Joiner of Leonard; one niece, Sarah Dene Goree of Paris; and a
number of great nieces and nephews.
John R. Goree, 1918
John
Robert Goree (1898 - 1966)
THE PARIS NEWS, 15 Nov 1966
John Robert Goree, 68, member of a family of longtime
Paris florists, died Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. at McCuistion Hospital after
three years of ill health. He lived at 262 25th NE.
Services are set for Thursday at 2:00 p.m. and will
be conducted at Fry & Gibbs Chapel by Jack Grant of Lamar Avenue Church
of Christ. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery.
Son of the late James W. Goree and Mary Ella Gowdy,
John was born at Whitewright, 29 Mar 1898, but had lived here since the
family moved to Paris in 1904. He married Miss Laura Parchman of Deport,
11 Jul 1923.
Associated with the family florist and greenhouse
business until it was disposed of a few years ago, he had since then operated
his own business. He was a Presbyterian.
Survivors include his wife, Laura; daughter, Sarah
Dene Goree, a city school teacher in Wichita Falls; four sisters, Mrs.
Ruth (S.J.) Eubank of Houston, Mrs. Pearl (Frank) Barnett of Paris, Miss
Sarah Goree and Mrs. Mable (Manson) Hutchison of Paris; nephew, James Hutchison
of Rt. #6, Paris.
Sarah
William Goree (1903 - 1989) – buried next to her brother
LAMAR COUNTY ECHO, 16 Oct 1989
Sarah Goree, 2464 E. Cherry, died at McCuistion Medical
Center at 11:20 p.m. Sunday, 15 Oct 1989.
Graveside services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday,
17 Oct, at Evergreen Cemetery with the Rev. Cline Davis officiating. Fry
& Gibbs Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.
The family will receive friends at the Goree home.
Sarah was born in Whitewright, a daughter of James
William Goree and Mary Ella Gowdy. She was a longtime florist here. She
attended Paris schools and worked at Goree's Greenhouse until the business
was sold and she retired.
She was a member of Central Presbyterian Church and
its Anchor Sunday School Class and a member of Circle III of the Presbyterian
Women. She was a former member of the Paris Business and Professional Women's
Club and was a member of FTD for a number of years.
Surviving are two sisters, Pearl Barnett of Paris
and Mable (Manson) Hutchison of Paris; one nephew, James Hutchison of Rt.#6,
Paris; one niece, Sarah Dene Goree of Paris; a great-nephew and two great-nieces.
Mable Fender Goree Hutchison (1907 - 1993), grandmother of Jan West
THE PARIS NEWS, Wednesday, April 7, 1993
pg. 16A
"...85,
2485 E. Cherry, died Tuesday, April 6, at McCuistion Regional Medical
Center. Fry & Gibbs Funeral Home to conduct graveside
services at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 8, with Rev. Cline Davis
officiating.
Born in Whitewright, a daughter of James William
& Mary Ella Gowdy Goree, she married Manson Hutchison Sept. 25,
1925. She was a partner in the family business, the former Goree
Greenhouses and was a member of Central Prebysterian Church.
Survivng
are her husband; a son James Hutchison, Rt. 6, Paris; three
grandchildren, Ray Hutchison of Paris, Jan West of Ft. Worth, and Jerri
Attanasio of Knoxville, Tennessee; four great-grandchildren; a sister
Pearl Barnett of Paris."
Mary
Ella Gowdy Goree died about 50 years after her husband’s death at the age
of 87. She was buried next to him in Evergreen Cemetery, Paris, Lamar County,
Texas.
THE PARIS NEWS, 17 Aug 1961
Funeral services for Mrs. James W. Goree, prominent
Paris florist and member of a pioneer Grayson County family, will be held
at 2:00 p.m. Saturday at Fry & Gibbs Chapel, with the Rev. Melville
D. Nesbit officiating. Interment will be in Evergreen Cemetery.
Mrs. Goree, 87, died Thursday at 10:45 a.m. at the
Sanitarium of Paris, where she had been a patient for several weeks. She
had been a florist here for nearly 60 years.
Mary Ella was born 26 Oct 1873, at Whitewright, Texas,
where her parents, John Gowdy and Sallie Porter, had settled after coming
to Texas. The Gowdys gave part of the land to build the town of Whitewright.
The former Mary Ella Gowdy married James W. Goree
on 20 Oct 1892 at Whitewright. She had attended public schools there and
also Grayson College.
Before coming to Paris in 1904, Mr. & Mrs. Goree
had been in the flower business in Whitewright. Prior to that, growing
flowers had been a hobby for Mrs. Goree. Their first greenhouse was built
out of windows salvaged from an old church.
They opened their uptown store on Lamar Avenue in
1916. Mrs. Goree became manager when her husband died in 1917. The Goree
greenhouses have been very successful. Goree flowers have been presented
to two Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft; and other
prominent persons, such as William Jennings Bryan and Philip Sousa. The
greenhouses have always been a family affair.
Collecting paper weights was a favorite hobby of Mrs.
Goree. She had more than 200. She was a member of the Central Presbyterian
Church, the Chamber of Commerce, and several florist associations.
She was ever thoughtful and generous of her friends
and numerous organizations in Paris.
She gave flowers for many public affairs and charities,
and to hospitals for distribution among the ill. On Easter, Mother's Day
and Christmas many elder persons, shut-ins and the hospitals were remembered.
Survivors include her children, Mrs. Ruth Eubank of
Houston, John Goree, Mrs. Pearl Barnett, Mrs. Mable Hutchison and Miss
Sarah Goree, all of Paris; grandchildren, James Hutchison and Saradene
Goree; 3 great-grandchildren, Ray, Jan and Jerry Hutchison.
James
William Goree’s house & green house in Whitewright, Grayson County,
Texas, This postcard was one of many inherited
by James William Goree’s daughter, Ruth Elizabeth Goree Eubank. The
photograph above is of the Goree house, taken before December 1909, when they
moved to Paris, Texas.
Below is a picture of the Goree greenhouse in Whitewright, Grayson County.
Seated left, Mabel F. Goree Hutchison and seated right, Mary Ella Gowdy Goree
Standing left, Mary Pearl Goree Barnett and standing right, Sarah W. Goree
photo taken 1961
| J.W.
died of a stroke in 1917 when he was only 55. James’
death certificate states that his funeral was held at the family residence,
east of town (Paris) on 15 Aug 1917. His occupation
was that of “florist”. Burial was held at Evergreen
Cemetery in Paris, Lamar County, Texas.
Cost
of funeral:
Casket size 6/3: $125.00
Embalming: $25.00
Hearse: $10.00
7 Autos: $35.00
Coach: $5.00
Flower Car: $3.00
Open grave: $5.00
Total: $208.00
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Grayson
County TXGenWeb
