Written by historian Susanne Starling
Frances and her first husband, Billy Frank Godfrey
Frances Raney Godfrey Murrah, age 92, is one of the oldest living descendants of Texas pioneer surveyor Warren A. Ferris. She is the great granddaughter of Ferris’s son, Robert “Bob” Ferris.
Frances’s mother Sadie Mae Uselton Raney was the daughter of Pearl Ferris and Robert Uselton. After her mother’s early death, Sadie, her sister Ethel, and the other children were raised by her mother’s sister, Mattie Ferris, who became Uselton’s second wife. “Aunt Mattie” was much beloved by her pack of step-children.
Robert E. Uselton (1880-1961) &
Laura Pearl Ferris Uselton (1881-1916)
Parents of Sadie Mae and Ethel
The Ferris and Uselton families lived and farmed near Euless, Texas in Tarrant County. Bob Ferris was the only one of Warren Ferris’s children to remain in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Frances described the location of the family farm and sketched a map showing the nearby school, store, and cemetery. Calloway Cemetery in eastern Tarrant County is the burial site for many Ferris, Uselton, and Fuller family members, including Frances’s grandparents and Bob Ferris (1856-1906) and his wife Texana O. Stanford Ferris (1858-1893). Another of Warren Ferris’s sons, Edward P. Ferris (1861-1884) is also buried there. One of Bob Ferris’s sons, Henry F. Ferris was postmaster of Euless in 1904.
Sadie and her husband Albert Raney moved to Dallas where they lived on Cameron Ave. in East Dallas. Sadie and her married sister Ethel Fuller worked as seamstresses at the Haggar Pants factory in downtown Dallas. Their children all attended Crozier Tech high school.
Sadie Mae Uselton Raney with daughters Frances and Betty
Albert Raney with daughters Betty and France
During the Depression, France’s father built a portable photography studio which could easily be dismantled and reassembled. In the front room, Sadie took the picture, cut the film, and passed it to Frances in the darkroom. Frances, only a child at the time, developed the film then passed the photo to Betty who delivered it to the customer. The family travelled to carnivals and fairs, including the Texas State Fair, when they were not in school. Albert Raney was not a good provider, so Sadie and her kids often lived with Ethel and her children. It was the women who kept the family going.
As an adult, Frances married Billy Frank Godfrey and had four children: Susan, Rebecca, Billy Frank “Biff”, and Patrick. The children of Frances Godfrey and her sister Betty McKool grew up together and shared a deep bond; the cousins were more like siblings because the families were so close and depended on one another so much.
Frances was office manager for Dallas lawyer, Mike McKool, Sr. who was married to her sister Betty. McKool was elected Texas State Senator and through him Frances met Ann Richards and other political figures. A highlight of Frances’s career was living in Washington, D.C. in the 1970’s and working as office manager for Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas. When Bentsen was named Secretary of the Treasury, Frances continued to manage his office. She retired in 1993.
Frances and daughter Susan
Descendants of Robert Uselton: Front row, left to right - Sadie Mae Uselton Raney, Robert E. Uselton, Ethel Uselton Fuller
Back row, left to right - Elmo Uselton, Furman Uselton (1904-1965), Robert’s second wife Aunt Mattie Ferris Uselton (1891-1967), Henry Uselton (1899-1983), Ernest Uselton (1910-1970)
After such a long, active life, Frances now lives at a residential retirement home in North Dallas. She recalls attending a Ferris family reunion at the Dallas Public Library in the 1960’s where relatives from Oklahoma and West Texas met Ferris descendants in Dallas. Frances shared her vivid memories with her daughter Susan Froehlich and interviewer Susanne Starling on November 18, 2019.
The Cousins Part II
At age 99, Francille Fuller Hejl is the oldest Ferris descendant we know. Still very alert and articulate, Francille (born in 1921) and her younger sister Linda Fuller Neeley (born in 1941) related stories about their mother Ethel Uselton Fuller at Ethel’s cozy home in Lochwood where Francille now resides. (interview conducted by Susanne Starling, Jan. 27, 2020)
Eithel Uselton Fuller (1901 - 1994), photo by Molly McKool
Ethel and her younger sister Sadie were Ferris descendants through their grandfather Robert E. Ferris, son of Warren A. Ferris. Robert “Bob” Ferris owned a farm in northeast Tarrant County south of Euless, Texas. His daughter Pearl Ferris married Robert Uselton and had several children, including Ethel and Sadie. When Pearl died at an early age, her husband married Pearl’s sister, Mattie Ferris, who lovingly raised the children. Ethel was 15 when her mother died.
Francille and sister Linda
Ethel and her husband Cecil C. Fuller moved to Dallas from Tarrant County in 1923. Ethel, a talented seamstress, got a job at Haggar Pants factory while her husband worked at the Ford Motor plant on East Grand. They lived on Fairview and later Beeman streets so near the plant that you could hear the riveters. Soon Ethel encouraged her sister Sadie and her family to leave the farm and come to the big city. Sadie too got a job sewing for Haggar. Sadie’s bad marriage to Albert Raney made her the family breadwinner. She and her children relied on relatives, especially Ethel, for help. The two families lived near one another on Cameron Ave. in East Dallas. All the children, except Linda, attended Crozier Tech.
Ethel Fuller (1901-1994) was a strong, smart woman, a born organizer and leader. She encouraged many relatives and friends who “lived out at Tarrant” to move to Dallas for work. Ethel told them “move to Dallas, stay with us, we’ll help you get jobs.” She loved her relatives and was generous in her help to each of them. Her children, Jewel, Francille, Jesse, Bill, and Linda, and Sadie’s daughters, Frances and Betty, although only cousins were as close as brothers and sisters.
Francille learned to operate a comptometer machine and went to work for Sears on South Lamar Street. She married Johnny Hejl who worked for Western Auto and they had one son, Jay Fuller Hejl. Francille has outlived both her husband and son. Her sister Linda met her husband, Dallas Neeley, at Woodrow Wilson High School. Their children, Dallas Jr. and Lisa Lee, still live in Dallas.
Ethel made sure that her children knew about their famous ancestor Warren A. Ferris. Linda recalls driving to Anadarko, Oklahoma with Ethel and Lucy Mae Pounds Smith in 1956 to visit Ferris relatives (descendants of James “Jim” Ferris, eldest son of Warren Ferris) who held a large family reunion in a city park. When Lucy Mae organized an exhibit to celebrate Warren Ferris at the Dallas Public Library in 1962, Ethel, Francille, Frances and many Ferris relatives attended. It was the largest Ferris reunion ever held in Texas. Ethel led the way in the effort to protect the Ferris Cemetery in 1985, writing a letter to the City of Dallas protesting the neglect of the historic site. Today her children and grandchildren are enthusiastic supporters of the Friends of the Warren Ferris Cemetery.
“The cousins”, descendants of Robert E. Ferris, are still closely knit. A tradition of close families held together by strong women is the inheritance of the current generation.
1962 Ferris Reunion at Dallas Public Library:
Front row, left to right - Francille Hejl, Lavinia
Second row, right to left - Betty Ann McKool, Carol Rae Uselton Lenhart, Frances Godfrey Murrah
1962 Ferris Reunion at Dallas Public Library: Front row middle - Jessie Ferris Cannon, next to end on right “Aunt Pete” Ferris Arnette
Second row, right to left, Furman Uselton, Lucy Mae Pounds Smith (beehive hairdo), Ross Ferris and Jack Ferris (tall in dark suit)
Ferris Children at the 1962 Reunion,
Dallas Public Library
Kids - Back row, left to right - Jack Ferris, Aunt Jessie
Back row of children, left to right - Jay Fuller Hejl, “Biff” Billy Frank Godfrey, Jr., Mike McKool, Jr., Molly McKool, Rebecca Godfrey
Front row. left to right - Mitzi McKool, Matt McKool, Susan Godfrey, Patrick Godfrey
Baby?
Oklahoma Ferris boys holding Warren Ferris watch and surveyors chain