Featured Family Thursday: Hiram Brinlee and Susan Elizabeth Smith

Hiram Carroll “Dink” Brinlee Jr.
b. Sep 1844, Red River County, Texas
d. 20 Jan 1920, Collin County, Texas
& Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith
b. 4 Apr 1868, Tennessee
d. 29 Jul 1958, Plano, Collin Co., Texas
m. 3 Dec 1891, White Bead Hill, Chickasaw Nation, OK
|--Lawrence Carroll Brinlee
|----b. 29 Jan 1893, String Town, Atoka, OK
|----d. 9 Apr 1953, Bonham, Fannin, TX
|--& Sallie Frances Norman
|----b. 5 Sep 1892, Talladega Co., AL
|----d. 8 Dec 1984, Ivanhoe, Fannin County, Texas
|----m. 6 May 1911, Greenville, Hunt Co., TX
|--Cordelia Lee “Cordie” Brinlee
|----b. 8 Jun 1895, Oklahoma
|----d. 23 May 1961, McKinney, Collin Co., Texas
|---& Kingsley Levington Clinton
|----b. 18 Feb 1894, Putnam Co., Tennessee
|----d. 2 Nov 1955, Anna, Collin, Texas
|----m. 1911
|--Austin Franklin Brinlee
|----b. 6 Apr 1904, Farmersville, Collin County, Texas
|----d. 17 Nov 1976, Allen, Collin County, Texas
|---& Mary Katherine Clinton
|----b. 3 Aug 1912, Fannin County, Texas
|----d. 25 Aug 1993, Allen, Collin County, Texas
|----m. 24 Jul 1928, Fannin County, Texas
|--Cecil Odell Brinlee
|----b. 23 Sep 1908, Collin County, Texas
|----d. 30 Oct 1994, Quitman, Wood, Texas
|---& Amy Lorene Kent
|----b. 12 Dec 1913, Arkansas
|----d. 11 Apr 2000, McKinney, Collin Co., Texas

This is the family of my great-grandfather Hiram Carroll Brinlee, Jr., and his second wife, my great-grandmother (and great brick wall) Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith. Lizzie was also married previously, apparently to a man named Bonner. It is said that Lizzie and Mr. Bonner did not have any children, but Lizzie apparently had given birth to 7 children as of the 1910 census, of whom 4 were living. There is a space of 9 years between the births of Cordelia and Austin Brinlee, which would leave room for the three children who died, but it would also have been possible for Lizzie and Mr. Bonner to have had a child or two before he died.

Austin Franklin Brinlee’s wife Mary Catherine Clinton was the niece of Cordelia Brinlee’s husband, Kingsley Levington Clinton.

Here is the obituary of Lizzie Smith Brinlee, taken from the Plano Star Courier, July 31, 1958:

“Mrs. H. C. Brinlee Dies at Plano Home Tuesday

Mrs. Susan E. Brinlee, aged 98, died at the family home in Plano Tuesday afternoon after a month’s illness.

One of Plano’s esteemed pioneer citizens, she was born April 4, 1860, in Tennessee, but had spent most of her life in Collin Co. She was a member of the Methodist Church.

Prior to her death, there were five generations of her family living. Her husband, H.C. Brinlee, and one son preceded her in passing.

Surviving her is a daughter, Mrs. K. L. Clinton of Anna; two sons, C.O. Brinlee of Plano and A.F. Brinlee, Lubbock; 26 grandchildren and several great grandchildren.

Funeral services were to be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church in Plano, conducted by the pastor, Rev. A.J. Fineout, burial following in Restland with the Turrentine-Jackson Funeral Home of McKinney in charge of arrangements.

To all those upon bereavement has fallen we extend our heartfelt sympathy in their great loss.”

I believe the year of birth given here is about eight years early.

I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.