Annie Mae Proctor
(May 15, 1881 to June 1, 1961)
Annie Mae Proctor was the second child of Margaret Campbell and Joseph H. Proctor. Her sister, Lenna, was about 2 years older. She had at least 5 other brothers and sisters also. Little is known of her formal education, but her handwriting was quite good, as well as her spelling and punctuation. Of course, those could have been the result of only a few years of school. She was born in Seguin, Texas, in the Campbell cabin. As so many of this generation (and following ones) were noted as having been born in this cabin, it is assumed that the women of the family went 'home' to give birth.
Annie married Andrew Markey on June 17, 1899 in or near Hamilton, Texas, where Annie's family lived at the time of the 1900 census. A Campbell cousin of Kay found the marriage in the Mills County records. Kay also found the marriage license of her sister, Lenna, the previous year. Indeed, Annie's first child, Andrew is noted as having been born in Hamilton. The date of Annie's marriage comes from a note in her own hand listing her marriage date, as well as the birth dates of her first 6 children (and the death dates of 2 of them). Thus, the note was written between 1911 and 1914. The children were Andrew, born 1901, Anne Marie, born 1903, Brian Paul, born 1905 (died 1907), Brendon Joseph, born 1906 -- Kay's father, Elizabeth, born 1909 (died 1910), Alice Elizabeth, born 1911,. Later John was born in 1914 and Mary Bridget, in 1916.
According to Annie's youngest child, Mary, the marriage was not approved of by the Proctor family, probably due to the impoverished state of Andrew Markey. He also seemed to be sort of a 'vagabond' and could have been a 'peddler' at the time. Certainly, the family moved about a great deal, with few children being born in the same location. Until the family moved to San Antonio, Texas in the late 1920s, the moving seemed to have continued. They remained there, however, until a short stay in Dallas in the late 1940s.
When sisters, Alice and Anne moved to Corpus Christi in about 1948 or 1949, Andrew moved to a nursing home in San Antonio and Annie moved in with her daughter, Mary, and her family. Annie had a hard life, always following her vagabond husband, never owning a home of their own, never having much money, but always surviving somehow. The children went to work early, most all by the age of 14 or 15. John did state that he had 2 years of high school and Mary may have graduated, but by that time, the older children were bringing in money to the family.
Although Mary claimed that Annie's hair had turned white before she turned 30 years of age, it is more likely that it was a few years later, as a photo about 1915 does not show Annie with white hair. Undoubtedly, her hard life influenced her early greying and then her beautiful white hair. From at least the age of 50, Annie (or Nannie, as she was known to the grandchildren) changed very little. She looked like an old woman by that age. Of course, the white hair, the shapeless dresses she wore, the sturdy shoes, all contributed to that image. She was a very good woman, a hard worker, and a woman who really loved her husband, children and grandchildren. Kay's memories of Nannie are mostly of her in the kitchen, where she spent much of her time. Nannie always seemed to be in the background. Kay and Patricia have letters she wrote to them while they were growing up.
After Mary's children were of school age, Nannie began spending much of her time with Alice and Anne (DeeDee) in Corpus Christi. She died there in 1961, but is buried next to Andrew in San Antonio.