Her story starts in 1865 when her great-grandmother, as a three-week old infant travels, with her family in a small fleet of bateaux powered by eight men rowing, from St. Simons Island, Georgia into Calibogue Sound. As the first “free place” during the Civil War, the Hilton Head Island area attracted newly emancipated settlers by the dozens.
Miss Frances started teaching school at the tender age of 15, in the building on the Church grounds and then moved over to the new Mary Fields School building when it was completed c. 1936. She taught for 38 years until segregation was abolished. When she retired in 1969, Pat Conroy, replaced her. In the mid 60’s, she was responsible for bringing two Vista volunteers to Daufuskie and served as Recording Secretary for the Daufuskie Island Community Improvement Club for many years.
When she retired from the school system, Miss Frances was employed with the Beaufort-Jasper County Comprehensive Health Services under the direction of Thomas Barnwell and became their representative on Daufuskie Island. In 1992, Billie Burn published “Stirrin’ the Pots on Daufuskie Island” and Miss Frances as her recipe for Pumpkin Bread published in that book.