Frances Lewis “Frank” Emanuel was born on 6 Sep 1874 at Talbotton in Talbot County, Georgia. His parents were William David Emanuel and his third wife, Martha Susan Emanuel (George). At the birth of their son Frank, William Emanuel was 43 years of age, and Martha was age 32. Frank Emanuel was their second child. Their first, Sarah Jane Emanuel, born on 10 Mar 1873, died soon after birth.
As an infant, Frank Emanuel very likely lived on the Emanuel plantation in Talbot County. During reconstruction following the American Civil War, southern planters were challenged to succeed in a new economy and labor market. In about 1877, when Frank Emanuel was about 3 years of age, the William David Emanuel family migrated from Talbot County, Georgia to Clay County, Texas.
The 23 Jun 1880 U.S. Federal Census of Clay County, Texas enumerates the household of W. D. Emanuel, age 48 years and born in Georgia, including his wife M. S. Emanuel, age 39 and born in Georgia; I. C. Emanuel, age 16; Lilly Emanuel, age 14; Frank Emanuel, age 6; Mark Emanuel, age 3; and B. Emanuel, age 3 months. Mark Emanuel and the infant, B. Emanuel, were both born in Texas; all other children were born in Georgia. W. D. Emanuel’s step-daughter Gordy C. Emanuel, age 18 and born in Georgia, was also living in the household. Gordy Emanuel was a daughter of Martha Susan George and her first husband Gilbert P. Gordey.
I. C. Emanuel, age 16 years at the 1880 census, was Ida Catherine Emanuel, and Lilly Emanuel, age 14, was Lillian Lewis Emanuel. Both Ida and Lillian were daughters of William David Emanuel in his earlier marriage to Catherine P. Emanuel (Brown).
Frank Emanuel’s mother, Martha Susan George, died on 17 Nov 1890 at Henrietta in Clay County, Texas. She was 48 years of age. At the time of her death, Frank Emanuel was age 16 years.
By about 1900, Frank Emanuel was working as a yard man and bookkeeper for the Mayfield Lumber Company at Henrietta in Clay County, Texas. In 1901, he transferred to a newly opened Mayfield lumber yard at Iowa Park in Wichita County, Texas, and on 29 Dec 1901, Frank L. Emanuel married Kate Holmes Stone at Wichita Falls in Wichita County, Texas. Kate Stone was a daughter and youngest child of James Armstrong Stone and Margaret Stone (Scott). Kate was born in Madison Parish, Louisiana. Her family migrated to Iowa Park, arriving by 25 Dec 1889. Frank Emanuel’s father William David Emanuel died on 25 Jul 1902 in Greer County, Texas.
Frank and Kate Emanuel’s first child, a daughter, died at birth in Dec 1902. A son Lewis Stone Emanuel was born on 22 Jun 1904. A second son Claibe Morgan Emanuel was born on 12 Jan 1907, and a daughter Margaret Kate Emanuel was born on 15 Oct 1909. All three children were born at Iowa Park in Wichita County, Texas.
The 1910 federal census of Wichita Falls in Wichita County, Texas enumerates the household of Frank L. Emanuel, age 30 and born in Georgia. Kate Emanuel, age 28 years, was born in Louisiana. Three children living in the household were Lewis Emanuel, age 5; Clabe Emanuel, age 3; and Katie Emanuel, age 6 months. The census enumerates all children as born in Texas. Another son James David Emanuel was born on 21 May 1919 at Wichita Falls in Wichita County, Texas.
The Frank L. Emanuel family migrated to Oklahoma City in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma before 5 Jun 1912, when a son Alfred Thorn Emanuel was born there. By 3 Jul 1915, the Emanuel family was living at Dallas in Dallas County, Texas when a son Robert Frank Emanuel was born.
Before Feb 1920, the Frank Emanuel family migrated to Esculapia Township in Benton County, Arkansas where Frank intended to farm and develop a resort. The 11 Feb 1920 federal census of Benton County enumerates the household of Frank L. Emanuel, age 46 and born in Georgia with Kate S. Emanuel, a: and born in Louisiana; Lewis S. Emanuel, age 15; Claiber M. Emanuel, age 13; Margaret K. Emanuel, a: 11; Alfred T. Emanuel, age 7; Robert R. Emanuel, age 5; and David D. Emanuel, age 8 months. With the exception of Alfred, the census records all children as born in Texas; Alfred was born in Oklahoma. The 1920 census records both parents of Frank Emanuel as born in Georgia, and both parents of Kate S. Emanuel as born in Louisiana.
On 9 Dec 1925, Patricia Nell Emanuel, the a daughter and youngest child of Frank and Kate Emanuel, was born at Rogers in Benton County, Arkansas.
Between 1926 and 1930, the Frank L. Emanuel family moved from Arkansas to Collingsworth County, Texas in the Texas Panhandle where Frank Emanuel was again employed as a lumberman.
On 4 Apr 1930, the U.S. Federal Census of Collingsworth, Texas recorded F. L. Emanuel age 54 and born in Georgia and his wife Kate S. Emanuel age 48 and born in Louoisiana. Living in the household were Margaret Emanuel, age 20, born in Texas and working as a bookeeper in a lumberyard; Alfred, age 17, born in Oklahoma; Robert, age 14, born in Texas; David, age 10, born in Texas; and Patricia Emanuel, age 4 years and born in Arkansas.
In 1933, Frank and Kate Emanuel’s sone Robert F. Emanuel graduated high school in Anadarko, Caddo County, Oklahoma.
Frank Lewis Emanuel died 24 May 1942 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. At the time of his death, Frank Emanuel was working for an Oklahoma City lumberyard. His son Robert F. Emanuel recalled that his father was killed by a head injury incurred during a robbery. Frank L. Emanuel was buried in Iowa Park Cemetery in Iowa Park, Wichita County, Texas.