See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1992, Whole No. 160, p. 4023:
"Elizabeth Manilla Dempsey (1844-1895) was married on September 5,1861, to Jesse Franklin Clark, son of Caleb and Mary (Mullins) Clark. Hehad been born on October 16, 1841, and died on March 28, 1913. Both wereburied in the Union Church Cemetery in Clay County, Alabama. They werethe parents of six children (here names them for which, see their familypages.)
"In the photograph on the cover (p. 4019), the three sons stood, leftto right, in the order of their birth; likewise, the three daughters satin the order of their birth. [ There is also a photo of Elizabeth onpage 4022.]
"An interesting heirloom owned by the descendants of Elizabeth Manilla(Dempsey) Clark is her "Infare Day dress." This was worn by her onSeptember 6, 1861, the day following her wedding. (See photo on p.4024.) As explained by [an descendant] Mrs. Sundie:
'Infare Day, as it was known in that day and in that area, was theday
following a wedding. It seems the wedding would be solemnizedeither at
the church or in the bride's home, to be followed by entertainment
provided by the bride's family. The bride would wear her weddingdress
on that occasion. The next day, the newly-married couple would goto the
groom's home, where his parents would entertain them (many of the
guests attending both events). The bride had another dress to beworn on
this second day, which was called "Infare Day." As stated in thedictionary,
"infare" has to do with transition, or going from one state ofaffairs to another.
'Elizabeth Manilla's "Infare Day" dress was lovely. It was a darkgreen,
sort of brocade, with yoke, cuffs, etc., of matching velvet. It hada bustle.
She must have been rather tall, and with a tiny waist. The buttonsare as
pretty today as they were in 1861.'
"Mrs. Sundie tells an interesting story of a cypress tree that yetgrows alongside the highway between Union Church and Lineville in ClayCounty, Alabama. It was brought by Francis Marion Dempsey in 1849 fromthe banks of the Mississippi River. Jesse and Minerva (Sparks) Dempseyhad been en route (migrating) from Alabama to Arkansas, followingrelatives who had moved there. They spent the winter of 1842/43 livingin a cave near what is now Cave Springs, Georgia. According to familytradition, it was there that Francis Marion Dempsey was born on October12, 1842. Mrs. Sundie notes that "they either visited for some time, orlooked around with the thought of settling; then came back to Alabama."At whatever point they crossed the Mississippi River on their return in1849, young Francis Marion dug up the cypress bush and brought it toAlabama in a bucket suspended from a pole at the rear of their wagon. Itwas transplanted near a spring in the Shinbone Valley where it took rootand has continued to flourish some sixty years after Francis Marion'sdeath in 1932."