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.He had been born on October 16, 1841, and died on March 28, 1913.Both were buried in the Union Church Cemetery in Clay County, Alabama. They were the parents of six children (here names them for which, seetheir family pages.)
"In the photograph on the cover (p. 4019), the three sons stood, leftto right, in the order of their birth; likewise, the three daughterssat in the order of their birth. [ There is also a photo of Elizabethon page 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 the day
following a wedding. It seems the wedding would be solemnized eitherat
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 go tothe
groom's home, where his parents would entertain them (many of the
guests attending both events). The bride had another dress to be wornon
this second day, which was called "Infare Day." As stated in thedictionary,
"infare" has to do with transition, or going from one state of affairsto another.
'Elizabeth Manilla's "Infare Day" dress was lovely. It was a darkgreen,
sort of brocade, with yoke, cuffs, etc., of matching velvet. It had abustle.
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 1849from the banks of the Mississippi River. Jesse and Minerva (Sparks)Dempsey had been en route (migrating) from Alabama to Arkansas,following relatives who had moved there. They spent the winter of1842/43 living in a cave near what is now Cave Springs, Georgia.According to family tradition, it was there that Francis MarionDempsey was born on October 12, 1842. Mrs. Sundie notes that "theyeither visited for some time, or looked around with the thought ofsettling; then came back to Alabama." At whatever point they crossedthe Mississippi River on their return in 1849, young Francis Mariondug up the cypress bush and brought it to Alabama in a bucketsuspended from a pole at the rear of their wagon. It was transplantednear a spring in the Shinbone Valley where it took root and hascontinued to flourish some sixty years after Francis Marion's death in1932."