Dozier Cemetery
Dozier Cemetery is located 8 miles straight west
of the intersection of US 83 and FM 1036, on west through the town of Samnorwood.
The last mile is unpaved to the cemetery gate, but is in good condition. The
road through the cemetery divides it into North and South sections. Dozier Cemetery
covers a space of about four acres of land. Since part of it came off of Section
30, Block 16, and the remainder off of Section 31, Block 16, it actually sits
in the middle of a road. According to Miss Pearl Strong, a man named Howe, one
of her relatives, gave the first acre of land off of Section 30 for a free cemetery,
and the owner of Section 31 gave one acre at about the same time--1893. That
year Mr. Clemn was buried there. The Collingsworth county records show that
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Norwood gave another acre in October of 1908 and also deeded
it to the County Judge for a free cemetery. According to Mrs. Sarah Leon Coleman,
the Dozier Cemetery was started about 1893. The first person to be buried there
was a man named Elam, who died with T.B. The second man who was buried there
was murdered. His name was Wallace. ÒThere was a line rider from the Rowe Ranch
that seemed to dislike Wallace after they had some kind of fuss. Wallace was
sitting on a horse talking with a neighbor when the line rider rode up behind
him and grabbed him from the back and began to slash him with a knife. Wallace
gradually worked his Winchester under his shoulder and let the line rider have
it in the face. Wallace sat on his horse and shot the line rider several more
times after he was already dead. Later, Wallace himself was mur-dered in a quarrel
with a man who owed him money for a pasture lease. Wallace was the second person
to be buried in the Dozier Cemetery.Ó In the 1950s the people of the community
contributed sufficient funds to build a chain-link fence around the cemetery.
At that time, Mr. Frank DeBois, son-in-law of Mr. Norwood and the then owner
of Section 30, gave another acre of land. The Dozier Cemetery Association meets
each Memorial Day to do repairs and make donations for its upkeep during the
coming year, since burial lots cannot be sold. Anyone is welcome to attend.
Today, Mrs. Douglas Coleman is keeping the cemetery records. Each section of
the cemetery was recorded by beginning at its northeast corner and listing the
names by north-to-south rows.