Fannin County TXGenWeb
King Cemetery 

I am delighted by the information in the article sent below.
I intended to walk this cemetery sometime this winter.
The list I had on this cemetery gathered from three sources
The exact dates on some of them in the story below:
King Cemetery



The Following article appeared in local newspapers and on the ENews.
                   I received permission by Dr. Gary N. Sisson
to reprint his article here.There are some photographs which
appeared with it on the ENews. He is interested in any further information
on the King Cemetery and families buried there. <gsisson@flash.net>

                       On March 23, 1966 my parents, Bob and Ruby Sisson, purchased from
                  Finis Smith a 203.4 acre tract of land situated between Caney Creek
                  and what would become FM 274, about 2 miles south of Ravenna. I
                  spent many childhood days exploring those acres, surprised to find that
                  they included an old graveyard that time seemed to have forgotten. It was
                  not particularly terrifying in daylight, so I would occasionally find my way
                  back to it, wondering who were those people buried there so long ago. In
                  those years of my life I spent little time dwelling upon anything, but I never
                  forgot the old bone yard.

                      In 1968 my parents sold most of the acreage, including the cemetery
                  and a quaint old cabin, to the family of nationally acclaimed Dallas artist
                  Florence Elliott McClung. I had the privilege of spending many summer
                  afternoons at that cabin, visiting with Mrs. McClung and her husband,
                  Rufus, and watching her paint. In the summer of 1972, my family moved
                  to Welch, a small farming community on the South Plains near Lubbock,
                  where I finished high school in 1976. My parents retained the old Fannin
                  County homestead and 16 acres and returned here in 1982, where they
                  still live, with my grandparents, Jack and Letha Simer, next door. After
                  attending college and serving in the Navy I practiced optometry in
                  Snyder, Texas, then in Dallas. I became a Veterans Affairs optometrist in
                  1999 and recently moved with my wife, Debbie, back to Bonham.
                  Through the years I developed an interest in history and genealogy, so a
                  return visit to the old King cemetery was inevitable. Last summer, armed
                  with pencils and paper and accompanied by my brother-in-law, Ken St.
                  John (himself armed with a .22 rifle), I hacked my way through the
                  summer overgrowth and eventually located our destination. Most of the
                  grave markers had been toppled, and an interesting ground cover, in
                  contrast with the surrounding area, almost completely concealed the
                  once majestic stone monuments. As luck would have it, the first stone I
                  lifted was home to a juvenile copperhead snake, which Ken quickly sent
                  to its own grave. We fortunately encountered no more surprises, and I
                  was able to glean information about those buried there.
                          With great effort Ken and I lifted the largest supine obelisk onto its
                  original base. It is a common marker for the graves of John Cooper (born
                  1786, died July 22, 1861), Sandy King (born February 18, 1808, died
                  January 12, 1892) and Catherine C. King (born March 26, 1821, no
                  death date). An etching on this marker reads:
 

                                    Remember friends as you pass by

                                    That all mankind are born to die

                                    Then let your cares on Christ be cast

                                    That you may dwell with him at last
 

                  Other markers found and recorded are for Royl, son of C.K. and S.L.
                  Melton (born January 4, 1894, died January 10, 1894), James H.
                  Ridgeway (born July 13, 1857, died September 22, 1867) and Andrew J.
                  Cole (born February 1, 1862, died December 1, 1892). Unable to find
                  information on these families in the available local histories, I visited the
                  Fannin County Museum, where my friend, Tom Scott, happily produced a
                  compilation of Fannin County cemeteries by Floy Crandall Hodge, author
                  of “A History of Fannin County”. Her inventory of the King cemetery
                  shows an additional grave for H.B. James, for which I was unable to find
                  a marker.

                  According to the 1850 U.S. census, Sandy King was born in Tennessee,
                  but all subsequent census records show him to have been born in
                  Virginia. The 1880 Fannin County census also shows his father to have
                  been born in Virginia and his mother in Scotland. His wife, Catherine,
                  was apparently born in Tennessee. The family was living in Mason
                  County, Illinois at the time of the 1850 census. Living in the King
                  household were also John Cooper, age 63, born in North Carolina and
                  Hannah Cooper, age 15, born in Illinois. I surmise that John and Hannah
                  Cooper were respectively the father and sister of Catherine King, further
                  supported by the middle initial “C” on Catherine’s grave marker and the
                  following 1860 census findings. Additionally, the 1880 census shows
                  Catherine’s father to have been born in North Carolina, and Catherine’s
                  will mentions “my Brother J.S. Cooper”. By the time of the 1860 census,
                  the King family was in Fannin County. Although the elder Cooper was
                  listed as James, age 73, the census taker was likely incorrect, as the
                  grave marker and the 1850 census both list him as John. Living in the
                  same household were also H. Ridgeway, age 19, born in Illinois, and
                  James Ridgeway, age 3, born in Texas. This was probably the Hannah
                  Cooper from the 1850 census and her child. It is unknown what became
                  of Mr. Ridgeway, but young James was undoubtedly the James H. buried
                  in the King cemetery. The 1870 Fannin County census shows that
                  Hannah was still living with the Kings, but she was not listed with them by
                  the time of the 1880 Fannin County census. Living near the Kings in
                  1880 were C. Melton, his wife Susan (both born in Tennessee) and two
                  small children. They are likely the parents of Royl, the infant buried in the
                  King cemetery. I was unable to find information about Andrew J. Cole or
                  H.B. James.
                       Catherine King left William D. Estes and Solomon S. Duckworth in
                  charge of the cemetery in 1893. Interestingly, Solomon’s uncle,
                  Alexander P. Duckworth, was the second owner of the property, having
                  purchased it in 1852 from George Shelly, owner of the original land
                  patent from the State of Texas, and sold it in 1854 to Sandy King. Mr.
                  Estes is listed as a witness on the wills of both Sandy and Catherine. In
                  his will dated July 18, 1881 and filed September 14, 1897, Sandy willed
                  the property to his wife Catherine and stated his desire that after her
                  death, the northern half of the property would go to Lula King and the
                  southern half to Sandy King, Jr. (probably Lula’s son). It was his desire
                  “that said land shall remain in and pass to the King family so long as it
                  may be possible to do so”. I was unable to determine the relationship of
                  Lula King to Sandy King, Sr., but because the 1900 Fannin County
                  census shows Lula (Louly) King to have been born in 1856 in Texas, and
                  his father born in Tennessee, he was probably a nephew to Sandy and
                  Catherine. By the time of the 1910 census Lula (Louly E.) King had sold
                  the property to D.W. McCargo and was living in Brownwood. Catherine
                  filed two wills in Fannin County. The first will, dated January 14, 1896 and
                  filed September 6, 1897, bequeathed the property to “L.E. King who
                  resides on the premises”. The second will, dated August 27, 1897 and
                  filed September 7, 1897, was meant to revoke the previous will. In it,
                  Catherine bequeathed the northern half of the property to her “beloved
                  niece, Catherine D. Wilson now residing at Wyoming Nebraska,” but the
                  Fannin County land records show the McCargo family obtaining the
                  entire 200+ acres from L.E. King. There is no evidence of any further
                  burials in the King cemetery, and because there is no death date listed
                  on the marker for Catherine King, it is unclear to me whether she was
                  buried there.
 

                  King Cemetery: Almost gone, not forgotten
                  By Dr. Gary N. Sisson


 
Polson Family Researcher:

 

  © 2004
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