LEONARD CEMETERY by Tri - County Genealogy Society  LEONARD TEXAS   June 2003

PREFACE 
Genealogy is rapidly becoming a hobby for many people today as more and more individuals began the search for their family roots. One source of information often sought out is death and burial 
records. With this knowledge in mind, we members, of the Tri-County Genealogy Society have undertaken the recording and updating of burials in our community. 
The Leonard Cemetery is one of the best maintained cemeteries in Fannin County and has not suffered from neglect, abandonment, nor vandalism that many community and family plots which are no longer 
used. The information available from inscriptions has not been lost to decay, vandals, livestock and the effects of our environment. It is our desire to preserve these recordings so they might not be lost for all who come after us. We hope these recordings will be of assistance to those whose ancestors are buried 
here and those whose ancestors pioneered this land for their homes. 
We have strived in every way to record as accurately as possible all the writings on each of the tombstones. When a name or date on a marker was in question, we have tried to note that in this book indicating our uncertainty. We know that no book is without errors and we acknowledge our fallibility. Any gravestone or marker which could be read, even in part, has been included in this book. Those tombstones which are damaged have also been noted. Those stones which are just too damaged or badly worn to read have, also, been noted with hopes that if any reader may have information on this person, they will help us identify those individuals. 
It is our hope that this book will both preserve the recordings and help researchers find their missing ancestors. 
SSW - Means "same stone with". 
This appears where more than one name is on a stone. 
Janet S. Taylor 
Tri-County Genealogy Member 
Updated June 2003 by Gaylene and Glenn Owen 
 
 

THE LEONARD CEMETERY 

The Leonard Cemetery is located inside the city limits of Leonard, Texas two blocks northwest of the town square on Hunt Street. 
The earliest recorded burial in the cemetery is that of M. C. Patterson, wife of W. B. Patterson who died on July 7, 1881. Burials continue here into the present time. The previous book reported over 601 family names among the 2713 burials recorded in the cemetery. There are many more burials which were never properly recorded as settlers pasted through and buried their dead without tombstones. Many other grave sites were never marked and some grave sites have had their stones destroyed. The count has not been updated. 
The Texas Historical Society honors two of the burials in the cemetery with Historical Markers. The first is Dr. W. C Jones, (1829-1902), who was a physician in Grove Hill and the Leonard Communities. The second marker belongs to Mr. John Cadwallader Neale (1838-1906) who operated a family grocery and was a leading businessman in the community. 
Mr. Gill Sudderth operated the earliest funeral home in Leonard, although the exact dates are unclear. Mr. J.R. Wilson and Co. operated the funeral home and furniture store from 1888-1972. Mr. Richard Taylor established the Taylor Funeral Home on July 27, 1968. In an interview with him for the previous book, he reported that upon taking over care of the cemetery, he removed over fifteen truck loads of brush and hackberry trees from the older section. He owned and operated the funeral home until Feb. 1998 when he had a massive stroke and was unable to continue. In August 1998 Dewayne Cain of Rockwall purchased the Taylor Funeral Home and continued to operate in the same manner as Mr. Taylor. 
The Leonard Cemetery Association was formed on January 1, 1976, setting up an endowment trust fund from which to operate the cemetery. Joe G. Sudderth was president from 1976-1981 with Richard Taylor as caretaker from 1972-1998. Frank Crawford was president from 1981-1995 with W. C. Griffitt as caretaker from 1998-2000. Clifton Evans was elected president in 1995 and became the caretaker in 2000. Maintainance is continued with donations recieved during the year. The association annually invites the community to participate in a decoration, cleanup day and meeting on the first Saturday in May. Cleanup is from 10-12 am. and the business meeting begins at 2 pm. 
Although some of the oldest stones are deteriorating and some are broken on the grounds, the citizens of our community can be proud of the conditions in which the cemetery is maintained. 

The Leonard Cemetery Book Index
Look at the index for the pages you need and click on the page grid to view pages.

4 -10	11 - 20	21 - 30	31 40	41 - 50	51 - 60	61 - 70	71 - 80
81 - 90	91 - 100	101 - 110	111 - 120	121 - 130	131 - 140	141 - 149