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King Cemetery: Almost gone, not forgotten
By Dr. Gary N. Sisson / photos by Allen Rich
Jan 15, 2004

Perhaps one of the more frightful images our minds can conjure is that of an old unkempt graveyard on a fully moonlit night. Modern authors and screenwriters have capitalized on those fears with plethoric visits to similar scenes (R.I.P., here lies, etc.). We may be reminded of a Stephen King novel, of Halloween, or of Ebenezer Scrooge’s visit to Christmas yet-to-come. As macabre as it may seem, I have pleasant memories of an old cemetery from my childhood in Fannin County.

Author Gary Sisson walks through the King Cemetery.

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.

John Cooper

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.

Adrew Cole

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.

It is my hope that this article will serve as a tribute to the lives of those early Fannin County pioneers and will inspire others with knowledge of such seemingly abandoned cemeteries to document some facts concerning those buried there and their contributions, however small, to our local history. It is my belief that to do so to preserves and enriches our Fannin County heritage.