The John Stow Cemetery The oldest grave in the cemetery reads Sacred to the Memory of Abraham Stow, son of John and Dorcas Stow April 2, 1802 November 7, 1829 Aged 27 years To the memory of Talitha Cumi Anderson dau. of John and Dorcas Stow December 5, 1805 February 5, 1830 Remember as you pass by, you must die. (She was the wife of James Anderson and believed to be the Mother of Henry P. Anderson and Mrs. Talitha (Willis) Wood. Sacred to the Memory of Mary J. C. Roane, daughter of John and Dorcas Stow Born February 9th 1811 Died July 26th 1850 Side by side with low walls and marble slab tops are the graves of : Matthew Wood Born July 29, 1971 Died October 20, 1850 To the memory of Hannah Wood, wife of Matthew Wood Born May 17, 1791 Died February 9, 1864 >From information in my files, I glean their heirs to be: Samuel Wood born 05 March 1810 Jane Wood born 22 August 1811, Died 4-15-1853 She married Judge John Taylor, a native of Georgia. Willis Wood born 20 November 1815 Sarah "Sallie" Wood born 17 April 1819 She married Sheriff William Cleaton Carr, MD born in 1809 in Laurence Co. Ga. Died 22 September 1890 Mary Wood born 27 April 1824 Died 07 June 1847 She married Henry P. Anderson born ca 1815 in the state of Tennessee. They were married in Union Parish, Louisiana on 15 July 1841 by John O. Feazel, J.P. who is also the ancestor of Sherry Gresham Gritzbaugh, the compiler of this sketch. Mary died in childbirth when her son, William Henry Anderson was born. They are the ancestors of Sherry Gresham Gritzbaugh. We were in hopes of finding the grave of Mary Wood Anderson in the cemetery. If it was there, there was no marker. Her resting place is known only to God. To the Memory of John Stow a native of South Carolina Born January 3rd, 1780 Died July 28th, 1861 Sacred to the Memory of Dorcas Stow, wife of John Stow Born in 1780 Died November 8, 1856 >From my research I glean his children to be Abraham Stow who may have married Anne Lewis Tabitha Cumi Stow wife of Dr. James Anderson Mary St. Clair Stow who married James Roane on 15 October 1824 Talitha E. J. daughter of John B. and Josephine M. J. Mitchell February 16, 1858 July 13, 1861 Alexis H. May June 29, 1845 January 11, 1875 There is a voice from the grave of a loved one sweeter than song. There is a remembrance of the dead to which we turn ever from the charms of the living. Erected by his wife (This is a marble stone) Willis Wood Born December 5, 1813 Died December 1, 1877 63 yrs. 11 months 26 days An honest man There is a Masonic emblem on his grave. The marker is elaborately decorated with carved flowers. It stands about seven feet tall. It is made of marble. Willis Wood died from being kicked by a mule. He had been practicing the "Swedish Movements." His physician was William S. Kendall. He left his property to John S. Roane. Talitha Cumi Wife of Willis Wood January 29, 1830 July 2, 1906 Sarah Angeline, wife of A. J. Pipes Born January 1849 Died October 8, 1882 To the Memory of Grove S. Fitch born in Lenox, Berkshire Co., Mass. July 11, 1832 died in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana October 14, 1882 50 yrs. 3 mos. 3 days John Stow Roane June 26, 1850 February 15, 1930 Elizabeth Gibson Wife of J.S. Roane January 9, 1853 June 24, 1918 To the Memory of my Husband James A. Roane October 28, 1874 January 14, 1928 Married to Miss Florence L. Smith September 29, 1912 I visited John Stow cemetery in November 2000. It had been restored and was freshly mowed. This is one of the earliest marked cemeteries in the area. I was in awe of the beauty which surrounded me. Still living are old crepe myrtle trees. The graveyard can only be described as elegant with a quiet dignity all its own. The monuments were obviously expensive ones. The old rock fence still stands. I was told that it was built by the family slaves. The cemetery was once located in Union Parish, Louisiana. Today it is located seven miles from Ruston in Lincoln Parish on Highway 33. It is not far from the Union Parish line. It is interesting that in 1837 Matthew and Hannah Wood with her brother, Daniel Payne, and his family moved to what was then known as Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. Daniel Payne, his son-in-law Needham M. Bryan, Col. Matthew Wood and his three son-in-laws: Judge John Taylor, Sheriff William Cleaton and Henry P. Anderson were all instrumental in forming Union Parish from Ouachita Parish in 1839. The records of Union Parish are replete with their names in this endeavor