This message is related to the cemetery in PONTOTOC, Mason Co., TX, an area settled by pioneers from Pontotoc, MS in the 1830's. I was on my way back to Austin from San Angelo, TX and decided to stop in Pontotoc to see if I could find the old (original) cemetery. This is a very, very small town these days, with most of the inhabitants quite elderly. I found a kind lady who gave me directions to and finally located the cemetery on FM 501. She warned me that it was real overgrown as there wasn't anyone left in town who could tend the cemetery, since they are all old folks these days. No one she knew of had ever made a list of the burials there. I told her I was looking for PHILLIPS graves, and she said there were a "passle of Phillips" in Valley Spring's cemetery just down the road. I stopped at the old Pontotoc Cemetery, (no sign or markings on the road) and I was horrified at what I found. The only way in was to walk through tall weeds, full of grasshoppers, black beetles and flying insects. As I was wearing sandals, and I know all about rattlers, scorpions and tarrantulas, I VERY cautiously made my way across to the cemetery. It is in a state of complete ruin. I was able to locate only three graves, which I photographed. I know that there are possibly somewhere between 100-200 graves there, but most are covered by waist-high weeds and mule ear cactus. For the history of Pontotoc, TX, see the following link: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/PP/hlp39.html I had hoped to find some family surnames, mainly PHILLIPS, that may have come from MS to TX in the early 1870s, but there was no luck at this sad ruin. I decided that I was not curious enough to risk snake or spider bites, so I left feeling very disappointed. Just a few miles East of Pontotoc on Hwy. 71 in Llano Co., TX, I easily located the Valley Springs Cemetery. What a difference! This is a state-designated Historic Cemetery, maintained by a Cemetery Association, beautifully landscaped, with a list and a map to all of the graves at the cemetery gate. There were quite a few PHILLIPS buried in Valley Spring, TX, but I did not recognize any of the names as related to my family. For a brief history of Valley Spring, here is the link to the History of Texas Online: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/VV/hnv3.html Note: I made a list of the Phillips names at the cemetery and will be happy to send those to anyone who may be interested. Also, if there is anyone in Pontotoc, MS, who suspects they may have ancestors in the area of Pontotoc/Valley Springs, TX, let me know. I go out that way fairly often and will be happy to check the Valley Springs cemetery again. Just please, don't anyone ask me to trek into the old Pontotoc cemetery again--I'm still picking the grass burrs off my clothes and itching from all the chigger bites I got--sorry, but I'm not going in that cemetery again. Harriet Hanson Lora