Thanks!!! I know it chases me away!!! Will try it. I used the old thing of painting them with clear fingernail polish. Forgot to wear high rubber boots! Also found that my crutches are good for fending off rattlers!!!!!! -----Original Message----- From: Phillip Maynard <maynard@hti.net> To: TXBELL-L@rootsweb.com <TXBELL-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Wednesday, June 30, 1999 9:59 AM Subject: Re: [TXBELL-L] LATHAM; VOLO CEMETERY; BELL CO., TX; East /W side of county /Other locations CHATTER FORMATT |Mary Ann - | |Tabasco sauce is great for chigger bites! |Ann from Texas | |---------- |> From: MaryAnn Bartlett <bartlett@vvm.com> |> To: TXBELL-L@rootsweb.com |> Subject: [TXBELL-L] LATHAM; VOLO CEMETERY; BELL CO., TX; East /W side of |county /Other locations CHATTER FORMATT |> Date: Wednesday, June 30, 1999 9:54 AM |> |> Yall, I just spent two days with a BARTLETT cousin riding from one side |of |> the county to the other! Found a beautiful old iron bridge that is out |and |> found a solitary grave by the Donohoe Cemetery and almost got pinched for |> cattle rustlin'! |> |> And......it was hotter 'n than the southern direction of a north-bound |> soul!!!! However, many of the cemeteries we located were under huge oak |> shade trees and the wind was blowing across a creek or river or large |tank |> and it was just perfect for genealogical hikes! Wonderful two |days...even |> if I am writing you from my tub where I am soaking to rid myself of |chigger |> bites! and even if my nose would put Roudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to |> shame! |> |> Cemeteries are wonderful! No one got up and left. No one complained |about |> what I was doing or how. No one talked back and everyone waited his or |her |> turn for us to gather their information. |> |> At VOLO, east side of Bell County near Sparks Community: |> |> LATHAM: |> L.G. Age: 55 D. 09 Aug 1905 |> Mary C. Age 42 D. 06 Aug 1892 |> |> Eddie b. 20 May 1895 d. 12 Sept 1907 |> C.J. s/o RL & CE b. 20 May 1917 d. 11 Mar 1920 |> |> Volo Cemetery is up on a hill and there is a house NE of the cemetery but |> those people do not know anything about the cemetery. |> |> While Valerie and I were there Mr. Hagler arrived to check on the pile of |> brush they were burning. He has most of his family there and takes care |of |> the cemetery. It is not a large cemetery but is in good shape and is |fenced |> in. There are enough shade trees that you can walk around without being |in |> the sun too much. My wheelchair did not work but I could get around some |on |> my crutches so I sat in a chair and recorded information while my cousin |> read the stones. |> =============================================== |> HOLLAND |> |> South of Holland and at the junction of 2263 or 2268, on your left if you |> are going North, is a very steep drive. Go up the drive and at you top |the |> hill you are in the cemetery. It is a small one and, I think, according |to |> history/tradition, it was to be a Checkz./Catholic cemetery. It does not |> have many graves in it but it is still being used and is, at least, being |> kept clear. |> |> I found an animal bone beside one of the MASSAR grave sites and told my |> cousin it was probably a human finger bone that had washed down the hill |in |> one of our heavy rains...she left the cemetery at a hundred miles an |> hour...without the car! q;-> |> |> Most of the graves at this site are within curbbing. One or two have |gravel |> covering the plots. |> |> MASSAR, Frank J. b. 04 Mar 1902 d. 21 Oct 1979 |> MASSAR, Mary P. (still living the source person "thinks" but no |one |> knew where she was living...if she was still living. She would be maybe |> late 80s or 90s maybe. |> |> Within the same curbing: |> Three graves but each still has the funeral home plaque and only one |could |> be partially read: |> RATLIFF, _________ b. 27 Aug 1918 d. 10 Feb 1926 (Not sure about |> Feb.) The plaques were from Goodnight Funeral Home, Bartlett. It is not |> called Goodnight anymore...someone else bought it and the names fails me |at |> th....CONDRA Funeral Home. The main office is now in Taylor. I plan to |go |> down to the old Goodnight Fun. Home today and see if they can tell me who |> the other two are that are buried next to the first one, RATLIFF. |> ============================================ |> Just across the creek and below the Donohoe Cemetery, E Bell Co., we |found a |> single grave maybe 3 - 5 feet from the road. |> |> Mrs. Sarah HERNDON |> b. 1800 |> d. 1863 |> |> It is on your right if you are going N down the road. No occupied houses |in |> sight. Is land under cultivation or land being used to graze cattle. |The |> site is fenced with the iron fencing you see in older cemeteries and it |> literally fences the grave space. It has fairly new looking cedar posts |at |> all four corners and the gate is wired shut. It is all very rusty. The |> corner post have been pointed to allow rain water to run off. Someone |(was |> that you, Bill???) had walked in the grass as recently as this last |> weekend...and they walked carefully because there was a giant spider and |> his/her web a couple of feet in front of the grave and it was not |disturbed. |> Within the fenced site, there was a faded Christmas plant (plastic) and |> evidence of other flowers so it is possible that she may be related to |those |> up on the hill in the Donohoe Cemetery. Maybe she was someone's granma |that |> made it that far on their trek into Texas...or maybe that was a mother |and |> wife and that was her favorite site along the creek. |> ============================================= |> |> BTW, we took many photographs during the two days. |> |> ================================ |> SIMMONS & HENNINGTON CEMETERIES |> |> E side of Bell Co....not but a couple of miles from Milam County line. |> We never could get to it but did find a kind gentleman that shooed off |the |> attacking dogs and told us that we could contact Mr.....well, let me just |> say we know who to contact for access...don't ask me to spell it or |> pronounce it. Mr.___was not at home. |> ======================================= |> JACKSON CEMETERY (forgot location...map still in car) |> a couple of names for contacts...David Wolf, Holland and Edw. Shiplet..I |> think these were persons with the SPJCXYZ??? Club or organization. |> ====================================== |> DALLAS Cemetery |> |> Behind...West of Holland...have to take Hackberry Rd. SW of Holland and S |of |> the creek. We introduced ourselves to a gentleman at a new house and |told |> him what we were doing and why and if he knew where the cemetery was. He |> told us it was on down the road and in the pasture. We asked for |permission |> to go in and he said "Sure, as long as you shut and latch the gates so |the |> cattle don't get out." We went in and looked things over, and then, |being |> chased by the hungry cattle, we left. Just as we got out the gate, a man |in |> a truck drove up and I introduced myself with story and asked if he was |> going into the pasture before we closed the gate. He said yes that he |was |> going to check his cattle. I laughed and told him they were just fine, |very |> friendly and very hungry. I told him we had the permission of the man |that |> owned it up at the house and he then told us that he owned it. Appology |> given...he said we could come back if we closed the gates. It is fenced |in |> and has a gate that is not locked. It sits up on the hill overlooking |the |> creek. The grass inside the fenced area was way deep and we tried to |hack |> some grass down but that is when we discovered we were out in the heat |way |> long. We did get some pictures...dates did not seem to go back to |seriously |> early dates as far as births in Bell Co. |> |> We did get these names: |> J.S. JEDOER 01 Dec 1821 24 June 1902 |> |> Jam's M. FOX 24 Nov 1888 Dec 1911 |> |> Mattie P. FOX 08 Aug 1846 05 June 1907 |> We took pictures of cemetery and one cow. |> After we left and started home, it dawned on me that he thought we were |> cattle rustlers...a woman in a wheelchair rustling cattle???????? We are |> talking BIG cows here...big cows with big horns and big appetites...... |> ================================================== |> We did not get all names from VOLO but could go back and do that if |anyone |> needs me to. HAGLER's have a lot of sites there. I remember a THOMPSON |or |> THOMASON...AND MAybe CALDWELL. |> =============================== |> St. John Luthern Cemetery, north of Bartlett on SH 95...about a mile or |two |> from town. |> I taped almost all the persons at rest on the south side...we call it the |> flat side because the stones are flush with the ground. Val took |pictures |> and scribed all the LENDEMANN, LATHAM, LANGE and some others that she |knew |> were related to those families through marriage. |> |> When you drive into the cemetery you see what looks to be a gate to the |> "back" with big colorful tree-bushes on either side. That was the |original |> entrance to the cemetery. The old road (95) ran behind the cemetery. |You |> find you are up on a bluff and in front of you the land falls away into a |> valley. The land is under cultivation on the S,N, W sides. The church |is |> behind you or to the east. Easy to get to, clean, good gravel road. The |> east side had the upright stones and looks more homey than the flat side. |> The UPRIGHT side has lots of curbbing and the graves are close together |> making you believe it to be a small cemetery...but whatho!!!! When you |> begin scribing all the names and dates....lot more there than you think. |On |> the FLAT SIDE, there are slabs of granite, pink, gray, black and that |icky |> lunch-meat color. On some of the slabs of granite are brass plates with |the |> names and dates on them...or maybe copper...anyway, they have the patina |or |> greenish colors from weathering. |> |> I think this is loaded on the Bell Co. page for Cemeteries but if you |want |> me to send you the names, let me know. We did get pictures of these |names |> on the UPRIGHT side and some on the FLATSIDE. |> ++++++++++++++++++++++++ |> We also did some work in some other cemeteries and exploring road and |routes |> to the places on the maps. Many of the marked cemeteries are on private |> property now. |> |> Bill, what about Sunshine, Willis, REED and the one across from Reed?? |Has |> anyone done those for you. Need to get some more film and get some |pictures |> for you. The REED graves are on Sunshine road N of Holland but there is |a |> excellent fence and large gate with a large lock. The one across the |road |> from it is not always cleared but is not fenced in. There are grave |sites |> up in the tangled hedgrow. We got out, walked about four feet into this |one |> and saw two very large rattlers sunning themselves. We excused ourselves |> and retreated to the van. These are the four cemeteries grouped together |on |> your map, Bill...east side of County...south of Volo Cemetery....could |not |> find access to cemetery between Volo and the REED and other |> three...Sullivan/Sunshine Rds. junction. We think it may be a FERGUSON |> family cemetery since it is close to the State Historical Marker showing |the |> site of the original home of MA Ferguson. Gate is locked. |> |> Ann |> |> We will try to do more later.... |> |> |> |> |> ==== TXBELL Mailing List ==== |> Please Clear Off-Topic Posts With The Webmaster FIRST! The List Archives |> Are At: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/archives/TXBELL-L/ | | |==== TXBELL Mailing List ==== |Please Keep Messages To Matters of Bell County Genealogy Or | History Interest! Don't Send Attachments To Postings. |