Col. Langner is alive and well. I was just at his 1880 farm house in June and he is recovering very nicely from knee surgery. Rudene is looking and feeling great as well. Both of them wanted to take a trip with Cindy to the suspension bridge that's being made into a monument as the super highway bypasses it from Bonham to Sherman. I think they had set aside a day in the next week for he and Rudene to take their grandkids. No, the Col is in great shape and in especially great spirits. He is a neat person and lots of fun to be around. The job you had doesn't sound very exciting but very rewarding instead. Did you get many cemeteries cleaned out. What approach did you take and who did you get to do the work? I agree that the timing of the clean up is important. We were in the cemeter (Greenwood) the first week in June when it wasn't hot, and we got fairly far back and down the hill on the west side, but many of the stones appear to have been burned when the fire swept thru it in the 30's. There are many downed stones over on the west side and several Confederacy markers. That alone makes me more than anxious to get something done. It's time we make an issue of the veterans that are buried there. If we don't do it now, those that want to destroy anything with the confederate history will eventually do so. It's as much a part of history as WWII. Anyway, I'm ready to get started doing some of these and, if necessary, let's get a bunch of us in the North Texas area and active on this web site to find a way to get together with our own picks, shovels, etc. and start a cleanup group of our own. We could pick out a cemetery once a month and meet and go about it. Just a thought. Let's see what the others say. Jan ----- Original Message ----- Wrom: GMEPYOQ Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2002 11:43 AM To: TXFANNIN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TXFANNIN-L] White Family Cemetary let me know of anything that is done. Check the Fannin cemetery info in my pages on Coontown Cemetery I can add the same thing for any cemetery showing the work being done on it etc. I think Col. Langer died in this last year. I think I put his obit in my collection to add sometime. He had cancer when I met him a few years ago and is/or will be buried there. It was in better shape then as he and earlier his wife worked on it often. Until the first of July I was the Texas Tombstone Project Manager. The horrible part are the dozens of reports I got each day about such cemeteries. I found there are some 50'000 cemeteries supposed to be in Texas according to the historical commission guesses. We average about 250 of them in the Eastern half of the state counties. With 256 Texas counties. Some 70 % are not kept by anyone. In Fannin County of those I have on the list ( I have another list of some that are not proven or found in records yet.) there are 241 that I have something on , another 23 on my find or prove list)in Fannin Co. In Grayson Co. I have 145 found and recorded for Grayson and another 25 not found or records yet. The amounts are astounding. It takes descendants to do anything because there is no way for the state or even historical groups to handle the numbers of cemeteries in bad shape. I want to help if I can if anyone is doing anything with a cemetery . Let me know the web can help publicize the facts and show what is being done. The prisoners do get to go out and work on things but they are being used by towns alot to clear brush from creeks etc. The warden decides what gets done and some groups are turned down due to time etc. You also have to get a crew to feed them and provide what they need. They use a some of their own tools though. I've had the pleasure of watching them work on a cemetery , they do a good job but refuse to allow a tractor in. They get a little over zealous with it. Also you will have a good laugh when you realize you are in the woods with about 20 prisoners all armed with machetes and chain saws with two guards with a gun! :) (they don't send dangerous ones on the loose though) It is miserable work because of the poison ivy and snakes. They try to do that work later in the year because of that and the heat. I've helped in the past work on them but am not up to the clean up stage but I can help with the repair knowledge. I've attended workshops with the state historical commission and have info that might help on what to do with them. You will find the damaged stones on your mind all your days. There are some cemeteries where I have had to just leave all the parts I've tried to piece like a puzzle and found I had parts of twenty stones, each only a few letters of the names or dates. If you run on them don't worry they aren't from some weird cult or something , just a rescue effort! Greenwood at least is fenced fairly well. There was only one large (huge) stone down which had moved under its own weight down the hill and lodged against a tree that is the only thing holding it up. There is no way to get a tractor to that stone so jacks and maybe a come-a-long to a large tree might work. It was overgrown, bindweed and poision ivy very thick but in good shape otherwise. I dont' think it would take too much work to get it back into shape. Mostly raking/cutting /mowing. The stones are in pretty good shape. It would need to be done in winter or late fall at least. I was sent out there by the state to check the historical marker there. It was fine but needs the black background repainted. Susan tabearc@msn.com wrote: > > Susan: > > I totally agree with Pat. The state of the cemetaries in both Grayson and Fannin is a disgrace. > My Great Grandparents are buried in Greenwood Cemetery just south of Savoy and the brush > and overgrowth is so intense that I lost my glasses in it in June. My GGrandfather is a Civil > War veteran (having fought for the Texas 9th Infantry from the beginning until the end of the > war when he was released as a prisoner of war at Meridian Mississippi). There are numerous > other veterans from the Civil War buried there and there is a Special Civil War Marker inside > the Cemetery. > > The land was donated to Savoy by Col Langner (Jenkins descendent) who is retired military > and too old to take care of it. Cindy Page (BellsTx web page) recommended we ask the > Bonham prison warden to bring the prisoners out and have them do the clean up on these. > I fully support this action and am ready to do whatever is necessary to get this thing > organized. > > I will gladly approach the warden with this project with support and organization. We need > to know which cemeteries are in need and the extent of clearing out, their exact locations, > size, the estimated time, etc. This could become a big project that could reap the Warden > and his prisoners some accolades among the community with some good press coverage, > but achieve the desired results we are seeking. > > If interested, I'll be glad to do whatever I can. I've handled many projects in the past and > dealt with the press on numerous occasions, so this is a very familiar area for me. Have > anyone interested contact me and we'll get this project going. > > Jan Good > tabearc@msn.com > > > ----- Original Message ----- > Wrom: YCGPKYL > Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2002 11:04 AM > To: TXFANNIN-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [TXFANNIN-L] White Family Cemetary > > although you may have to explain it to the landowner, no one can stop > someone from visiting a cemetery in Texas. It doesn't' matter who owns > the land around it. Anyone can make 'reasonable' access to the cemetery > for visiting. If anyone needs the laws and the statutes to keep I can > send them . > It is frustrating how many landowners don't understand this but they > need to be informed. NO land owner can change the fact the cemetery has > precedence over their usage of the land. > susan > > PHa2221@aol.com wrote: > > > > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > > > Surnames: Paternal lines Moore, Burrell, White, Daugherty, Davis, Clack > > Classification: Query > > > > Message Board URL: > > > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/1hB.2ACE/1452 > > > > Message Board Post: > > > > Is there a way for decendants to be able to get to this cemetery. My Dad wanted to go to it one last time. But was unable to do so. I couldn't get his wheel chair through the dirt and barbed wire. > > > > That was a very sad moment for both of us. He has since passed away. I would like to be able to get there before all the markers are gone or destroyed but need someone to direct us decendants to the owner of the property and how we go about getting permission to cross into land that has been fenced to get to a cemetary that needs help before it is completely destroyed. > > > > Would appreciate all the help we can get. Oh by the way, the only sign I saw was "Goats for sale". > > > > Please someone help us. > > > > Pat > > > > ==== TXFANNIN Mailing List ==== > > Genealogists are time unravelers. > > ==== TXFANNIN Mailing List ==== > Genealogists are time unravelers. > > ==== TXFANNIN Mailing List ==== > So many dead men! So little time! ==== TXFANNIN Mailing List ==== He who dies with the most ancestors wins!