Historic Cemeteries of the Fort Polk Area: A Review and Guide to Relevant Literature and Reports Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk April 2007 THE ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCE BOOK CULTURAL HISTORY OF FORT POLK VOLUME 6 HISTORIC CEMETERIES OF THE FORT POLK AREA: A REVIEW AND GUIDE TO RELEVANT LITERATURE AND REPORTS Published by US Army, Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk August 2006 Zion Hill Church. This picture was taken in 1937. The structure is no longer standing. The Zion Hill Cemetery is located behind the church; several headstones can be seen in the background. Photograph provided by USDA, Forest Service, Heritage Program, Pineville, Louisiana. HISTORIC CEMETERIES OF FORT POLK AREA: A REVIEW AND GUIDE TO RELEVANT LITERATURE AND REPORTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Our thanks go out to all the families and friends who helped preserve the cemetery resources of this area. Special recognition is due to Jane Parker McManus, Jack Hadnot, John and Billie Guy, Ricky Robertson, Lynda Jeane Mitchell, and Dollie Mayo. By searching out the genealogical connections, calling attention to the value of these cemeteries, and diligently recording the locations and burial inscriptions, they have created a debt of gratitude that this and each succeeding generation must acknowledge and attempt to repay. It is important to mention several government employees who have significantly contributed to our knowledge and appreciation of Fort Polk cemeteries following the establishment of the military post: Mr. Jon Tucker, Ms. Millie Tew, Mr. Ted Hammerschmidt, Ms. Gina Lay, and Mr. Jesse James. This volume covering twenty-nine (29) cemeteries in, or near, the Fort Polk area is one in a series of Environmental Source Books encouraged by Dr. Charles H. Stagg and Ms. Stephanie Stephens. Mr. James Grafton has been the driving spirit of this volume. He and his staff of Robert Hays, Scott Faris and Ellen Ibert, plus Charles W. Parker did a major share of the fieldwork. Contributors to this volume include Scott Faris, James Grafton, Ellen Ibert, Michael Hargrave, Diane Mann, John Mann and Don Wiggins. INTRODUCTION Most of the early cemeteries located on or near Fort Polk were quite small because the early settlements themselves were small and widely scattered. Settlements of the area currently encompassed by the Fort Polk boundaries were sparse prior to the Civil War. An estimate of less than 700 people in 1860 was calculated for an area of 218.5 square miles of the Main Fort and Peason Ridge area. This calculation determined a population density of 3.1 people per square mile (Smith 1999). Some families have conducted their own cemetery research. Family genealogists learned very quickly that complete accuracy can be a very elusive thing. Events, dates, relation- ships and even names are sometimes misinterpreted over several generations. We have tried to make the information contained herein as accurate as possible. However, researchers should always attempt to find primary sources when conducting their own genealogical research. Hopefully this report will assist the researcher by narrowing their ancestral search. It is apparent that most of the early graves were either unmarked or marked with perishable markers. Gravestones with death dates prior to 1872 have been identified for only twenty-two individuals beginning with Philemon Bryan in 1849 (McManus 1978, 1979, 1991). Two Fullerton cemeteries are included in this report and, as far as can be determined, were never fully documented. These two cemeteries are presently located on the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service land; an area that is occasionally used by Fort Polk for training purposes. 1 1.0 ORGANIZATION OF RESEARCH AND USE OF REFERENCES CITED Fourteen cemeteries, included herein, were assigned military map reference numbers. Some cemeteries assigned reference numbers had existing names. Other cemeteries have only a reference family or community name. Cemeteries in this report are referred to by either a name – Burns, Castor, Davis; reference number – Fort Polk 2, Fort Polk 7; or both designations. A list of cemeteries included in this report can be found on page 3, Table 1.1, of this document. Some of these cemeteries have had various names or numbers over the years. Column three of Table 1.1 reflects the name of the cemeteries as they appear in this report. Column four reflects the starting page, in this document, of the referenced cemetery. Section 2.0 contains information for each of the individual cemeteries covered by this review. Each cemetery recorded in this report was issued a separate corresponding number in this section for specific reference and designation. At the beginning of each cemetery section is a summary of where the cemetery is located and general directions for finding its location. Longitude and latitude coordinates are included; and, military grid coordinates are provided for the Fort Polk Special maps. We have also included the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid coordinates conversions to North American Datum (NAD) 1927 projections and given reference to the specific United States Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute topographic quad sheets. A list follows with information for each individual burial located within the specific cemetery. In many cases, grave markers were either missing or have become unreadable over time. In some of those cases, information regarding specific burials came from genealogical researchers or family members. Those entries are denoted with brackets. Section 3.0 is an alphabetized name index of all names mentioned in the cemetery listings to assist researchers with locating specific individuals within this report. Reference page numbers are listed for each name. Section 4.0 includes comments and results on geophysical and traditional surveying. In our efforts to determine the location of these cemeteries and document each burial within the cemetery several non-invasive survey methods were utilized. Geophysical survey methods were incorporated in this report for the two Fullerton cemeteries to document unmarked graves and compare the data results with plane table alidade mapping results. Global Positioning System (GPS) data was collected and utilized to cross check mapping results from the two Fullerton cemeteries. GPS was also used at the Holly Springs cemetery. Section 5.0 indicates the USGS 7.5 minute topographic quad sheet for each cemetery and gives the UTM projection for the actual cemetery location. This table is followed by 10 figures of reproduced 7.5 minute topographic quad sheets with cemeteries plotted. These figures are not intended to replace the use of topographic quad sheets. They have been inserted to aid the researcher in locating cemetery site locations. Section 6.0 is a bibliography of the published source material utilized for this report. 2 HISTORIC CEMETERIES OF THE FORT POLK AREA TABLE 1.1 A Good Home Page Number Fort Polk Files for a Poor Man This Report #1 Burns Burns 1 Burns 4 #2 Cavanaugh Self 2 Self 5 #3 Watson Watson 3 Haymon/Watson 6 #4 Mill Creek Mill Creek 4 Mill Creek 9 #5 Zion Hill Zion Hill 5 Zion Hill 11 #6 Davis Davis 6 Davis 14 #7 Sarver Unnamed 7 Unnamed 17 #8 Smith/Maddox 8 Smith/Maddox 18 #9 Sirman Sermon 9 Sirman 19 #10 Woods 10 Woods 20 #11 Brack Hunt 11 Hunt 21 #12 Holly Springs Holly Springs 12 Holly Springs 23 #13 Smith Smith 13 Smith 31 #14 Merritt 14 Merritt 32 Castor 15 Castor 33 Franklin 16 Franklin 43 Glass Window 17 Glass Window 44 Gravel Hill 18 Gravel Hill 52 Holton 19 Holton 71 Johnson 20 Johnson/Bailey 76 Liberty 21 Liberty 80 Mayo 22 Mayo 82 McAllen 23 McAllen/Smith 84 Smart 24 Smart Chapel 85 #17 Fullerton East 25 Fullerton East 89 #18 Fullerton West 26 Fullerton West 90 27 O’Bannion 91 #15 Harriet Gill 28 Harriet Gill 98 #16 Dolly Gill 29 Dolly Gill 99 2.0 CEMETERY LISTINGS 2.1 Burns Cemetery (Fort Polk #1 – Burns Cemetery) This small cemetery is located near the southwest corner of North Fort Polk off of Texas Avenue at latitude 31.108N and longitude –93.182W. Go north on Texas to North Fort 0.2 miles before Avenue A and turn left onto a gravel road to the left. The cemetery is on right. The military grid coordinates are 15RVQ 82581 41673. It can be located on the Fort Polk 7.5 minute topographic quad sheet at 482580.6375 Easting and 344148.6692 Northing. (See figure 5.6) Most of the markers are made of concrete and are difficult to impossible to read due to damage or erosion. Some were homemade with just a name and no dates; most of those were illegible. Row 1: Taylor, Lavicie Jane, daughter of N. E. & J. D. Taylor – 26 Sep 1892 / 11 Jan 1893 Mathis, J. P., son of J. W. & Carrie [Burns]) Mathis – 1 Mar 1913 / 7 Aug 1915 Mathis, Infant son of J. W. & Carrie [Burns] Mathis – b&d 25 Oct 1911 Mathis, Willie H., son of J. W. & Carrie [Burns] Mathis – 3 Jun 1908 / 26 Nov 1916 Row 2: Palmer, Ellen A. Burns d. 1909 [new stone replaces old unreadable concrete marker] [daughter of James Polk Burns] Burns, Infant – [no dates, almost unreadable concrete marker] Burns, Infant – [no dates, almost unreadable concrete marker] Row 3: Burns, Naomia – [unreadable concrete marker, info from 1977 reading] Burns, Mattie [no dates, unreadable concrete marker] [daughter of James Polk Burns] Burns, Dolly – [no dates, unreadable concrete marker] [daughter of James Polk Burns] Burns, [James] Polk – [no dates, unreadable concrete marker] Smith, S. E. – 20 Nov 1847/23 Jul 1901 [married first to James Polk Burns, 2nd marriage to (?) Smith] Crosby, Lyda Emiley – 18 Dec 1905 / 13 May 1907 [daughter of T. J. Crosby & Mollie Burns] Crosby, Edith E. -- 16 Jul 1910/26 Oct 1913 Crosby, Jesse M.