How unlikely could it be when searching for lost family names and plots that you could come across a man, who has spent roughly six years doing just that? Sit back in your favorite arm chair, and let me tell you a tale that is full of skill, doggedness and a hound dog's nose for a trail.
Meet David M. Horton, expert in underwater acoustics dealing in anti-submarine warfare, turned electrical engineer, turned historian. Dealing with particulars straight out of The Hunt For the Red October his attention to details in research is unrivialsed in this area.
Our story starts off with taking a photo of an abandoned church. I went up to the Chamber of Commerce and asked if they had a list of all the churches in Titus county. They had exactly the list I was looking for. The lady I was speaking with happened to hand me a list of all the documented cemeteries in Titus as well. This is where my hunt of churches was abandoned in favor of cemeteries. Maybe it was the ghost stories I heard as a child.
Suddenly my eyes came across something that really made me interested. It was a single grave cemetery in the middle of nowhere. When searching for cemeteries in this area, Mr. Horton's name will come up. Seems the packet of cemeteries I was using previously to finding the site was rather out of date. I was in luck here, considering he's pretty knowledgeable. "I spent roughly siz years working on this." He said. Large volumes of work have been done by Horton, all in the name of history.
The lone grave is John J. Murrie originally from Clarksville. He had taken ill while visiting family as it was related to myself and that of Mr. Horton. The family then began the long hard trail to bring his body back to Clarksville. The Sulphur River was flooded and they could not cross. "They then asked permission to bury his body on the Fishback's land." Para-quoted from Horton's Murrie page on the TXGenWeb Project. They were granted permission and so buried him in what is now a clearing out in the Talco area. With the aid of Horton's G.P.S. coordination I located it. With help from my significant other, we found that some of the Murrie family from the Red River County area moved to Upshur County. All traces of the Murrie name disappear after 1940 via census records.
Ellis Ranch cemetery as stated by Mr. Horton is located in the Davy Withworth Headright survey. He quotes Lynch Harper, as there being, "6 to 20 ex-slaves buried in this cemetery." Dr. Ellis has been referenced in Lynch Harper's Cemeteries of Titus County as stating that a young African-American named Toby Newton was one of the buried within the cemetery. This cemetery is currently lost to us, as is another. "Unnamed Cemetery #2" is located on lands currently owned by Keith Wofford. Horton states Mr. Wofford, "some previous tenant of the land removed the stones that once marked the cemetery and used them on the fence line." An estimated 40 graves existed in the cemetery and the only identifiable one being Simon LePugh, whom was buried in 1902.
Mr. Horton and Oscar Hill cleaned up West New Hope last year but it still needs a lot of work done, these cemeteries can't save themselves, so it really is up to individuals that care about this history and the foundation of their county to try and save many of these abandoned cemeteries. Another cemetery that needs possible saving is that of the Pitts Cemetery. It is currently owned by a paper company. At the time of the interview with Mr. Horton the name of the paper company was not forthcoming to memory, nevertheless it still needs to be cleaned and made fit. The Pitts cemetery is one of the larger abandoned cemeteries in the area. It is estimated that 20 plus graves are located on its grounds. Mr. Horton states there are currently 20 monuments still standing at the site.
The Christian cemetery was located at East First Street and South Lide Avenue Horton states. Horton and Traylor both state that around the turn of the 20th century Felix W. Fitzpactrick had the monuments moved from Christian Cemetery to Masonic. Mr. Horton states, "there were numerous graves in this cemetery on which no attempt was made to remove the remains, and doubtless many houses in the area have been built over the graves." But he does state that the Johnsons, Wesley and Bill Johnson, if they found any remains at all were placed in one box and moved.
So I ask the readers of this fine publication please if you can try and help us, the people that care about the history and the lives lived in this area, to help us keep it strong and alive. David Horton spent six years putting together a list of the cemeteries and their whereabouts. We really need to understand a lot about the world we live in and the world and times in which our ancestors lived. People had it rough in the old days. Take this into account. John J. Murrie was buried by the road side. This being in 1869. The grave was buried by the old Clarksville road. To my knowledge this road no longer exist. Times have changed, but this doesn't mean we have to adandoned those that came before us.