My family and I took a recent road trip to Tyler, Texas. On the way, I took pictures of Pleasant Hill Cemetery, located southwest of Bullard, Texas on FM 2137.

Richard Ruel Tarrant, my 3rd great grand uncle, was born 8/13/1859 in Cherokee County, Texas.  Richard was 51 years-old at the time of his death. His gravesite, along with those of his wife, Melissa Gabrielle Tarrant (Cole), and several members of her family are located at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

Brian Davis – James Michael Davis – James Nead Davis – Margie Leaine Davis (Kirkpatrick) – Woodie Tarrant Kirkpatrick – Mary Louise Oliphant/Kirkpatrick (Tarrant/sister of Richard Ruel Tarrant)

Mary Louise “Mollie Lou” Oliphant/Kirkpatrick (Tarrant), my 3rd great grandmother, was born 7/27/1856 in Bullard, Texas. She died of “natural causes”, but heart trouble was listed on her death record. Mollie Lou was 84 years-old at the time of her death, and had three children with her first husband, John Marion Kirkpatrick (died in 1886): Woodie, Jack, and Johnnie Mae. She had two children with her second husband, Valcour Little Oliphant: Valcour Leon and Louis. Her gravesite is located at Old Larissa Cemetery in Mount Selman, Texas.

Brian Davis – James Michael Davis – James Nead Davis – Margie Leaine Davis (Kirkpatrick) – Woodie Tarrant Kirkpatrick – Mary Louise Oliphant/Kirkpatrick (Tarrant)

Lewis F. Kirkpatrick, my 3rd great grand uncle, was born 2/15/1863 in Cherokee County, Texas. He died in Jacksonville, Texas of leg gangrene on 12/29/1934 at the age of 71. “L.F.” is the son of my 2nd great grandparents, James Isaac Kirkpatrick and Martha Margaret Fulton. He was a farmer in Cherokee County and married Mary Gay around the year 1900. I’m always intrigued by headstones with a picture of the deceased on them. This is invaluable to a genealogist, as it may be the only photo we come across. L.F. is buried in Union Grove Cemetery in Jacksonville, Texas.

Brian Davis – James Michael Davis – James Nead Davis – Margie Leaine Davis (Kirkpatrick) – Woodie Tarrant Kirkpatrick – John Marion Kirkpatrick (brother of Lewis F. Kirkpatrick)

James Isaac Kirkpatrick Military Headstone

James Isaac Kirkpatrick, my 4th great grandfather, was born 10/13/1827 in Tennessee.  He later moved to Cherokee County, Texas and married Martha Margaret Fulton there on 12/9/1949.  “Isaac”, as he was known, lived in Cherokee County the rest of his life.  He prospered as a farmer, and, according to the 1860 United States Federal Census, owned a 12 year-old female house slave.

Isaac served as a Private in the 17th Texas Cavalry (Confederate States of America) during the Civil War.  He passed away on 4/15/1912 at the age of 84 and was buried in Union Grove Cemetery in Jacksonville, Texas. 

To this point, I have been unable to locate any information on his lineage.  I hope to visit the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research in the near future, with the hopes of uncovering more information.

Brian Davis – James Michael Davis – James Nead Davis – Marjorie Leaine Davis (Kirkpatrick) – Woodie Tarrant Kirkpatrick – John Marion Kirkpatrick – James Isaac Kirkpatrick

The tombstone featured this Tuesday is of my 3rd great grandmother, Eliza Ruth Gibson (Harris).   My wife and I visited her grave 2/09, on a road trip through northern Texas.  Eliza Ruth was born in 1839 in Washington County, Arkansas to Samuel and Jane Harris (Smith).   Her family moved to Cherokee County, Texas between 1844 and 1850.  She later married my 3rd great grandfather, Berrien Wylie Gibson, on 6/24/1858 in Tyler, Smith County, Texas.   They resided in Smith County, Texas until Berrien Wylie’s death in 1888.  She was later committed to the North Texas Hospital for the Insane (now the Terrell State Hospital) in Terrell, Kaufman County, Texas.  Eliza Ruth was a patient there from approx. 1900, until her death on 10/21/1920. 

Eliza Ruth Gibson Death Certificate

Her death certificate lists the cause of death as “Arteriosclerosis”, with “Insanity” as a contributing factor.  Due to privacy laws, I have been unable to obtain any of her patient information from the hospital or the state of Texas. 

She was buried in Wildwood Cemetery, located on the hospital grounds, in a numbered grave.  Through the generosity of donors and volunteers, the Wildwood Cemetery Association has placed a “dignified and permanent headstone inscribed with the name and dates of birth and death” on many of the graves, including Eliza Ruth’s.  Please click here to read more about the hospital, Wildwood Cemetery and the “Numbers to Names” campaign.

Brian Davis – James Michael Davis – James Nead Davis – Marjorie Leaine Davis (Kirkpatrick) – Burla Eugene Kirkpatrick (Gibson) – Eliza Ruth Gibson (Harris)