Crowder Cemetery, Vernon Parish Louisiana Submitted by Jane P. McManus ******* ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Crowder Cemetery - Vernon Parish Directions: From LA Hwy. 10 in Cravens, take LA Hwy. 399 North toward Fullerton for approximately 2.5 miles. At LA Hwy. 458, turn left and go 1.1 miles toward Fullerton Lake. Turn right at United Pentecostal Church onto Fullerton Blacktop Road. Continue .6 miles on this gravel road to #606 and turn right. This private property belongs to the Cardy Family (1996). Park at the house and get permission to cross their property, but do not attempt to find this graveyard without a guide. Elton Jackson Jr. of Leesville located the area, and with assistance from Charlie McKee of Fullerton, coordinated with the Cardy family and pointed out the general direction in the woods. When the Cardy family purchased the property, they discovered a tombstone in the shed. As they did not know where it should be, they placed it under a tree in their yard. It will be listed here, although it could have been replaced by a newer tombstone in some other cemetery, and would be listed there as well. Musgrove, Bessie Bell - 27 Nov 1900/8 Oct 1909 The small Crowder Family Cemetery is located in the woods, approximately 150 yards from the Cardy property line. There are no trails, landmarks or directions available. We searched until we accidentally came across the small fenced area, approximately 20' x 20'. The original fence with cedar posts at each corner has deteriorated and collapsed, and metal posts and wire added at a later date have also collapsed through years of neglect. Brush and trees have grown up inside the small burial ground, and the small tombstones were barely visible. Inscriptions were recorded by Jane P. McManus on 31 March 1996. Brooks, Leonce J. - 5 Oct 1924/27 Nov 1924 Weber, Mildred E. - 29 Jul 1917/9 May 1921 [2 small identical new markers near front fence] Crowder, Bilizare - 3 Feb 1886/2 Feb 1890 Crowder, Baby Ruth - 2 Mar 1893/4 Mar 1893 Crowder, Mary L. - 1 Jul ?1846?/?30 Mar 1910? [almost unreadable] [3 identical hand-made concrete markers] Lacaze, Nannie - 1882/1883 [small concrete marker behind Mary Crowder stone - no dates] Lacaze, Maggie - 1877/1885 [d/o of Lazine & Josephine LaCaze] [small concrete marker behind Bilizare Crowder stone - no dates] NOTE: The following brief outline of the Crowder family is taken from Rapides & Vernon Parish Census Records, and the personal records of the author. John R. Crowder, son of Herbert Crowder and Eliza Holloway, was born 11 October 1846 LA and died 17 April 1931 LA. He is buried in Blue Branch Cemetery, Pitkin (Vernon) LA. During the Civil War, John Crowder was a Private in Company A, LA Infantry, CSA. He married 11 February 1871 to Mary Louisa LaCaze, daughter of Soulounge LaCaze Jr. and Harriet L. (?). She is buried in this small Crowder Family Cemetery; apparently the property belonged to John and Mary at that time, as the Crowders lived in Fullerton. [JPM 1996] We don't know how many children the Crowders had, but in addition to the two babies buried in this cemetery, there were seven listed in the 1900 Vernon Parish Census, Ward 5, # 206/207: Hattie L. Crowder born March 1873; Martha J. Crowder born 18 Nov 1874 & died 27 Jun 1972 (Blue Branch); Anderson Marcus Crowder born Jul 1876; Adline F. Crowder born Apr 1878; Loretta (Lollie) Crowder born Jan 1880; Joseph Francis Crowder born 28 Oct 1881 & died 19 Oct 1929 (Blue Branch); John S. Crowder born 5 Oct 1883 & died 25 Dec 1954 (Blue Branch).