Mayo Cemetery - Vernon Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Jane McManus ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** MAYO CEMETERY - Vernon Parish From the junction of LA Hwy. 28 & LA 121, go east toward Alexandria approximately 2.5 miles beyond Slagle turnoff (LA Hwy. 121). Turn left onto gravel road opposite Allen Gordy Road and continue for .5 mile to a unimproved logging road on the left. Park here as logging gate is locked, and walk on dirt road for approximately .7 miles. [A key to the gate can be obtained from the brick house just before you reach the gate. Go past the gate about 100 yards, turn right, keep on the road to the right as the road turns left. The small fenced Mayo cemetery, which houses only a few graves, is located approximately .2 miles on the right near the banks of the Calcasieu River in Vernon Parish, where the old Nolan Trace once crossed Flactor Creek. The property was the original homestead of Alfred Mayo, he was buried here about 12 years and Catherine Youngblood Mayo was buried here about 6 years before George Washington Mayo migrated to Louisiana from Florida after the Civil War. This property later became the home of George W. Mayo Sr.] (1) Today, this small burial ground is an excellent example of what can be accomplished when just a few people take the time to care. Although abandoned and neglected for many years, the area was recently cleaned and a new chain-link fence erected for protection. Leaders in this effort were Karl & Doris (Dollie) Mayo of Hicks, Pearl (Tippit) Cooley of Slagle & Lea (Cooley) Duvall of Leesville. Other concerned relatives donated money and time to assist in the effort. At first, each grave was cleaned and large rocks were used to mark each one. An aggressive effort was then made to identify the 17 unmarked burials. Prior to their death, Napoleon Mayo and Edmond Cooley were able to provide burial information, and Jack Tippit who once lived on the property also helped with the identification. Karl & Dollie provided genealogical information from personal, as well as census records, and this information is used here inside brackets. The cemetery was originally recorded by Essie (Tippit) Parker, after Jack & Celia Tippit helped locate the abandoned site in November 1976. Karl & Dollie Mayo, 1994, provided updates and information on new tombstones added since that time. Submitted by Jane P. McManus 12 September 2000. Additional information on the Mayo family was provided by Joseph Hirsch of Arkansas (9 September 2000). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [marked burials] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cooley, Stephen - 1820/1866, Pvt. Co B 1st LA Inf. CSA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayo, George Washington, Sr. - [1824 Holmes Co. FL/1879], Co. K, 2nd FL Inf. CSA [s/o Alfred Franklin Mayo & Catherine Youngblood] [Husband of (1) Emily - died ca 1851, (2) Adeline Cumby & (3) Elizabeth Callahan] [Children of 1st wife: (1) Elizabeth (Norris) & Elsey Ann (Hall); Children of 2nd wife: Phebrian (FebryAnn) (Hall), Elijah Light, Alfred Davis, Vina Ann (Lewis), Mack, Emma (Jowers), & Early Mayo. Children of 3nd wife: George W. Jr, William, Van, Martin, Luckey (Bennett) & Gilbert Mayo.] (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayo, Alfred Franklin - 1792 Chesterfield, SC/ca 1854 Rapides Parish, Mayo, Catherine Youngblood - 1804 SC/1862 Rapides Parish Wife of Alfred Franklin Mayo [Parents of Martin, George Washington, Ezekiel, Alfred Franklin Jr., Samuel, Richard C., Catherine (French), Emily, Carolina & Angeline Mayo] (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayo, Adeline Cumby - ca 1826 Holmes Co. FL/ca 1871 Wife of George Washington Mayo Sr. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lewis, Vina Ann Mayo - b. 1855 Holmes Co. FL, [d/o George Washington Mayo Sr. & Adeline Cumby Mayo, w/o Allen "Bud" Lewis, mother of Ellen (Monk), Alice (Wells), & Mary L. (Guinns). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayo, Samuel - ca 1829 Holmes Co. FL [Samuel, son of Alfred Mayo Sr & Catherine Youngblood, died on 7 Jan 1863 and is buried in the Mississippi Confederate Cemetery, Vicksburg, MS. His wife Susan Watson Mayo was remarried by 1865 to Eli Woods.](1) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayo, Daisy - 1 Dec 1879 Allen Par. LA/1 Nov 1885 [d/o Elijah Light Mayo & Elizabeth Bryant] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayo, Lucinda J. - [no dates] [d/o George Washington Mayo, Sr. & Elizabeth Callahan] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bass, James - 5 Feb 1807/drowned ca. 1855 in Calcasieu River [s/o John Bass & Delaney Taylor, h/o Emily Groves] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norris, Infant of Daniel Duncan Norris, Sr. & Elizabeth Mayo. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baker, Dr. - [no information] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cooley, Steven - ca 1834/ca 1884, father of Allen Wesley Cooley -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [4 unmarked, unknown burials] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Footnotes: (1) Jean Mayo Hirsch (JHirsch@arkansas.net) submitted the updated information on the Alfred and George Mayo family. He can be contacted for additional information.