HEATH-CAISON CEMETERY - Rusk Co, Texas ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gina Heffernan - February 15, 2001 Updated January 26, 2002 Updated March 15, 2003 Updated June 16, 2005 ************************************************************************ This cemetery is in very poor condition, only two monuments are unscathed. It is located near Lake Striker in a heavily wooded area. Trees have toppled and fallen across the yard and large trees have grown up through some of the graves. Vandals have broken and scattered almost all the stones. I believe there are many more graves which I could not locate or identify. There are two areas of particular interest. One is an old cairn. It consists of many of the large rust colored rocks we find in this area. The other is the area which has been fenced off. It contains a broken headstone with the inscription "Gone but not forgotten" and "Weep not, she is only sleeping". The foot stone is present, but also broken. The fence posts are inscribed "Patented Dec 17, 1895". We believe it is Lucinda Caison. Some of the markers in this cemetery appear to be almost new, and are obvious replacements for older ones. The names are spelled as they are on the stones - I double checked the McMillen stones because a previous transcription spelled them the same. There are two identical stones with "son of W.G. and E.S. Caison", both are broken in half. The top (with the name) of one is missing and the bottom (with the dates) of the other is missing. I double checked this also, the "son of..." line is present on both stones, so there are 2 of them. These stones are William Nathan Dallas and Unknown Caison. TYLEE B. may be misread as TYLEEB. W/O is "wife of". My notes are in parenthesis, the other comments are on the stones. The earliest burials I found were of Baby Caison (died on 9/17/1862) and his mother Catherine Caison (died two days later). The latest burial was J. M. Ramey who died in 1948. This cemetery was almost completely destroyed by vandals in Aug, 2002. If you need directions, you may contact me privately but I am very cautious as to whom I give them. I have more information on this cemetery. I was contacted recently by a grandaughter of Lucinda Caison Hunt. It seems there was an article published in the Tyler newspaper about this cemetery several years ago that said that Lucinda was the mistress of W. C. Caison. This is not true, Lucinda was a cousin to WC and was married to John Carter Hunt. WC's father was Larkin and Lucinda's father was Seth - brothers. The article went on to say that women who were kept by men other than their husbands were called "witches" in those days. Hence the rumor that Lucinda was a witch and the name "the Witch's Grave" for the cemetery. It is unfortunate for the descendants of the people buried in this remote cemetery that this rumor was started. It has resulted in a great deal of damage to headstones and the cairn. Imagine my surprise when I received a message from a "new" 3rd cousin whose great-grandaunt is buried in this cemetery. Nicy Sylvester is almost related to me! More news I just had to re-visit this cemetery with my camera and I was shocked at how much damage was done 3 years ago. All the stones are now damaged except two. Lucinda's stone is back in the cemetery but it has been shattered. I either missed 4 stones or they are gone or unrecognizable. I also found two new headstones and a new footstone. The 4 that are missing are marked with * and the new ones are marked with #. The volunteers who worked on the cemetery in 2002 were able to put William Nathan Dallas' stone in order. ALPHABETICALLY #C., L. B. (a foot stone with initials L.B.C. only - Larkin?) *CAISON, Baby 09/17/1862- 09/17/1862 (Baby 1) CAISON, David 08/23/1873- 08/23/1873 "Little Babe of W. G. and C. S." *CAISON, Catherine 07/01/1841- 09/19/1862 (died two days after Baby 1) CAISON, Elmina 12/09/1847- 04/30/1894 47 yrs, 4 mos, 21 days *CAISON, James Larkin 10/30/1860- 02/28/1870 #CAISON, Larkin 5/16/1795- 12/22/1863 husband of Sarah E. 68y7m6d CAISON, Mary Elminer Willmoth 02/26/1869- 09/26/1874 daughter of W. G. & E. S. Caison CONNER, Mattie E. 06/10/1864- 07/28/1939 CAISON, Tylee B. 09/27/1874- 09/16/1878 daughter of W. G. & E. S. Caison CAISON, Unknown 12/24/1879- 01/16/1880 son of W. G. & E. S. Caison CAISON, W. G. 11/02/1839- 03/14/1881 CAISON, William Nathan Dallas 12/26/1866- 10/26/1869 Æ 2ys, 10 mos (stone broken) son of W. G. & E. S. Caison HEATH, Burrell W. 12/20/1841- 03/03/1917 HEATH, Henry O. 12/23/1886- 07/11/1918 Woodsmen of the World HEATH, Infant 01/20/1910- 01/20/1910 daughter of Mr. & Mrs. T. P. Heath HEATH, R. F. 04/15/1856- 05/29/1900 married 12/18/1878 #HEATH, T. J. 11/7/1817- 6/6/1889 HUNT, Lucinda E. 10/2/1844- 7/18/1896 W/O J.C. Hunt (stone shattered, maiden name Caison) MCMILLIEN, J. L. 04/10/1868- 07/09/1897 MCMILLEN, Mary A. 06/08/1847- 09/15/1918 RAMEY, Infant 02/13/1912- 02/13/1912 Son of J.M. & M.M. RAMEY, John M. 1864- 1948 Mason Symbol RAMEY, Mary M. 04/25/1876- 02/28/1912 W/O J.M. Ramey (died 15 days after infant) *S?, T.M. (foot stone only) T.M.S. SCOTT, Mary Elminer 08/17/1866- 11/07/1868 (stone broken) SYLVESTER, E. McCall 1825- 1901 (double stone with Nicy Ann) Mason Symbol SYLVESTER, Nicy Ann 1839- 1884 (double stone with E. McCall) Unknown (iron and heavy gauge wire mesh fence around broken head and foot stones) Chronologically: CAISON, Baby 09/17/1862- 09/17/1862 (Baby 1) CAISON, Catherine 07/01/1841- 09/19/1862 (died two days after Baby 1) CAISON, Larkin 5/16/1795- 12/22/1863 husband of Sarah E. 68y7m6d SCOTT, Mary Elminer 08/17/1866- 11/07/1868 (stone broken) CAISON, William Nathan Dallas 12/26/1866- 10/26/1869 Æ 2ys, 10 mos (stone broken) son of W. G. & E. S. Caison CAISON, James Larkin 10/30/1860- 02/28/1870 CAISON, David 08/23/1873- 08/23/1873 "Little Babe of W. G. and C. S." CAISON, Mary Elminer Willmoth 02/26/1869- 09/26/1874 daughter of W. G. & E. S. Caison CAISON, Tylee B. 09/27/1874- 09/16/1878 daughter of W. G. & E. S. Caison CAISON, Unknown 12/24/1879- 01/16/1880 son of W. G. & E. S. Caison CAISON, W. G. 11/02/1839- 03/14/1881 SYLVESTER, Nicy Ann 1839- 1884 (double stone with E. McCall) HEATH, T. J. 11/7/1817- 6/6/1889 CAISON, Elmina 12/09/1847- 04/30/1894 47 yrs, 4 mos, 21 days HUNT, Lucinda E. 10/2/1844- 7/18/1896 W/O J.C. Hunt (stone shattered, maiden name Caison) MCMILLIEN, J. L. 04/10/1868- 07/09/1897 HEATH, R. F. 04/15/1856- 05/29/1900 married 12/18/1878 SYLVESTER, E. McCall 1825- 1901 (double stone with Nicy Ann) Mason Symbol HEATH, Infant 01/20/1910- 01/20/1910 daughter of Mr. & Mrs. T. P. Heath RAMEY, Infant 02/13/1912- 02/13/1912 Son of J.M. & M.M. RAMEY, Mary M. 04/25/1876- 02/28/1912 W/O J.M. Ramey (died 15 days after infant) HEATH, Burrell W. 12/20/1841- 03/03/1917 HEATH, Henry O. 12/23/1886- 07/11/1918 Woodsmen of the World MCMILLEN, Mary A. 06/08/1847- 09/15/1918 CONNER, Mattie E. 06/10/1864- 07/28/1939 RAMEY, John M. 1864- 1948 Mason Symbol There is an earlier transcription for this cemetery at the Rusk County Library and comparing this transcription with the one in the library answers some of the questions about who is buried here.