TX McKenzie Cemetery, Oletha, and Cox Cemetery, Thornton, Limestone County 10/2/2021

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I took the same route home that afternoon because the second cemetery I wanted to visit was very close to the first one. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I arrived there at 5:41pm....Cox Cemetery, Limestone County. This one had been on my list for awhile too. To me, it was a bonus because as I mentioned earlier, there was heavy rain in the forecast the day before and I felt like I would be lucky to get 1 cemetery visit in. The gate and arch were a pleasant surprise too. They are newer than the one in the picture of the cemetery gate/arch on FindaAGrave and I added a new picture to the cemetery's FIndAGrave page today.
 
The historical marker at Cox Cemetery. That was a pleasant surprise too. Before today, there was no picture of it on the cemetery's FindAGrave page, but there is now.


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The historical marker at McKenzie Cemetery.



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@bdtex, thank for this !

Mckenzie is one of the major branches of my paternal linage.

That family branch, along with many of us moved into Texas during the 1840's.
While I have no idea if this is the same McKenzie family, (probably not).
These are some great photos.

It actually looks identical to one of the Mckenzie family private graveyards over here.
I cleaned using Windex with vinegar

@John Winn is the expert on this topic !

Next year I plan to request his advice on cleaning two gravestones.

What may work well cleaning the kitchen sink, might be detrimental
to an old monument.


I'm only thinking "out loud".
 
@bdtex, thank for this !

Mckenzie is one of the major branches of my paternal linage.

That family branch, along with many of us moved into Texas during the 1840's.
While I have no idea if this is the same McKenzie family, (probably not).
These are some great photos.

It actually looks identical to one of the Mckenzie family private graveyards over here.


@John Winn is the expert on this topic !

Next year I plan to request his advice on cleaning two gravestones.

What may work well cleaning the kitchen sink, might be detrimental
to an old monument.


I'm only thinking "out loud".
I'll just say that I do not endorse anything other than water, D/2, or Wet & Forget for cleaning stones. Things you can buy at the grocery store are always poor choices and can cause damage to stones (somewhat depends on what kind of stone but should be avoided).

I'm always available should you desire some advice. I can provide the current best practices. Thanks for trying to do it the right way.

Edit: I'm always uncomfortable with the term "expert" - especially regarding me - but, regarding cemetery preservation and restoration, let's just say I'm a person of some twelve year's dedicated experience (as in three to eight hours a week, eight months of the year). I'm sure there are people more educated and experienced than I - who we might well call experts (i.e. people with degrees) - but I'm confident that I know the best practices and have mastered the fundamentals of preservation and restoration (and have a few advanced skills). I only say all of that to let folks know that I can be a dependable resource if you are interested in cemetery preservation (or just cleaning a few stones). It always disturbs me when I see people damaging old stones (usually just out of ignorance).
 
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Cox Cemetery is less than a mile off TX 937 on FM 3371. FM 3371 runs right past the cemetery and actually crosses the center of Lake Limestone. You can see that if you click on the "Show Map" link on FindAGrave. One of these days I am going to make that drive. FM 3371 is to the right of the historical marker in my picture above.

According to FindAGrave, there are 214 burials at Cox Cemetery. FindAGrave says it is in the town of Groesbeck but Thornton is closer. There are 3 Confederate veterans buried there. Two of them have civilian gravestones and 1 has an upright Confederate gravestone. I knew the Confederate gravestone needed cleaning. The 2 civilian gravestones looked okay in the FindAGrave pictures.

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/3083/cox-cemetery
 
Pvt. John S. Lewis, Co. B, 10th Texas Infantry. 19 fold3 pages. He enlisted at age 21 on October 10, 1861 for the war. He is "Present" on the October 1861 - April 1864 Company Muster Rolls. He was captured at Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post on January 11, 1863 and sent to Camp Douglas. He was paroled on April 1,1863 and sent to City Point, VA for exchange on April 7, 1863. On an undated hospital roll at Ocmulgee Hospital, Macon, Georgia for a gunshot wound. Returned to duty on June 17, 1864. According to NPS, the regiment was consolidated with 2 other regiments after Arkansas Post and sent to the Western Theater and served at Chickamauga to Bentonville.

He is on the 1870, 1880 and 1900 Census as a farmer in Limestone County with his wife and kids. He filed a Pension Application in September 1909, approved February 1910. He died in 1925. His wife died in 1933. According to FindAGrave, they had 5 kids. Only he and his wife are buried there. There are 10 "Thomas"s buried there. I suspect he and wife had old gravestones replaced with new ones at some point. Had to take the picture at an angle to keep my shadow out of it.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84604190/john-steven-lewis


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Pvt. Obediah Cox, Co. K, 12th Texas Cavalry and Eutah Cavalry, Limestone County, 4th Regt., Texas Dragoons, 19th Brigade, Texas State Troops. He enlisted at age 20 on September 29, 1861 in the Texas State Troops for 12 months and was discharged on October 28, 1861. 3 fold3 pages from the 12th Texas Cavalry...an Index Card, Company Muster-In Roll and Company Muster Roll. He mustered-in to Co. K, 12th Texas Cavalry on 10/28/1861. Big gap in records then a September-December 1863 Company Muster Roll that says "Absent. Furloughed to Texas period 46 days from Nov 25, 1863." That's it. According to NPS, the regiment "skirmished the Federals in Arkansas and Louisiana." He is on the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 Census in Limestone County as a farmer. Even though he donated land for the cemetery, he apparently was not a wealthy man. He filed a Pension Application in March 1913, approved September 1913. He died in June 1914. His widow(2nd wife) filed a Pension Application in June 1914, approved same day filed. According to FindAGrave and the cemetery historical marker, he was married twice and had 12 kids. He, both wives and 6 kids are buried there. There are 26 "Cox"s buried there.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31648112/obediah-cox


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All I did to his gravestone was flag it and spray it and his wife's next to him real good a couple of times. I took this picture of them close to the end of my visit.

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Pvt. Cox's Texas Muster Card. A lot of information packed into it. I like the description of the regiment's arms on the second page.


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Pvt. William H. Brown, Co. B, 8th Battalion Georgia Infantry. 12 fold3 pages and lots of gaps in his records. He enlisted on October 5, 1861 for 12 months. He is "Present" on the May-September 1862 Company Muster Rolls. "Absent on sick furlough." for the rest of 1862 and much of 1863 but "Present" on the March-June 1963 CMR. "Present" on the Jan/Feb 1864 CMR. On the March-August 1864 he was "Absent in hospital from wounds rec'd at Kennesaw Mountain." From NPS:

"8th Infantry Battalion was organized with six companies during the early spring of 1862 at Savannah, Georgia. Some of the men were from Adairsville and Thornburgh, and Gordon County. For a time the unit served in the Department of South Carolina, Georiga, and Florida, then it was assigned to Gist's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. After the operations in North Mississippi, it fought with the army from Chickamauga to Nashville and ended the war in North Carolina. This battalion contained 232 men and 183 arms in December, 1863, and was included in the surrender on April 26, 1865."

He is on the 1900, 1910 and 1930 Census in Limestone County as a farmer. It's not known when his wife died or where she is buried. He died in 1930. He and 4 of his kids are buried there. There are 15 "Brown"s buried there. I knew from the 2008 picture of his gravestone on FindAGrave that it needed cleaning bad.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25658659/william-henry-brown


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I scraped and scrubbed Pvt. Brown's gravestone as best I could. This is what it looked like before I sprayed it. I sprayed it one more time before I left.


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Took this last photo of Pvt. Brown's gravesite just before I left. I'm guessing those 2 oak trees on it's flanks are the source of most of the organic material on his gravestone.

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A Headstone Application for Pvt. Brown was submitted by his youngest child, Robert O. Brown, in October 1931. Robert Brown was a WW1 veteran and I sprayed his military flatstone too before I left. It's directly under the tree to the right in the above picture.

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A few more pictures I took at Cox Cemetery. The times on my pictures show that I was there for 45 minutes. Nice stop.

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Just curious. I know you do not do this for recognition, but as a labor of respect. Do you ever encounter folks in the cemeteries who inquire about your work?
 
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