The older you will get...: Bury Me on the Lone Prairie...

Rose was in for a visit. Me, Cathy and her were driving home and there was talk of how we rode bicycles to the old cemetery near the house. I don't know if I was looking bad or something but the talk turned to where I should be buried and how it would make sense to be close to the house and what's the procedure for being buried in these small isolated country cemeteries. Do you have to have a family connection?

So we just stopped by what's called the Old Center Cemetery or Rocky Springs by some. I have researched a lot of genealogy since our bike trips here and sure enough there is a pile of Nerrens in this East Texas ground. I am related to the Nerren tree through my Granny Nerren Wallace. The Nerrens came to Angelina county from Mississippi in 1948 and settled at the Marion's Ferry Crossing on the Angelina River now covered by Lake Sam Rayburn. At the old center cemetery I found this gravestone.

This is the resting place of a 3rd great cousin Lorenzo Dow Nerren Jr. The son of Lorenzo Sr. he is the grandson of my 3rd great grandfather John Nerren. His wife, Nancy McKinney is buried with him.

That's a pretty good run for Lorenzo. Born during the Civil War he died Sept 25th, 1941 and did not quite see WW2.

We next headed on to the Rocky Hill Cemetery, a place where I knew there was a nice pear tree but I did not find and relatives and the pears were high in the tree and looked to be hard and knotty with the drought. A google maps check showed we were near the Nerren Cemetery in Huntington, Tx. We drove over and nearly missed the little track leading to it.

It was a quiet place and we found some interesting things. Here is another 3rd cousin Alexander Nerren born Aug 5th 1851 in Angelina County and died April 13th 1947 in Huntington, Tx. He's the brother of Lorenzo Jr.

That's a pretty good run. Born before the Civil War, might have grandchildren old enough for WW1, great grand children old enough for WW2 and managed to see the atomic age.

He's buried by his second wife Mary Marshall. They wed in 1909. His first wife was Martha Richardson wed in 1874 she passed in 1897.

Here's the photos I found on the internet of Alexander.

Yep, that looks like a bunch of Nerrens. Can anyone date the photo by the clothes?

I did find Alexander's death certificate where he was described as "retired farmer" and cause is listed as "intestinal obstruction, partial."

Another interesting find was the marker for the first wife of B.F. Nerren, my 3rd great uncle. Old Ben Franklin was sheriff of Angelina County 1888-1894. He's buried in Walker Cemetery by where Paul Nerren's Junk Barn used to stand on Highway 59 North.