Benjamin Timothy Hancock (1814-1894)

Benjamin Timothy Hancock

Birth

14 Jun 1814

Wilson County, Tennessee, USA

Death

16 Jan 1894 (aged 79)

Purves, Erath County, Texas, USA

Burial

Hancock Cemetery

Erath County, Texas, USA Add to Map

Memorial ID

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Son of Lewis & Frances Adams Hancock
This cemetery is very difficult to find. The day I went it had been raining & began to rain again as we were leaving. The road is clay dirt, very slippery in those circumstances. There are three gates to get to the cemetery on the Flying B Ranch and you have to walk in after the 2nd gate. It is fairly well maintained. Mostly broken markers with unreadable inscriptions, many unmarked graves or graves marked only by rocks. I have seen lists of others buried here but in in 2010 could only read the few markers I listed.

Inscription

Thanks to Donnie Ruyle for the following: Historical Marker: The earliest marked grave on this site, once known as "North Bolton Cemetery," is that of Asa L. Anderson (1875-1876), who was buried here during the ownership of the James and Louisa Franks family. The Franks sold the land to T. W. Bolton in 1879, and the Caudle family purchased it in 1883. The Hancock name comes from the family of Benjamin T. and Elizabeth (Ruyle) Hancock, settlers who came to this area in about 1887. Most of those interred on this site are related to the Hancocks, many of whom helped found the nearby communities of Alexander and Purves. The cemetery contains about fifty graves. The last marked grave was that of Charles Martin Knorzer (1852-1943). The burial ground is a chronicle of the pioneers of Erath County

When I visited this cemetery & took the pictures, you had to go through a gate by a house. I knocked to let the owners know I was there but no one was home. You park near the house, walk between the house & an outbuilding, past a paddock, and continue on a path through fields. The cemetery in on the right in a stand of trees. The gate is, or at least was, visible from the path. Wear sturdy shoes.