|
Following the founding of Dallas in 1841 the area surrounding present-day White Rock Lake was gradually settled, albeit sparsely, endowing the locale with a rural character it retained well into the twentieth century. Most prominent among the families who first established farms in the vicinity were the Coxes, the Dixons, the Fishers and the McCommases -- all related to each other by both blood and marriage.
The old Cox Cemetery, established in 1848 and located on Dalgreen Road near the lake's western shore, is the final resting place for many of these pioneers. Among the many early settlers whose graves can be found here are: Amon McCommas, the progenitor of a family whose name is preserved in McCommas Boulevard in Dallas' Lakewood section; Amon's son John, who served in a company of Dallas County volunteers during the Mexican War (another son, Stephen, died during that conflict and was buried in Mexico City); Jesse Cox, who served in the same company and afterward married John McCommas' sister Rosana (and after she died, married Susan Chenoweth, who is buried here with him); Thomas B. Fisher, a Confederate veteran who returned to Dallas after the Civil War, bought Amon McCommas' farm and became a Dallas County commissioner; and John and Paralee Fisher, parents of Thomas. A Texas Historical Commission marker, located inside and near the gate, commemorates all these pioneers.
|
