Visiting the land where ancestors lived out their lives provides much-needed context when researching and writing about their lives. My paternal lines all lived in Texas in the mid-1800s and moved north to Indian Territory by 1900. After twenty-three years of studying their lives through the records, histories, and photographs, I visited some of the places where they lived. Walking in the cemetery, visiting the historical museum, and driving through the countryside drew me closer to them.
Richard and Nancy (Briscoe) Frazier
My 2nd great-grandparents, Richard and Nancy Frazier, resided in the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas from birth until they left McDonald County, Missouri, for Texas between 1876 and 1880. They survived the Civil War years, during which Richard was a teamster for the Confederacy in Marmaduke’s division for approximately four years.1 Although the 1863 courthouse burning destroyed any possible marriage record, Nancy stated they married in October of 1863, which was the height of the Civil War and the terrible guerrilla warfare that took place in the region.2
Following the war, they lived in its aftermath and Reconstruction in McDonald County, Missouri, until moving west to Cooke County, Texas, by 1880.3
When settlers started moving north to Indian Territory in the 1880s and 1890s, Richard and Nancy, with their large family, crossed the Red River from Texas into the Chickasaw Nation and settled in Burneyville by about 1892. Nancy stated in 1915 that she had been in the “country” for 23 years. 4 Richard farmed until his death in 1911.5 Nancy lived another thirteen years and died in 1924.6
Although the photo below is undated, it was likely taken between 1910 and 1924. Her black dress could signal mourning for her husband, Richard, who died in 1911. The conservative dress style fits with the era and her role as the matriarch of the family, which may be the reason for the photo.
Nancy (Briscoe) Frazier, about 1915
Visiting the Cemetery
Burneyville Cemetery
The Burneyville Cemetery in Love County, Oklahoma, is the final resting place for Richard Frazier and Nancy (Briscoe) Frazier, as well as two of their children, Colon and Edmond Thomas Frazier. Many of their eleven children and numerous grandchildren lived nearby during the early 1900s.
In the treasured photo below, Nancy is pictured with two of her grandchildren, Ettie Belle (my grandmother) and Bert Harris (Ettie’s brother). Their mother, Alice Frazier, was one of the younger Frazier children. This photo may have been taken at the time of Richard Frazier’s death in 1911. Bert would have been six, and Etttie four.
Richard and Nancy’s headstones in the Burneyville Cemetery reveal more about them. Nancy’s reads:
Mother
Nancy Frazier
Feb 15, 1847 – Jan 30, 1924
She was the sunshine of our home
Nancy’s headstone was likely erected much later than 1924 by her children, likely at the same time as her sons’, which are the same style.
Richard’s headstone is older and was likely erected at the time of his death in 1911. It reads
R. Frazier
Born
Mar. 12, 1840
Died Jan 13, 1911
The best, the dearest favored of the sky, must taste that cup, for man is born to die.
The symbols of the open gate, dove, and rays of light are Christian imagery depicting the deceased’s soul being welcomed into heaven and passing through the pearly gates. The poem and the symbols were common in the early 20th century.
Love County Historical Society Pioneer Museum
Local museums are an excellent source for learning more about life in our ancestors’ day. The Love County Historical Society Pioneer Museum is an outstanding example of what this type of museum can be. Not having grown up in the area, many of the items showcased in the museum were new to me – such as the ferry replicas.
The Frazier family crossed the Red River from Cooke County, Texas, to Indian Territory about 1892 and would have used one of the ferries that operated along the river. The museum featured two small wooden replicas of ferries that took people back and forth across the river for a fee.
Researching further, I learned about the Tuck Ferry, which could have been the very one used by the Frazier family, given its location.7
Early transportation was benefited by a number of ferries that operated and crossed the Red River, connecting future Love County with markets in Texas. One of the early operators was John Martin Tuck, who owned a ferry located eight miles southeast of Marietta.
At the museum, I was pleased to spend time with the curator, Laquitta, who has gathered pioneer items and also has a research room full of information about the families of Love County. She showed me a scrapbook of obituaries that I scanned and found one for Colon Frazier, Nancy’s son, who died in 1952. I could have spent all day in the museum and research room!
Diana and Laquitta, museum research room
Visiting the cemetery, the museum, and driving through the countryside gave me a new appreciation for my ancestors. I’ll never look at the records and photos the same, having walked where they walked. I’m also grateful for family historians like Laquitta who devote so much time to gathering and safekeeping the records.
Best of luck in all your genealogical endeavors!
Sources
- Nancy E. Frazier, widow of Richard Frazier, application no. A2988, 1915-1924, pension no. P1077, Record Group 5; digital images, “Confederate Pension Records Database,” Oklahoma Digital Prairie (http://www.digitalprairie.ok.gov : accessed 20 Jan 2019); citing Commissioner of Confederate Pensions, Oklahoma State Archives, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, Oklahoma City, Ok.
- Ibid.
- McDonald County, Missouri, 1876 State Census, Township 21 Range 29, page 46, lines 47-53, Richard Frazier household; imaged, “Missouri, State and Territorial Census Records, 1732-1933,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L94P-6F8W : accessed 14 September 2025), IGN 7265932, image 52 of 173. 1880 U.S. Census, Cooke County, Texas, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 113, sheet 254B (stamped), p.32 (penned), dwelling 271, family 270, Richard Frazier household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Jan 2019); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 1298.
- Nancy E. Frazier, widow of Richard Frazier, application no. A2988, 1915-1924, pension no. P1077, Record Group 5;
- 1910 U.S.Census, Love County, Oklahoma, population schedule, Burney, enumeration district (ED) 166, sheet: 8B (penned), dwelling 147, family 149, Richard Frazier household; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com accessed 30 Jan 2019); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1261.
- Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 January 2019), memorial page for Nancy E Briscoe Frazier (15 Feb 1847–30 Jan 1924), Find A Grave Memorial no. 14139934, citing Burneyville Cemetery, Burneyville, Love County, Oklahoma, USA ; Maintained by Phil & Donna (Stricklan) Whitaker (contributor 4308835) .
- Susan L. Webb and Sandra L. Thomas, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, “Love County,” Oklahoma Historical Society (https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=LO020 : accessed 14 September 2025).
Leave a Reply
Thanks for the note!