Cistern Public Cemetery

Cistern Public Cemetery. . , Starks S. Cockrill (1795-1862), son of Christopher and Susanna (Starks) Cockrill, was born in Loudon County, Virginia. After their father died, Starks and several brothers moved to Fayette County, Kentucky. He enlisted in the Kentucky militia and fought in the War of 18 12. Starks later lived in Manchester, Missouri, and married twice: Barbary Cotton, d. 1830; and Hanna Williams, d. 1853. In 1854, he purchased 2,340 acres in the J.T. Whitesides League in western Fayette County, Texas. He migrated here with several of his children, family slaves and livestock. The Cockrills and the Harrisons were among the oldest settlers in the community known first as Whiteside’s Prairie, then Cockrill’s Hill or Milton, and finally Cistern when a post office opened in 1858. Starks built a two-story residence and general store, and his crops included corn, sweet potatoes, and apple and peach trees., When Starks S. Cockrill died in May 1862, reportedly of yellow fever, his burial became the first in a community graveyard with an entrance facing Manchester Street. His daughter, Mary Jane (Cockrill) Michaelis (1838-1862), was buried here two months later. Cistern Public Cemetery became the main burial ground for the community, including early German and Czech immigrants. African American and Catholic graveyards also developed further south along Manchester Street. Burials include veterans of the War of 18 12, Civil War, world war one, world war two and the Vietnam War. Gravestones are primarily granite, marble and limestone, with some fieldstones and metal funeral home markers. Several family plots include concrete curbing. Still in use, the burial ground continues to be a cherished place of memory and heritage. Historic Texas Cemetery.