THE J.L. CROSS FAMILY AND SON ELZY
Each family has a different story to tell of the trouble and hardships they had in order to be able to bring their families and livestock and come west. Mr. J.L. Cross was a minister of the gospel. His family was small. The only family he had was a son, Elzy and a set of twin girls, Rosella and Luella. They filed on land in the Red Mud community. The part that the son got was a strip of shinnery pasture along by the side of his father´s.Mr. Cross made a trip to west Texas and settled in the Croton community. He stayed there for awhile and then he went back to Leon county for awhile and then back to Red Mud community where he filed on land and made a home that lasted him as long as he lived. He and his good wife are buried at the Red Mud cemetery. Elzy Cross married Susan Fry and raised a large family. They were Debbie, Edna, Annie, Minnie, and Dessie May, Elmer and Jim. I remember a little incident that occurred on Sunday morning. The congregation gathered at the school house where they were going to have church. The crowd waited for some time and decided they had better go see about the preacher. When they got to his house, they found him out in the field plowing. They asked him why he didn´t come to church and he answered "I will tomorrow, this is Saturday." He never lived that one down.
Luella married Bud Turner. They had two children, Euralee and Buster. Bud Turner had two girls, May and Mollie. Buster was struck by lightning but lived to tell the story. Also, an Aunt Euralee is still alive. She lives in California. Dessie May and Ann are the only ones of the Cross´s living. Dessie May Benson still lives in Spur. She lived alone as she doesn´t have any children. Only an adopted son who has a little girl. The little girl stays with her granny sometimes. Also a sister of Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Anne Rotan, who lives at Wharton, Texas. She comes out and spends several weeks at a time with her sister, as she is not strong, neither is her sister. It makes it nice to have someone living with you. Other members of the family have passed away. Now since there is no one else to live with, it makes it real fine to spend a portion of their time together. They spend part of their time in Spur and some of their time at Wharton, Texas in the home of Anne at Rotan, Texas. The family as far back as the great great grandparents are all at rest in the Red Mud cemetery. New head stones and permanent markers were placed at the graves by Mrs. R. L. Benson recently.
There was a mistake made at one time and a child was buried by the father of Mrs. Dessie May Benson and sister and they didn´t have a place for her mother, so she was buried at Spur, Texas. So I have been informed that others of the family will be buried at Spur. But they still care for the former graves that have been there for so many years.
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