Thirty Seconds Over Floyd

When we went to check out the cemetery in Floyd, they were getting ready for a funeral, so we didn't stay very long at all. But we still found an interesting story or two. Here's one:

Cook's grave (Sixgun Siding)

J. E. Cook & wife
(Find A Grave)

John Enoch Cook, born in Tuscumbia, Alabama served in the Confederate Army, though there is some confusion over which unit. His tombstone states Company D, Texas Mounted Volunteers, but that's not as helpful as it looks. A search on the web reveals that he (and 2 brothers) were also Texas Rangers around the same time. He may have served in the Texas Frontier Regiment, which was composed of Texas Rangers for the purpose of guarding the frontier against Indian raids, but was absorbed into the Confederate Army in 1864, due to manpower shortages. Or, perhaps, he served in the 6th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Wharton, Stone's), where a J. E. Cook is listed under the National Park Service's Soldiers and Sailors Database. 

The Cooks were related to Tom O'Folliard, of Billy the Kid fame. An ancestor writes: "Tom rode out of Texas to New Mexico and eventually became a comrade of Billy. John Enoch's brother Thalis Cook (a Texas Ranger) wrote to say he was coming to get him. Billy intercepted the letter and sent Tom far afield, so he would not see his uncle. The Kid met Thalis and told him he could not have Tom. Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, Thalis returned to Texas. In 1880 Tom was shot in cold blood by Pat Garrett, a year before Billy met the same fate. The impact of this tragic event had a profound effect upon John Enoch and the direction he would take with his own family. At this point John became a Christian." John Enoch Cook died on New Year's Day, 1905.

Grave of Tom O'Folliard, Billy The Kid, & Charlie Bowdre (QRAI)