Robert Frank “Bob” Cole was a neighbor who looked after the Ferris Cemetery for over forty years. His brick home (7522 East Grand Ave.) sat on the hill overlooking White Rock Creek. It was built on Cole family land that once stretched from Tennison Golf Course to White Rock Creek.

Bob and his wife Ory had a small farm with pigs, chickens, and cows. Cole was an arborist by trade, noted for his “dressing” and breeding of trees - especially pecans and fruit trees. He was also a skilled wood carver who had a shop on his property. Cole led a comfortable life, selling and leasing Cole family land when necessary. There was plenty of time to visit with neighbors - the Ruperts, McClures, Glenns, Douglasses, andTuckers. The Coles were Hardshell Baptists so no playing cards were allowed, but they enjoyed plenty of games of dominoes and checkers.

Bob and Ory had no children so they “adopted” their nephews, Joe and Buck Patterson, and their great nephews, Jody, Bobby, Johnny, and Bubba, who viewed the Cole place as a paradise. “Going to the country” was a favorite pastime of the boys, especially in the summer. They could fish in Uncle Bob’s stock tank, ride horseback, go barefoot, and eat to their hearts content. Stuffing their pockets with Aunt Ory’s English teacakes, the boys would roam the woods and creek banks. At mealtime, the Cole ladies loaded a big buffet table with fried chicken, ham and beef, lots of fresh vegetables from the garden, and biscuits with freshly churned butter. John and Bobby loved the Cole place and the summer days they spent with Uncle Bob and Aunt Ory.

Robert Cole and his nephew John Patterson with boys Bobby and Johnny on horseback

John Patterson Jr., our chief informant on his Uncle Bob, recalls those days fondly. He often went with his great uncle to check the Ferris Cemetery. Bob’s father, William Rappleye Cole (1831-1909) probably knew Warren Angus “W.A.” Ferris and his wife Frances “Fanny” and passed on to his son information about this early Dallas settler. Bob Cole was a history buff who loved to share tales of the old days in the Forest Hills area - of Warren Ferris, Jesse James, and Sam Bass.

Cole was worried about vandalism at the old Ferris Cemetery. He was upset that grave stones kept disappearing so he patrolled the cemetery on a regular basis. He also met and worked with Ferris’s granddaughter Lucy Mae Pounds Smith and with Frances James, the “Cemetery Lady” of Dallas. He was interviewed by local newspapers who listened to his concerns and printed stories about the declining condition of historic Ferris Cemetery.

John Patterson, Jr. on Flag Day at Cox Cemetery

John Patterson, Robert Cole’s great nephew, is now caretaker of Cox Cemetery on the west side of White Rock Lake. This is the sister cemetery to the Ferris Cemetery. Many of the same families are buried there - the Chenaults, Ryans, Tuckers, Graces. Robert and Ory Cole are buried at the Cox Cemetery. This cemetery also experienced vandalism, but the families formed an association and it is now fenced. Like his Uncle Bob, John Patterson is concerned about the history and continued care of old family cemeteries.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dallasites Frances James, Lucy Mae Pounds Smith, and Robert Cole who championed the pioneers’ resting places, like the Ferris and Cox cemeteries.

Written by Susanne Starling with the aid of John Patterson and archives from the Dallas Historical Society