DRUMMOND CEMETERY

Section 20, Township 11 S, Range 23 East

Putnam, County Florida

By: Mary J. Murphy

Drummond Cemetery is located approximately 4 miles SE of the town of Hawthorne and approximately 2 1/2 miles due East of the community of Lochloosa. It is currently accessible only from Hawthorne since most of the land East into Alachua County is owned by the Owens Illinois Glass Corp. From the intersection of US 301 and SR 20 in the town of Hawthorne, go south on 301 for 7/10 of a mile. Turn left (E) on Holden Park Road and continue for 4 6/10 miles until the pavement ends. Take a right (S) on Star Lake Road and continue for 7/10 mile. Turn left (E) on Star Lake Drive, Go 2 miles. The cemetery lies about 1/8 mile left (E) of the road.

Although in Putnam County, Drummond Cemetery and the area around it figure very prominently in the history of Eastern Alachua County and the community of Lochloosa. This area was known as Orange Creek before the turn of the century and was inhabited by the ABSTEIN, BATES, BARKER, ERGLE, COCHRAN, PACE, and WATSON families who moved into the area during the mid, to late 1880s. Many marriages occurred among these families and those of Lochloosa suburbanites with a few families moving to Lochloosa by the turn of the century as this small settlement began to disappear.

The cemetery is named for the DRUMMOND family who settled in Putnam County during the 1850s. Their daughter, Mary E. DRUMMOND, married Warren A. PACE in Putnam County on 11 Dec, 1860. She died during 1865 and appears to be the first burial for the small cemetery and probably the reason for its establishment. According to Jo Ann SYKES, granddaughter of Warren PACE, Mary died from starvation although the 1870 census mortality schedule lists her cause of death as consumption. “Warren was originally from Effingham Co., Georgia. When the Civil War broke out, he took his new bride to stay with his family just above Savannah while he served the Confederate forces. When Sherman made his famous march through the state, many families were left homeless and without food to eat. By the time Warren was mustered out and returned to pick up his wife and baby daughter, they were both in bad shape. Warren walked all the way from Savannah to Lochloosa, obtained a wagon from Mary’s family, went back to Georgia and brought his wife home only to have her die shortly thereafter. Their only child, Cora PACE, was always very small and sickly due to lack of nutrition during her early childhood.” Thanks to Jo Ann SYKES, 125 E. Palmway, Edgewater, FL 32032 for the above information on her grandfather.

Warren A. PACE remarried a widow, Henrietta Evans FUSSELL and produced a family of ten children while living not too far from the Drummond Cemetery. During this time, they buried two small children on their homestead—one daughter of Henrietta’s from a previous marriage and one twin born to she and Warren. As long as the Pace house was standing, the little cemetery was fenced and well maintained. With the sale of the land to Owens Illinois Glass Corporation, this small burial ground has disappeared. It now quietly resides beneath the Florida pine.

Most graves in Drummond cemetery appear to be marked if by nothing more than piles of stone, and it does have volunteer upkeep provided by descendents of these families. The cemetery is fenced and still used for burials as recent as 1988. Many of the tombstones were made by Andrew J. BATES, another pioneer of the Orange Creek area. They are simple upright concrete slabs with the name engraved on the front of the stone followed by a coat of black paint to highlight the etching. Many of these stones however are being eroded by acid rain and will before long become unreadable.

According to Morris COCHRAN who still resides in Lochloosa, the COACHMAN family buried in the Cemetery is really his great-grandparents and should be spelled COCHRAN. The misspelling of the name occurred when the tombstones were carved. Most of those marked by piles of stones are also COCHRAN burials--most likely those Isiah COCHRAN and his wife Susan Ergle COCHRAN and possibly Thadeus CASSELS who married Della COCHRAN. All died while residing in the Lochloosa area and are most likely buried with their family groups.

This cemetery was surveyed and the results of the survey printed in the Putnam County Genealogical Society quarterly several years ago. There were several errors made in date extractions as well as the assumption that no one named DRUMMOND was buried in the Cemetery. I have tried to set the record straight but like any work undertaken by human endeavor, mistakes will occur. If anyone reading this finds any I have made or knows who are in the unmarked graves, please contact the editors of this quarterly so that corrections can be made.

HOME