Westcott Cemetery

Houston, Texas

February 17, 2000

This old cemetery is located in North Houston off Jenson Drive. McDaniel Street, east off Jenson Drive curves to Schuler Street and runs parallel with Jenson. Just north of Crosstimbers, this cemetery is located in the curve of McDaniel & Schuler.

While walking this cemetery, it was quite obvious that vandalism has taken it’s toll. Very few of the headstones were standing. Only those that could not be pushed forward or knocked over were barely legible. Decay and fungus was apparent everywhere. The cemetery was filthy and full of sunken graves with no markers visible.

The central section was encased in a red brick wall with an entry arch that read "Wescott Cemetery 1930". The oldest grave we found in this cemetery was 1862, it seems that it took 68 years for an enclosure to be built around the cemetery which leads us to believe that this particular section of the cemetery was claimed by the Westcott family. Also, there was a separate concrete cinderblock fence section on this property. The following information was recorded on February 17, 2000 by Woody & Lou Ann Lunsford.

[Some of these are spelled Wescott but most are actually spelled Westcott and the entry arch also says Westcott.]

Cours, Joseph
1876-1934

Wescott, Elmira
1873-1951

Blackwell, Robert Wescott
1895-1949
This was a smaller headstone on his side of a large double headstone that reads:
Blackwell, Robert Wescott
2-22-1949

Blackwell, Dora Applin
4-6-1957
There was not a smaller headstone on her side of the double marker.

Cours, Arthur
4-4-1883

Broken headstone

Sayers, Mary Jane
Daughter of Andy & Annie Sayers
Jan. 1886

Broken headstone

Beecham, C.M.
5-17-1844 June 11, 1903?

Kane, Lawrence
Aged 5 years

Grissom, Alexander
8-21-1880

Two white jasper markers on a base and broken, both marked L.W.

Westcott, Gideon C.
1918

Westcott, Louisa H.
12-25-1840 to 9-19-1884
Wife of Gideon C. Wescott
s/w Joseph M Westcott

Wescott, Joseph M.
12-14-1879 8-8-1887
Son of G.C. & L.H. Wescott
s/w Louisa H. Wescott.

Daughter of G.C. & L.H. Wescott
June 1887

Wescott, Harriett C.
1-19-1883 11-15-1884
Daughter of G.C. & L.H. Wescott

Small white jasper marker, H.M.

Wescott, Gideon C.
4-9-1873 7-18-1877
Son of G.C. & L.H. Wescott

Wescott, Amanda
2-6-1872 7-24-1872
Daughter of H. & H.R. Wescott

Wescott, Claricia
1-15-1862 5-21-1862
Daughter of H. & Amanda Wescott. This is the oldest headstone we found among those that were legible.

Wescott, Amanda A.
2-27-1845 4-15-186?
Wife of Hampton Wescott

Wescott, Hampton
1-18-1877

Madden, Hattie
8-29-1882 10-7-1886
Daughter of D.A. & Mary H. Madden

Large Granite headstone laying face down. Too large to move. Could not read. This marker is beside Hattie Madden.

Wescott, James D.
11-29-1869 7-29-1873
Son of J. D. & Emma E. Wescott

Wescott, Richard D.
3-19-1866 7-17-1866
Son of J.D. & Emma E. Wescott

Wescott, James D. **(see end of cemetery list for census information)
11-21-1842 9-4-1873
Son of R.D. & A.D. Wescott

Wescott, Emma Aurora
5-21-1846 9-18-1915
Wife of J.D. Wescott

Scranton, Josephine
1865 - 1891 or 1894
Wife of H.O. Scranton
Daughter of J.D. & Emma E. Wescott

Wescott, Denmar
1-10-1894 10-28-1898
Son of J.P. & D.A. Wescott

Tucker, Hampton
- 1953

Tucker, Julia A.
3-26-1948

Tucker, John E.
6-10-1856 12-18-1939

Tucker, Girtrued
2-8-1891 9-18-1900
Daughter of J.E. & J.A. Tucker

Kindall, A.L.
6-7-1896

Wescott, R.D.
9-28-1897

Wescott, Almiara D.
3-13-1820 6-28-1877
Wife of R.D. Wescott

One headstone laying face down just beside Almiara D. Wescott

Wescott, Christina W.
3-26-1941
This was a double headstone for Christina & H. laying on it’s back.

Wescott, H.
no death date
This was a double headstone for Christina & H. laying on it’s back.

Wescott, Charles Hampton
10-11-1919

Daughter of C.W. Wescott
5-9-1918 1-7-1919

Wescott, Nona Lee
11-6-1961

Wescott, John E.
1-31-1949

Ezell, Lois Lavena
9-6-1939
Daughter of John E. & Nona Lee Wescott

These three headstone are close together in a row.
All of the above headstones were inside the red brick fence wall in the central part of this cemetery.

The following are outside, probably an expanded area of this cemetery.

Mc Daniel, Dora A.
10-5-1880 10-8-1911
Wife of George E. Mc Daniel

Miller, Henry Louis
2-24-1934

Miller, Hettie Ann
1-26-1943
Wife of Henry Louis Miller
Double marker

Concrete cinderblock fenced area with trim on the corners held the following graves:
Hammett, Ira W.
- 1946

Prevett, Robert P.
- 1922

Prevett, Margrate B.
1855 - 1941

Farmer, John
3-2-1886

Farmer, Lucy
11-8-1853 8-4-1909
Wife of John Farmer

Large masonic marker, white jasper stone on a platform of silver granite. His name & dates on one side, hers on the other.
These are the only headsones readable in this enclosure.
Outside this concrete fence to the other part of the cemetery, there are two rounded concrete vault tops showing. No markers on these graves, ground has been washed away and sunken badly.

Wire arbor sagging with sticks and debris over only one headstone that we could see. There is a place on the concrete headstone for a plaque. Plaque is missing. No other identifiable markers.

Preston, Tryphena B.
4-26-1929

Smith, Charles William
11-12-1897

Poirier, Alphonse J.
7-6-1944
Son of A.L. & A.D. Poirier

Poirier, Annie D.
3-10-1935
Wife of Alphonse L. Poirier

Poirier, Alphonse L.
10-12-1915
These three headstones in a row. Badly grown over with vines and weeds.

Bryan, Roy Iley
TX Sgt. 141st. Inf. April 4, 1941
Military commerative marker

Infant Son of U.P. Bardwell
5-22-1912

Fenced off area with chain link holding these three graves:
Cours, Eugene
2-5-1998

Cours, Marie
1871-1954
Double headstone with:

Cours, Adalade
1843-1922

Cours, Albert
1873-1957
Woodman of the World on marker

The spelling of the names in this listing are as they appeared on the headstones. The dates noted are as accurate as we were able to make out on some of them.

The Wescott, Mc Daniel & Cours’ families have streets named after them in this area. It is a very old part of the Houston area known as North Houston. On the 1947 street map of the Houston area, this cemetery is located on Graveyard Street, just off Wescott Blvd. The general area for this cemetery is around Crosstimbers and Jensen Drive. (Note: Wescott Blvd. No longer exists in this area. There now is a Wescott Street in the Washington Avenue area, close to Memorial Park off Memorial Drive.

1870 Harris County, TX census, Ward #2

James D. Wescott, age 28, white male, b. TX. Occupation: Runs Plaining Machine (sic)
Wife: Emma, age 24, white female, b. LA
Josephine, age 3 b. TX
James D. (Jr.), age 6 mos b. TX
Also in household: Martha Wescott, age 19, b. TX (probably sister to James D.)
This was the only Wescott family noted in the 1870 census. The McDaniel family & the Cours’ family were not listed.