Leslie-Baker Cemetery
Surveyed by Marylee W. Knight 10-04-98Directions: From Carthage go westbound on State Hwy 315 for 14.6 miles. Turn right onto Panola County Road 1552 just east of the Rusk-Panola county line. The cemetery will be on the right hand side of the road 910 feet or 0.2 miles north of SH 315.
This cemetery is variously referred to as the Leslie Cemetery or the Baker Cemetery. However every one with the possible exception of the Wallace child is related to Daniel Leslie who is also buried here. It is located on the Old Daniel Leslie home place and irises and other plantings still exist to bear witness to a house being quite close to the cemetery. The cemetery is visible from the county road but set some distance back from the road. It is enclosed in a sturdy hog-wire fence and is well kept. The fenced area is quite small but according to Joyce Haley Worley a great-great granddaughter of Daniel Leslie there is a possibility of several more unmarked graves meaning that the original cemetery would have been larger than the size of the present small enclosure. In a biography of Daniel Leslie printed in "The History of Panola County" published by the Panola County Historical Commission in 1979 Mrs. Worley stated that Typhoid fever killed several members of the Daniel Leslie family and their slaves. The family is buried on one side of the cemetery and the slaves are buried on the other side. She further stated that Clara McLeroy married Joe M. Baker Jr. and she and four small children of the marriage are all buried in the cemetery. Mrs. Worley also recorded that Joe M. Baker Jr. married a second time to Verna Austin and the two of them are buried in Shiloh Cemetery in Rusk County.
To understand the relationships of the various surnames in the cemetery it is necessary to know the marriages of the Leslie family. Daniel Leslie first married Nancy Jarrell on Nov. 28 1837 in Jones Co GA. She died and was buried there. He second married Telitha Allen on April 19 1853 also in Jones Co GA. Daniel and Nancy's daughter Sarah E. Leslie was married four times: (1) Dave McCormack Sept. 13 1860 in Panola County died died at the Battle of Mansfield La. during the Civil Wa (2) C.C. Campbelle (3) George Duke (she and Duke were divorced and she took back the name of Campbele) and (4) Joe M. Baker Sr. on Dec 24 1883 in Panola County.
**Additional information provided by Noel Campbell
Surname Given Name Date of Birth Date of Death Comments
Baker Sarah E. Feb 22 1843 Feb 21 1899 dau of Daniel & Nancy Leslie
Campbelle C.C. Aug 29 1846 Oct 20 1872 Fourth husband of Sarah E. Leslie
Campbelle Nancy C. Mar 1 1873 Aug 12 1873 dau of Sarah E. & C.C.
Leslie Caroline M. Aug 6 1847 Dec 6 1860 -
Leslie Daniel Mar 10 1808 Jun 1 1895 -
McCormack Sallie B. Jul 14 1884 Oct 10 1900 dau of John David McCormack**
McCormack Vassie Sep 1 1886 Feb 3 1901 child of John David McCormack**
Wallace Infant daughter of No date No date E.F. & Scotty