Cherokee County History Page: 192
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were, "Dedamie, get up. We're going to move." She got up all right,
pointing her finger at him, said, "David, now if anybody moves from
this place, it will by you. It won't be me. Have you stopped to
remember that in 15 years we have moved 18 times?"
Mrs. Sides thinks that was the beginning of the problems they had
leading up to separation. It was never the same between them after
the war. They were still living together in 1870 in Cherokee County.
David was a farmer and an ordained Baptist minister. In 1869 he
was pastor of Rocky Springs Baptist Church in Cherokee County
(near Dialville) and stayed there until 1871, when he went to the
New Hope Baptist Church. In 1873 he was pastor of Myrtle Springs
Baptist Church. He was not listed in the 1874 Association records.
That may be when he and his wife separated.
David later m. Sydney and had several children.
"Dedamie" never remarried, E raised her children and lived with
some of them in later years. According to another great-grand-
daughter, Daisy Mae Post Heatly, of Mangum, Okla., she remem-
bers being told this story by her mother, Ila Burnett Post:
When Ila was a small girl, maybe 11 or 12 years old, her Grand-
mother "Dedamie" visited in her home in Oklahoma. She had come
to visit her son, Zimri. While she was there, her former husband,
David, rode up to the house on horseback, but he would not come in
because she was there. Zimri went out and talked with him at the
barn. "Dedamie" looked out from behind the curtain toward the
barn. When she saw David, Ila noticed a tear rolling down her
cheek. That was the only time that "Dedamie" visited Oklahoma,
and Ila never saw her again.
Mrs. Sides said that the last time she saw David Burnett was at
the home of Uncle Bill Burnett in Altus, Okla. Her family, the Ben
Burnetts, was on its way to Arkansas or possibly back to Dialville,
Tex., in a covered wagon. They called William David Burnett
"Grandpa David."
Zimirriah Vohn Burnett m. Mary Texas Acker Aug. 28, 1872, in
Cherokee Co., Tex.
William David and Diana "Dedamie" Burnett had (1) Zimirriah
Vohn, b. June 22, 1853, Arkansas, d. May 26, 1926, Dialville; (2)
Catherine, b. ca. 1857, Arkansas; (3) Mary E. b. ca. 1863, Texas; (4)
William J., b. ca. 1865, Texas; (5) Levina R., b. ca. 1869, Texas.
William David and Sydney Burnett had (1) Louisa, b. April, 1885,
Texas; (2) Josie, b. Sept., 1886, Texas; (3) William D., b. Nov., 1887,
Texas; (4 and 5) twins, Joshua and George, b. April, 1890, Texas. The
1900 census shows this family was living in Brown Co., Tex.
William David Burnett was buried in the Jester (Okla.) Ceme-
tery in Greer County. His birth date is confirmed by his tombstone
and the 1870 census of Cherokee County. - M. H. Post.
Zimirriah Vohn Burnett Family
Zimirriah "Zimri" Vohn Burnett (b. June 22, 1853, Ark., d. May
26, 1926, Dialville, Cherokee Co., Tex.) was a son of William David
and Diana Dedamie Burnett.
After the birth of"Zimri's" sister, Catherine, in 1857, the family
moved to Texas.
The 1870 census shows the Burnett family farming and living
down the road from the Peter Acker family in Cherokee County.
Catherine Burnett was a good friend of Mary Texas Acker. After
Mary Texas would visit at the Burnett's, Catherine's brother,
"Zimri," would take her home on horseback. That was the way they
courted. It was not long before the young couple m. on Aug. 28, 1872.
"Zimri" and Mary Texas Acker Burnett had 10 children: (1) W. W.
"Willie," b. July 9, 1873; (2) Ben T., b. about 1875; (3) Nora "Sis," b.
about 1877, m. Dr. Jack T. Dial; (4) Linnie F., b. Dec. 16, 1881, m. Bob
Veech, d. in childbirth Jan. 11, 1904, in Greer Co., Okla.; (5) Bonnie E.
"Bon," b. Nov., 1884; (6) Pinkey Bell, b. in October, 1887, m. Charley
Hale; (7) Bedford F., b. in August, 1889; (8) Ila Burnett, b. July 30,
1891, m. Ira Y. K. Post Aug. 4, 1907, in Greer Co., Okla; (9) Margaret
Jane "Maggie," b. in July, 1893, m. Edel Post, brother of Ila's hus-
band; (10) Fred B., b. July, 1896, in Hill Co., Tex., the last child and
the only one not born in Cherokee County.
The Burnetts raised their family in Cherokee County, but moved
away in 1894, because "Zimri" heard from his brother, William, that
Hill Co., Tex., was growing wonderful cotton. They farmed there
until 1901 when they moved to Greer Co., Okla., one of the last
frontiers to be opened. Land was cheap, and the cotton was tall there.
The family moved to Oklahoma in two wagons. The older boys
rode horses driving the family's cattle and mules. Beds were made
for the children in the wagons, double-decker style - some on the
wagon bed and others on boards above them.
192The trip from Hill County took about three months. It must have
been made during the winter, because they were snowed-in at Vernon,
Tex., several days. The railroad station agent in Vernon took the
family in and opened the depot so they could stay in out of the weather.
"Zimri" never forgot the station agent's kindness to his family.
One day "Zimri" fell off a wagon and broke an arm. The doctor
gave him the choice of having his arm set straight or being bent at
the elbow. He chose straight and for the rest of his life drove his
wagon and later his automobile with a stiff arm.
"Zimri" had the reputation of being a compassionate man, and
frequently took in families or individuals down on their luck. Mary
Texas often cooked for the people "Zimri" took in until they could
"get on their feet." One gentleman recalls that his granddaughter,
Daisy Mae Post Heatly, stayed with the Burnetts several months.
"Zimri" believed in hard work. He arose at 4 A. M. for breakfast
and made everyone get up at the same time. Then he waited until
daylight to milk. He made his daughters do the milking. When it
rained and the children could not work in the fields, he had them up
chopping weeds out of the right-of-way. He donated the land to start
one of the first churches in the Bloomington area of Greer Co., Okla.
According to the family story, Mary Texas was never really
happy in Oklahoma. She missed her family and the trees of East
Texas. After many years, she finally talked "Zimri" into moving
back to Texas. They moved to Dialville in Cherokee County about
1923, where he d. His body was taken back to Oklahoma for burial in
the Jester Cemetery in Greer County. Mary Texas was not well at
the time, and soon followed his body back to Oklahoma, where she
lived until her death May 1, 1932. She was buried beside Zimri in the
Jester Cemetery. - Matthew K. Post, great-great-grandson of
Zimirriah Vohn and Mary Texas Acker Burnett.
John Noah "Dink" Burns Family
John Noah Burns (b. March 16, 1866, d. May 16, 1970) was the
son of Josiah and Palimira Clabe Smith Burns of Ripley, Miss.
John's father, a Baptist preacher, was adopted, and his birth name
was Johnson. John's mother m. Josiah in Mississippi. They had 10
children. Josiah and Palimira moved their family to Texas by
wagon. Palimira Calebe Smith Burns d. (date unknown). Josiah m.
again (wife's name unknown), had two children.
Jennie Wade Beesinger, b. Aug. 31, 1888, d. Oct. 23, 1971,
Greenville, Hunt Co., Tex., m. John Noah Aug. 16, 1908. They were
members of the Baptist Church at Yantis, Wood, Co., Tex. John
was a farmer and worked in the oil fields. They moved to Hender-
son, Tex., later moved on to Seminole, Okla., where he continued his
work in the oil fields and farmed six years. They moved to Reklaw,
Tex., and farmed 12 years. They then moved to Rusk, Tex., in 1942.
Many years after their children were grown and married, John and
Jennie moved to Cleveland, Tex., 1952, where they bought a home
and built a community grocery store. Friends, neighbors, and chil-
dren came to shop and visit. "Dink" enjoyed the children who came
to his store and always had something special for them.
Children of John and Jennie: (1) daughter d. at birth; (2) Lem
Victor, b. Sept. 14, 1918, Henderson, Tex., m. Lorine Hamilton, two
pp4John Noah and Jennie Wade Beesinger Burns picking cotton on their farm
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Cherokee County Historical Commission (Tex.). Cherokee County History, book, 2001; Jacksonville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth354360/m1/202/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Cherokee County Historical Commission.