Dry Creek, Louisiana
Early history
Early history
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Although no longer existing, the Dry Creek sawmill, built in 1841 for the expressed purpose of supplying lumber for doors and furnishings of the first Calcasieu Parish courthouse, was located on Mill Bayou, about one\-fourth mile south of the current Dry Creek Cemetery. Both the sawmill site and Dry Creek Cemetery are located near a trail connecting Lake Charles to Natchitoches and used as a mail route between Lake Charles, Sugartown, and Vernon Parish communities in the 1840s. Legend has it that the first burial in Dry Creek Cemetery occurred in 1860 or 1861 and was an eleven or twelve\-year\-old girl whose family was traveling through the area and buried her by a small young cedar tree in a pasture area near the trail. Some believe the old trail runs through the middle of the cemetery and slightly east of the cedar tree. The Spears family (L.D. Spears, Sr.) came to Dry Creek in the 1870s, bought federally\-owned property including the site of the cemetery, and established the Dry Creek Cemetery (formerly Spears Cemetery) as a community cemetery in 1880\.
It is believed that L.D. Spears, Sr., gave permission for Ella Burnett, the infant niece of Lucy Cooper (discussed later), to be buried near the cedar tree in 1880\. During the early years of Dry Creek, the Lindsey Cemetery, established in 1861, recorded several 1860s and 1870s burials. Thomas Williams, founder of Dry Creek, and his wife are believed to be buried somewhere on the original William Hanchey property, formerly Williams' homestead. Williams and his wife died in the 1850s, and their children left Dry Creek before 1860\.

The historic sawmill was built by Williams, who was considered the first settler of Dry Creek in the 1830s and first police juror of Ward 7 (Sugartown Ward) of Imperial Calcasieu Parish, created in 1840 from St. Landry Parish. The Hanchey family is said to have acquired Williams' property years after his death in latter half of 1850s. The Hanchey family settled in Dry Creek between 1861 and 1865\. Sources indicate that the Hanchey family may have lived in the Topsy area near Marsh Bayou for a short period of time before moving to Dry Creek, probably in early 1860s.


Where are Thomas Williams and his wife believed to be buried?