Cottondale Cemetary is home to two infamous residents:
 George "Machine Gun" Kelley (Barnes) |
Two graves down from Boss Shannon. Halfway down the center walkway on the right, right next to the walkway. His real name was George Kelly Barnes. The name is spelled wrong on his headstone to protect the grave. |
| Robert K.G. (Boss) Shannon was married to Ora, the mother of Machine-gun Kelly's wife, Kathryn. He was a Democratic political boss in Wise County. He rented his ranch in Paradise to criminals as a hideout while Ora was bootlegging. When Machine-Gun Kelley and Albert Bates kidnapped Charles Urschel, the oilman from Oklahoma, they hid him at Shannon's ranch in Paradise. Boss was arrested and sent to Alcatraz prison, then pardoned by President Roosevelt in 1944, due to ill health. He returned to Paradise and died on Christmas day at the Bridgeport hospital in 1956. |  Robert K. G. "Boss" Shannon Born: November 13, 1877 Died: December 25, 1956 |
