The Oakwood Cemetery is a historical

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

located in Jefferson, Marion County,

Northeast Texas Northeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Texas. Geographically centered on two metropolitan areas strung along Interstate 20— Tyler in the west and Kilgore, Longview, Marshall to the eas ...

History

The earliest documentation of Jefferson indicates that burials were made in a public graveyard between Camp, Houston and Cypress streets along the

Big Cypress Bayou Cypress Bayou is the name applied to a series of wetlands at the western edge of Caddo Lake, in and around Jefferson, Texas, making up part of the largest Cypress forest in the world. The bayou is divided into three areas—each part of the w ...

in the 19th century. The Cemetery Records of Marion County by DeWare and Payne, states, "In 1846, Allen Urquhart, the donor of a public burial tract for Jefferson, substituted a 'larger and more beautiful site' to which prior burials were then moved." It is unknown how many graves at the old site were moved to present-day Oakwood. Burials apparently commenced at the new location; the oldest headstone in the cemetery standing today is that of Rev. Benjamin Foscue who died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

on January 1, 1850.Angels of Oakwood: Jefferson's Historic Cemetery by Mitchel Whitington In the spring of 1858, the minutes for the City of Jefferson indicate that attention was given to further planning at the cemetery. It is not called Oakwood, and there is no indication as to when that name was given. In 1862, the Mt. Sinai Jewish Cemetery was purchased adjacent to the city cemetery. Today it is encompassed by Oakwood's main fence. By 1872, city records clearly show the city cemetery in the present location of Oakwood. A

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Section was added in 1880 by city ordinance. Sections were added over the years as needed, and in 1972, a fence was placed around the perimeter of all of the sections, giving the cemetery the definitive look that it has today.

Landmark designation

The

Texas Historical Commission The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the U.S. state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Histor ...

recognized Jefferson's Oakwood Cemetery as a Texas Historical Cemetery on November 10, 2004, designating it as cemetery MR-C011.Texas Historical Commission website, http://www.thc.state.tx.us/

Notable interments

* Cullen Montgomery Baker (1835–1869), wild west desperado * David Culberson (1830–1900), Confederate Lt Colonel, Congressman from Texas *

Diamond Bessie Diamond Bessie (1854 - January 21, 1877) was the popular name given to Bessie Moore, née Annie Stone (although other sources give her birth name as Annie Moore), a prostitute whose murder in the woods outside Jefferson, Texas, propelled her to ...

(1853–1877), murder victim and local legend (aka, Bessie Moore, née Annie Stone) * Daniel J. Murphy (1843–1879), Civil War

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient * William Ochiltree (1811–1867), Representative in the Texas Legislature and Provisional Confederate Congress * Richard Waterhouse (1832–1876), Confederate Brigadier General

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cemeteries in Texas Jefferson, Texas 1846 establishments in Texas Jewish cemeteries in Texas Roman Catholic cemeteries in the United States Confederate States of America cemeteries