Oakwood Cemetery
Historical Marker
Established in 1846, this cemetery was originally known
as the Walcott Graveyard. The earliest documented burial in the cemetery
is that of James G. Gilmer (1814-1846). A nativeof Kentucky, Gilmer came
to Texas in the late 1830s and settled in this area. He was buried on his
family land, and his widow, Elizabeth Parrish Gilmer, later married Benjamin
Stuart Walcott. Mr. and Mrs. Walcott gave the land containing Gilmer's
grave to the community as a public graveyard. It later became known
as Oakwood Cemetery because of the area's large oak trees. Members of Honey
Grove's early pioneer families are interred in the graveyard, as are many
of their descendants. Over 275 veterans of the Civil War,
World War I, and World War II are represented here,some with gravestones
and some, whose bodies were not returned, with memorials. Alsoburied here
are members of Honey Grove's preCivil War slave community and freed black
citizens. Land acquisitions over the years have increasedthe size of the
cemetery. An entrance gate was erected in 1910, and a fence was built
around the graveyard about 1913. the Oakwood Cemetery Association, formed
in 1923, maintains the historic cemetery.
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