Oak Ridge Cemetery
Denison, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1853, Asa Messenger, Sr. and his nephew, William Lightfoot, traveled to Grayson County and purchased a considerable amount of land. The Lightfoot family moved to Fannin County soon after, but the messengers made their final move to Texas in 1871. Asa Messenger, Jr. (1842-1879), and his wife, Emma (1846-1936), and their daughter, Henrie Ann, were early settlers in the area that became known as Oak Ridge. In 1881, Emma Messenger donated land for a school, and in 1882 she donated land for a community cemetery after the death of her mother-in-law, Nancy Ann Lightfoot messenger (1812–1882). Additional acreage was added to the cemetery in 1939, conveyed by Ruth Henry Witten, and in 1992 by her daughter, Patricia Witten Mitchell. With more than 700 graves today, Oak Ridge Cemetery was a building block of the community and has become the final resting place for many significant families, several of whom had ancestors who fought in the revolutionary war. Monuments ranging from ornate to simple, marked and unmarked, are spread throughout the cemetery and include woodmen of the world and veterans dating from the Civil War. In 1951, a group met to discuss the maintenance of the cemetery and the Oak Ridge Cemetery association was established. In 1953, the association won first place in a cemetery improvement contest. The association and descendants continue to maintain the cemetery, a focal point and source of historic significance in the Oak Ridge community. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2016
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Asa Messenger, Sr. and his nephew William Lightfoot bought land in Grayson County in 1853, and by 1871 the Messenger family had settled for good in the area that became Oak Ridge. In 1881 Emma Messenger gave land for a school, and in 1882 for a community cemetery after her mother-in-law's death. Now holding more than 700 graves—including descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers and veterans reaching back to the Civil War—the cemetery has been tended by a dedicated association since 1951.
Why it matters
Oak Ridge Cemetery preserves the lineage of a settlement community, linking a Texas frontier neighborhood back through the Civil War to the founding of the nation itself.
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Related people
- · Asa Messenger
- · Emma Messenger
- · Nancy Ann Lightfoot Messenger
Themes & tags
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