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Oakland Cemetery

Sipe Springs, Comanche County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Settlement of Oakland community, which was named for the abundant live oak trees in the area, began in the early 1860s. H. S. Anglin and Sarah Frances Weaver were married in 1872, and they moved to Oakland in 1875. Brother Anglin, as H. S. was known, was a circuit riding Methodist minister who built the church in Oakland while also serving nine churches in nearby communitites. The first burial on this site took place in May 1891 upon the death of Willey N. Burleson. Three months later H. S. and Sarah Anglin deeded the two acres on which the church and burial gound were located to church trustees to serve Oakland and the surrounding communities of Sipe Springs, Duster, Beattie and Gorman. In 1907 the Anglins conveyed two more acres of land to cemetery trustees D. N. Burleson, L. C. Echols and T. J. Munn and their successors. Sarah Weaver Anglin died in 1928 and H. S. Anglin died in 1931; both are interred in the Oakland Cemetery. Others buried here incude members of the Anglin, Brooks, Couch, Dennis, Dukes, Echols, Foote, Hadaway, Hamlin, Hasley, Little, Munn, Poyner, Sexton, Sutton and Underwood families. The Oakland Cemetery Association was organized in 1976. By 1998 the burial ground occupied five acres. The graves include those of more than 40 veterans of World War I and World War II. The cemetery continues to serve Oakland and the surrounding communities and remains a record of the pioneers of Comanche County. (1999)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Named for its abundant live oaks, the Oakland community took root in the early 1860s, and in 1875 circuit-riding Methodist minister H. S. 'Brother' Anglin arrived, building the local church while serving nine congregations nearby. The first burial came in 1891, and the Anglins deeded the church-and-cemetery land to trustees to serve Oakland and the neighboring communities. Now spanning five acres, the cemetery holds the graves of pioneer families and more than forty veterans of World Wars I and II, and it still serves the area today.

Why it matters

The cemetery is a durable record of the pioneer families and itinerant preachers who built community across rural Central Texas, its graves tracing generations from frontier settlement through two world wars.

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Related people

  • · H. S. Anglin
  • · Sarah Frances Weaver Anglin
  • · Willey N. Burleson

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionMilitary & WartimeFrontier HistoryLandmark

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