Oakland Community Cemetery
Canton, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The oldest marked grave in Oakland Cemetery is that of Oscar Lee who was born and died on the same November day in 1882. The earliest recorded school building at Oakland was erected in 1885. It served as a non-denominational church on Sundays and was located just north of the cemetery. During a brush arbor revival, the preacher's infant child became ill and died. This is believed to be the first unmarked grave in Oakland Cemetery. In 1887, M. M. Burks deeded one acre for a cemetery; by 1896 the site held about forty graves among cedar trees. Early settler Lizzie Currey McMahon deeded two acres of land for a Methodist church in 1894. The Methodist congregation was organized in 1901; a Baptist church organized in 1904. In the early 20th century the Oakland community included the cemetery, school and churches, and a cotton gin owned by Lizzie's father John T. Currey. A prominent citizen, Currey served in the Texas House of Representatives four times. The Oakland School District was established in 1905. By 1913 there were 42 students from the earliest level to the 7th grade. The school was consolidated with Grand Saline schools about 1938. Other early settlers buried on this site include Joseph and Sabrina Reid and members of their family. Sabrina is believed to have been of American Indian descent. The Adkins, Boyer, Burks, Carpenter, Chambless, Downs, Fincher, Gillespie, Kennedy, King, Lee, McMahon, Stephens, Skinner and Wheeler families are represented, as well. Additional acreage was deeded to the cemetery in 1954 by the Metzger and Morgan families. The Oakland Cemetery continues to serve as a chronicle of the past. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The oldest marked grave at Oakland belongs to Oscar Lee, born and dead on the same November day in 1882, and the community's story is written in the deeds that followed: a schoolhouse in 1885 that doubled as a Sunday church, a cemetery acre from M. M. Burks in 1887, and Methodist church land from Lizzie Currey McMahon in 1894. In its prime Oakland held churches, a school, and a cotton gin owned by John T. Currey, a four-term member of the Texas House. The dozens of family names on its stones — and Sabrina Reid, believed to be of American Indian descent — make the cemetery a running record of who lived and worked here.
Why it matters
Oakland Cemetery is a chronicle of an entire rural community written in gravestones, preserving the names and connections of the families who built East Texas.
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Related people
- · John T. Currey
- · Lizzie Currey McMahon
- · M. M. Burks
- · Oscar Lee
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Starr Cemetery and School
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In 1886 James F. Starr, acting for landowner Sarah F. Clapp, deeded two acres here for a community school, and within a few years the ground was also serving as a burial place — the earliest marked grave being the infant son of B. A. and Ora Monroe, who died in 1889. A formal cemetery followed in 1911 when A. C. White and his wife sold the adjoining land. The school and cemetery knit together the scattered Starr, Todd Hill, and Wentworth communities, and among those laid to rest here is Civil War soldier Joseph Staley.
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