Oakwood Cemetery
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Before Oakwood Cemetery was established here in 1878, this tract of land contained a fairgrounds and race track. The 157-acre burial ground is successor to First Street Cemetery, oldest important cemetery in Waco. Many bodies from early graveyards were moved here in 1878 and later because of the better maintenance of these grounds. Since 1898 the Oakwood Cemetery Association, a private group, has operated this tract, although the land remains the property of the city. The board of directors of the association consists of women only, as provided in the original by-laws. Among the eminent Texans interred here are three governors: Richard Coke (1874-1876), L.S. "Sul" Ross (1887-1891), and Pat M. Neff (1921-1925). Also, Neil McLennan, Texas pioneer of Scottish birth for whom McLennan County is named, is buried in Oakwood. In addition there are two old adversaries: Rufus C. Burleson, president of Baylor University,and William Cowper Brann, Crusading Editor of the "Iconoclast", who was shot in 1898 by another man who resented Brann's acid attacks on hypocrisy an self-righteousness. Also interred is William Cameron, "Lumber King of the South." As of April 2, 1969, burials totaled 18, 804.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Before it became a cemetery in 1878, this Waco tract held a fairgrounds and a racetrack; afterward it grew into a 157-acre resting place that received reburials from the city's older graveyards. Uniquely, its association has long been governed by a board of directors made up entirely of women, as its founding by-laws required. Among those interred are three Texas governors, the pioneer for whom McLennan County is named, and a crusading editor shot dead in 1898 over his caustic pen.
Why it matters
Oakwood gathers the founders, feuds, and leaders of one Texas city into a single ground, and its all-women governing board marks an early and lasting role for women in civic institutions.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Waco in the 1870s was a booming Central Texas town at a crossing of the Brazos River. Cotton and cattle drove its economy, and the railroad was turning it into a regional hub. Texas was coming out of Reconstruction, and a new political order, led by Democrats who had pushed out the Reconstruction government, was taking control of the state.
Oakwood Cemetery opened in 1878 on land that had been a fairgrounds and racetrack, a sign of how fast the town was growing and changing. As older burial grounds became crowded or neglected, families moved their dead here, where the grounds were better kept. American cemeteries of this period were often designed as landscaped, park-like spaces, built for the living to walk through as much as for the dead to rest in.
This was also a time when women were taking on public roles through civic and charitable groups, even though they could not yet vote. Cemetery associations, church societies, and memorial organizations gave women real authority over community institutions. At Oakwood, that authority was written into the rules.
People & events
Oakwood is an unusual place in one important way. Since 1898 it has been run by a private association, although the City of Waco still owns the land. By the association's original by-laws, its board of directors is made up only of women. For generations, then, women have governed one of the most important civic landmarks in Waco.
The people buried here could fill a Texas history book. There are three governors. Richard Coke took office in 1874 as Reconstruction was ending in Texas and later went to the U.S. Senate. Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross was a frontier soldier and Confederate officer who became governor and later led the college that became Texas A&M. Pat M. Neff served as governor in the 1920s and later became president of Baylor University. Neil McLennan, the Scottish-born pioneer whose name the county carries, rests here as well. So does William Cameron, remembered as the "Lumber King of the South."
Oakwood also holds a famous Waco feud. William Cowper Brann published the Iconoclast, a magazine known for its savage attacks on what he saw as hypocrisy and self-righteousness, and Baylor and its Baptist leaders were among his favorite targets. One of his rivals, Baylor president Rufus C. Burleson, is buried here too. In 1898 Brann was shot by a man who hated his attacks, and the gunfight that followed killed both men. Today the two old opponents share the same ground.
Its place in the American story
Cemeteries like Oakwood are archives in stone. Here you can trace how a small Texas town grew into a city, and how Texas moved from frontier and Civil War through Reconstruction into the modern era. The governors buried here held office during some of the state's most important turning points, and their stories connect Waco to national debates over war, reunion, and education.
Brann's story raises a lasting American question about the freedom of the press. Fierce, personal journalism has a long history in this country, and so does violence against people who write it. The editor's death shows how dangerous it could be to speak sharply in a small, close-knit community in the 1890s.
The all-women board may be the most quietly remarkable thing here. Long before women won the vote nationally in 1920, they were running real institutions, raising money, managing property, and caring for public memory. Oakwood is a lasting example of that tradition, still going more than a century later.
If you visit
Oakwood is a place for walking slowly. With 157 acres and many thousands of graves, it is large enough that you will want time to wander. Look for the older section and its weathered Victorian monuments, which show how families in the late 1800s expressed grief and status in carved stone.
Make a game of finding the famous names: three governors, a county's namesake, a lumber baron, a college president, and a crusading editor. Notice how near one another some of the old rivals ended up. If you are traveling with kids, ask them to find the oldest date they can, or to look for symbols carved into the stones.
As always in a cemetery, be respectful. This is still an active burial ground, and families still visit here. Oakwood fits well into a Waco day along with the Brazos riverfront and the Baylor campus, both connected to people who are buried here.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Richard Coke
- · L.S. "Sul" Ross
- · Pat M. Neff
- · Neil McLennan
- · William Cowper Brann
Themes & tags
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