New Haven Cemetery

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of New Haven Cemetery in Red River County. Back in 1859, a man named George M. Sargeant gave the land.

Not just for a graveyard, mind you. He donated acreage for a community church, a school, and a cemetery, all at once. One piece of ground meant to hold the living and the dead alike.

And before that year was even out, the cemetery received its first burial. That was George W. Rolston, who died in 1859.

Rolston was a veteran of the War of 1812, a man who had lived through something most folks in 1859 could only read about in a history book. He was the first to be laid to rest in that ground Sargeant had given. Nearly four decades passed, and then in 1898, John and Lillie Jamison, Lillie born a Doak, donated additional land to the New Haven Baptist Church and Cemetery.

The roots went deeper. The ground kept growing. And among all the pioneer families and war veterans buried there, one small marker carries a name that traveled far beyond the cemetery fence.

Dimple Dee, the infant daughter of W. W. and Katie Crockett, rests in that cemetery, and the Dimple community itself is named for her. A child who never grew up, and yet her name ended up on the map.

Numerous pioneer families and veterans are buried alongside her, generations of folks who built something out of Red River County ground. And the cemetery, the one George M. Sargeant started it all with back in 1859, it continues to serve residents of the area to this day.

Some places just hold on.

What the marker says

Acreage for a community church, school, and graveyard was given in 1859 by George M. Sargeant. The first burial in the cemetery was for George W. Rolston (d. 1859), a veteran of the War of 1812. Additional land for the New Haven Baptist Church and Cemetery was donated by John and Lillie (Doak) Jamison in 1898. Numerous pioneer families and war veterans are buried here, as is Dimple Dee, the infant daughter of W. W. and Katie Crockett, for whom the Dimple community is named. The historic cemetery continues to serve residents of the area.