DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Oak Grove Cemetery in Nacogdoches County. Now settle in, because this patch of ground holds more history than most states could claim in a lifetime. Oak Grove Cemetery — originally called American Cemetery — sits on the 1826 land grant of a man named Haden Edwards.
And Edwards himself is buried right there among the folks he once tried to lead into rebellion. That's right: the leader of the 1826 Fredonian Rebellion, laid to rest on his own grant. If that irony doesn't make you slow down a little, I don't know what will.
The earliest marked burial on the site belongs to Franklin J. Starr, who died in 1837. He was a native of New Hartford, Connecticut, and a local realtor — a long way from home, and here he's stayed.
But Oak Grove's story doesn't start in the 1800s. Not even close. When Nacogdoches County erected its courthouse in 1912, it did so on the grounds of the old Spanish cemetery, and many of those graves were relocated to Oak Grove.
The earliest grave carried over from that burial ground is marked simply, 'Father Mendoza,' 1718. Seventeen eighteen. Let that year sit with you a moment against the Texas sky.
Now, if you want famous names, Oak Grove has got them stacked like cordwood. Thomas Jefferson Rusk is perhaps the most well-known resting here — judge, statesman, and Sam Houston's secretary of war. Charles Stanfield Taylor, John S.
Roberts, and William Clark, Jr. all signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, and they're here too. The Battle of San Jacinto is represented by Captain Haden Arnold and Elias E. Hamilton.
And among the other statesmen and soldiers interred here: Jacob Lewis, James Harper Starr, General Kelsey H. Douglass, George F. Ingraham, Nicholas Adolphus Sterne, Captain Frederick Voigt, and Dr.
Robert A. Irion — who, on top of everything else, served as Sam Houston's personal physician. The cemetery also holds the burials of former slaves Mitchell Thorn, Lawrence Sleet, and Eliza Walker — names the marker takes care to record, and so do we.
Frost Thorn was among Texas' early millionaires. Deidrich Anton Wilhelm Rulfs, Nacogdoches' master architect, designed Zion Hill Baptist Church on the north side of the very cemetery where he now rests. Richard William Haltom founded and edited Nacogdoches' own The Daily Sentinel.
And poet Karle Wilson Baker was the third person ever named a fellow to the Texas Institute of Letters. One cemetery. One piece of ground in Nacogdoches County stretching back to 1718.
They called it American Cemetery once upon a time, but the truth is, it's older and wider and deeper than that name ever held. Oak Grove carries all of it.
What the marker says
Originally called "American Cemetery," Oak Grove Cemetery is located on the 1826 land grant of Empresario Haden Edwards. The leader of the 1826 Fredonian Rebellion, Edwards is interred here. The earliest marked burial on this site is that of Franklin J. Starr (d. 1837), a native of New Hartford, Connecticut and a local realtor. Many graves from the early Spanish cemetery of Nacogdoches were relocated to this site when the county courthouse was erected on the Spanish cemetery grounds in 1912. The earliest grave from that burial ground is marked, "Father Mendoza," 1718. Oak Grove Cemetery is filled with historical figures important both to Nacogdoches County and the State of Texas. Perhaps the most famous is Thomas Jefferson Rusk, judge, statesman and Sam Houston's secretary of war. Like Rusk, Charles Stanfield Taylor, John S. Roberts and William Clark , Jr., signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Other statesmen and soldiers interred here include Captain Haden Arnold and Elias E. Hamilton, veterans of the Battle of San Jacinto; Jacob Lewis; James Harper Starr; General Kelsey H. Douglass; George F. Ingraham; Nicholas Adolphus Sterne; Captain Frederick Voigt; and Dr. Robert A. Irion, who also was Sam Houston's personal physician. Other burials of interest include those of former slaves Mitchell Thorn, Lawrence Sleet and Eliza Walker. Frost Thorn was among Texas' early millionaires; Deidrich Anton Wilhelm Rulfs, Nacogdoches' master architect, designed Zion Hill Baptist Church on the north side of the cemetery. Richard William Haltom founded and edited Nacogdoches' "The Daily Sentinel," and poet Karle Wilson Baker was the third person named a fellow to the Texas Institute of Letters. (2000)