Oak Grove Community

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Oak Grove Community, out in Cooke County. Now, some stories start with a man leaving home, and this one is no different. Back in the 1860s, George Sanford Norrid packed up everything he had, said goodbye to Missouri, and headed to Texas with his wife Tabitha and the rest of the family.

They settled in this area, and before long, the Norrid home became something more than just a house. It became the place where neighbors gathered for church services. That's the kind of thing that seeds a community.

Then came 1875, and George Norrid and a man named F.M. Dougherty made it official, deeding land for a Methodist Episcopal church. Norrid's portion of that donation also preserved land for a cemetery, quiet ground set aside against the day it would be needed.

That day came sooner than anyone would have wanted. In January of 1876, Tabitha Norrid died, and she became the first person laid to rest in what would grow into the Oak Grove Cemetery. Think about that for a moment.

The woman who had opened her home so neighbors could worship together now rested in ground her family had given to the community. For years after, area families used that same church building for both school and worship, two purposes under one roof, which was a very Texas kind of arrangement. That went on until 1884, when the community made a decision.

They moved the building, school and church together, on down the road to nearby Woodbine. The land didn't sit forgotten, though. The Methodist church eventually deeded it to the cemetery association, and that association has kept watch over the burial ground ever since.

The Norrids came from Missouri with a family and offered what they had. What's left standing is the ground where Tabitha rests, tended still.

What the marker says

In the 1860s, George Sanford Norrid left his Missouri home with his wife, Tabitha, and family and moved to Texas, settling in this area and offering their home for church services. In 1875, F.M. Dougherty and George Norrid deeded land for a Methodist Epsicopal church; Norrid's donation preserved land for a cemetery. When Tabitha Norrid died in January 1876, she was the first buried in what became the Oak Grove Cemetery. Area families used the church building for school and worship until 1884, when they moved the building, and with it the school and church, to nearby Woodbine. The Methodist church later deeded its land to the cemetery association, which maintains the burial ground. (2005)