Oak Ridge Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it stands. Now, some stories start with a single journey, and this one starts with two men and a piece of ground. In 1853, Asa Messenger, Sr. and his nephew, William Lightfoot, traveled to Grayson County and purchased a considerable amount of land.

The Lightfoot family moved on to Fannin County not long after, but the Messengers, they weren't done with Texas yet. They made their final move to Texas in 1871, and when they did, they planted roots that are still standing today. Asa Messenger, Jr. and his wife Emma, and their daughter Henrie Ann, became early settlers in the area that would become known as Oak Ridge.

Now, you want to talk about someone who shaped a community, let me tell you about Emma Messenger. In 1881, she donated land for a school. Then in 1882, after the death of her mother-in-law, Nancy Ann Lightfoot Messenger, she donated land for a community cemetery.

Emma herself, born in 1846, lived all the way to 1936. She outlasted nearly everyone around her, and she left something behind that outlasted even that. That cemetery grew.

In 1939, Ruth Henry Witten conveyed additional acreage to it, and in 1992, Ruth's daughter, Patricia Witten Mitchell, added more still. Today, Oak Ridge Cemetery holds more than 700 graves. Ornate monuments and simple ones, marked and unmarked, spread out across the grounds.

You'll find Woodmen of the World markers. You'll find veterans reaching all the way back to the Civil War. Several of the families buried there had ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.

That is a long thread of American history lying quiet in Grayson County. The community never forgot what it had. In 1951, a group met specifically to talk about maintaining the cemetery, and the Oak Ridge Cemetery Association was established.

Two years later, in 1953, that association won first place in a cemetery improvement contest. First place. The association and the descendants of those early families continue to maintain the grounds to this day.

A focal point, the marker calls it. A source of historic significance. It started with two men on horseback riding into Grayson County in 1853.

It became more than 700 graves, two land donations from one determined woman, and a community that still shows up to take care of what its founders left behind. Some legacies you build. Some you tend.

Oak Ridge has always had people willing to do both.

What the marker says

In 1853, Asa Messenger, Sr. and his nephew, William Lightfoot, traveled to Grayson County and purchased a considerable amount of land. The Lightfoot family moved to Fannin County soon after, but the messengers made their final move to Texas in 1871. Asa Messenger, Jr. (1842-1879), and his wife, Emma (1846-1936), and their daughter, Henrie Ann, were early settlers in the area that became known as Oak Ridge. In 1881, Emma Messenger donated land for a school, and in 1882 she donated land for a community cemetery after the death of her mother-in-law, Nancy Ann Lightfoot messenger (1812–1882). Additional acreage was added to the cemetery in 1939, conveyed by Ruth Henry Witten, and in 1992 by her daughter, Patricia Witten Mitchell. With more than 700 graves today, Oak Ridge Cemetery was a building block of the community and has become the final resting place for many significant families, several of whom had ancestors who fought in the revolutionary war. Monuments ranging from ornate to simple, marked and unmarked, are spread throughout the cemetery and include woodmen of the world and veterans dating from the Civil War. In 1951, a group met to discuss the maintenance of the cemetery and the Oak Ridge Cemetery association was established. In 1953, the association won first place in a cemetery improvement contest. The association and descendants continue to maintain the cemetery, a focal point and source of historic significance in the Oak Ridge community. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2016