Oakhill Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at Oakhill Cemetery tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. From the 1830s onward, pioneers began settling along the roads of this part of Sabine County, putting down roots in dispersed little agrarian communities, Oakhill among them. Life out here was built close to the ground.

Most working folks made their living through subsistence farming, scratching what they could from the land. But many of them supplemented that income by cutting and hauling timber down to the Sabine River. It was hard country, and people were resourceful.

Oakhill Baptist Church served the spiritual needs of these scattered settlements. The church was originally located at Caney, but by 1882 it had moved to this spot. The cemetery took root here around the same time, established by the 1880s.

The oldest marked grave belongs to Joseph Adair Smith, Sr., who died in 1882. His grave was moved here from Fairdale Cemetery, which tells you something about how these communities tended to their own, even across time and distance. The oldest known original interment in the ground itself dates to 1885, for Philip Stine Edgar, though the marker notes it is believed earlier burials exist.

So the soil likely holds more history than the stones can say. Now, around 1910, lumber companies moved into East Texas in a big way, acquiring vast amounts of timbered land. For a while, that created opportunity.

But here is where the story turns. By the 1930s, those lumber companies, with no reforestation programs in place, had cut most of the timber. And when the timber was gone, it became difficult for families to survive on subsistence farming alone.

Communities that had held together for generations began to decline. Then came another chapter. In 1935, Sabine National Forest was established, and this burial ground ended up inside its boundaries.

Exceptions were supposed to be made for special uses, like cemeteries. But Oakhill Church and cemetery land was not exempted. That was an error, plain and simple, and it took until 1966 for the U.S.

Forest Service to correct it, conveying the property back to the church and cemetery. Meanwhile, in the 1960s, a number of individuals were reinterred at Oakhill when water was impounded during the creation of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. Communities reshaping themselves again, even in death.

In 1965, the Oakhill Cemetery Association formed to care for this burial ground, and they have been tending it ever since. What stands here today is a testament to pioneering settlers and the communities they built, communities that farmed, logged, worshipped, and endured, until the land and the times made enduring too hard. The cemetery outlasted all of it.

It's still here.

What the marker says

From the 1830s to late 1800s, pioneers settled along roads in this area, establishing dispersed agrarian communities, including Oakhill. Oakhill Baptist Church and this cemetery met the needs of individuals in these settlements. The church was originally located at Caney, but moved here by 1882; the graveyard was also established by the 1880s. While subsistence farming was the main occupation of most working individuals in the area, many supplemented their income through cutting and hauling timber to the Sabine River. By around 1910, lumber companies acquired vast amounts of timbered land in East Texas. However, by the 1930s, the lumber companies, with no reforestation programs in place, had cut most of the timber, and it became difficult for families to survive on subsistence farming, leading to the decline of area communities. This burial ground was once part of Sabine National Forest, which was established in 1935. Exceptions were made for acreage in special uses, such as burial grounds, but Oakhill Church and cemetery land was not exempted. The error was corrected in 1966, when the U.S. Forest Service conveyed property to the church and cemetery. The oldest marked grave in Oakhill Cemetery is that of Joseph Adair Smith, Sr. (d. 1882), whose grave was moved from Fairdale Cemetery. A number of other individuals were reinterred here in the 1960s, when water was impounded during the creation of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The oldest known original interment occurred in 1885 for Philip Stine Edgar, though it is believed earlier burials exist. In 1965, the Oakhill Cemetery Association formed to care for the burial ground. Today, Oakhill Cemetery serves as a testament to the area’s pioneering settlers and early communities.