Oilfield Cemetery

Duane's take

The marker tells it this way, and here's how I'm bringin' it to you. Somewhere in the heart of the Big Thicket — that almost limitless forest of East Texas — a small group of pioneers settled in the mid-1800s to work farms and run hogs through the trees. Not exactly glamorous work, but it was a living.

And one man in particular, following his hogs through those dense woods, was about to stumble into something a whole lot more interesting than supper. John Fletcher Cotten — born in 1819 — was one of the earliest Anglo settlers in the area. And in 1860, tracking his hogs through the timber the way a man does when the hogs go where they please, he discovered medicinal sulphur springs.

Now, his father-in-law, William Henry Hart, must have recognized an opportunity, because it was at Hart's urging that Cotten filed land claims on the property. He built a log cabin. He brought his wife, Elizabeth Granberry Hart Cotten — born in 1828 — and their eight children out to make a life of it.

Cotten wasn't just a farmer with an eye for land. He and a partner actually attempted to drill for oil on that property. Didn't work out — primitive equipment saw to that.

So Cotten focused on his land holdings, his farming, and the possibilities those springs offered. He named them Saratoga, after the health resort up in New York. A grand name for a place deep in a Texas thicket.

By 1884, a church and a school had gone up across Cotten Road from the cemetery. A community was taking shape. And then, by 1901, the wildcatters arrived — drilling for oil, kicking off the Saratoga oil boom.

The very thing Cotten had tried and failed to do was now happening all around the land he'd claimed. Many families moved to a new Saratoga townsite, away from the oilfields. But here's the thing about this place — they kept coming back to it.

They continued to bury their dead, as the marker puts it, down in the oilfield. The cemetery itself has worn a few names over the years. Early on it was known as J.F.

Cotten or Jordan Cemetery. By the 1890s, when Epsye Bazor Hart — owner of the Epsye Hart Survey — was buried there, it had come to be called Saratoga Cemetery. Eventually, it became known simply as Oilfield Cemetery.

The earliest marked burial belongs to Cotten's own son, Joseph S. Cotten, born in 1865 and buried in 1888. Elizabeth Cotten, born in 1828, died in 1889.

John Fletcher Cotten himself lived until 1907. Both of them rest there now, alongside many other pioneer settlers, their descendants, and oilfield employees. Woodmen of the World monuments stand among the headstones.

Veterans are honored there, from the Civil War all the way to the Korean War. Cedar, pine, oak, and sycamore trees form a canopy over it all — and beneath those trees, you'll find headstones of concrete, granite, limestone, wood, sandstone, marble, funeral company markers, and even engraved petrified wood. A man followed his hogs through the forest one day in 1860, found something remarkable, built a life around it — and now that patch of ground, down in the oilfield, holds the story of just about everyone who came after him.

What the marker says

A SMALL GROUP OF BIG THICKET PIONEERS SETTLED HERE IN THE MID-1800s TO WORK FARMS AND RUN HOGS IN THE ALMOST LIMITLESS FOREST. ONE OF THE EARLIEST ANGLO SETTLERS IN THE AREA, JOHN FLETCHER COTTEN (1819-1907), FIRST TRACKED HIS HOGS THROUGH THE WOODS AND DISCOVERED MEDICINAL SULPHUR SPRINGS IN 1860. AT THE URGING OF HIS FATHER-IN-LAW, WILLIAM HENRY HART, COTTEN FILED LAND CLAIMS ON THE PROPERTY, BUILT A LOG CABIN AND BROUGHT HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH GRANBERRY (HART) COTTEN (1828-1889), AND THEIR EIGHT CHILDREN TO THE AREA. COTTEN AND A PARTNER ATTEMPTED TO DRILL FOR OIL BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL DUE TO PRIMITIVE EQUIPMENT. HE FOCUSED ON HIS LAND HOLDINGS, FARMING AND THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE SPRINGS, NAMED SARATOGA AFTER THE NEW YORK HEALTH RESORT. BY 1901, HOWEVER, WILDCATTERS DRILLING FOR OIL BEGAN THE SARATOGA OIL BOOM. BY 1884 A CHURCH AND SCHOOL WERE BUILT ACROSS COTTEN ROAD FROM THE CEMETERY. MANY OF THE FAMILIES MOVED TO A NEARBY NEW SARATOGA TOWNSITE AWAY FROM THE OILFIELDS BUT THEY CONTINUED TO BURY THEIR DEAD "DOWN IN THE OILFIELD." ORIGINALLY, THE CEMETERY WAS KNOWN AS J.F. COTTEN OR JORDAN CEMETERY BUT, BY THE 1890s WHEN EPSYE BAZOR HART, OWNER OF THE EPSYE HART SURVEY WAS BURIED HERE, IT WAS KNOWN AS SARATOGA CEMETERY. THE EARLIEST MARKED BURIAL IN THE CEMETERY IS THAT OF COTTEN'S SON, JOSEPH S. COTTEN (1865-1888). BOTH ELIZABETH AND JOHN COTTEN ARE BURIED HERE ALONG WITH MANY OTHER PIONEER SETTLERS, THEIR DESCENDANTS AND OILFIELD EMPLOYEES. WOODMEN OF THE WORLD MONUMENTS AND HEADSTONES OF VETERANS FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE KOREAN WAR ARE ALSO PRESENT. CEDAR, PINE, OAK AND SYCAMORE TREES PROVIDE A BACKDROP FOR A VARIETY OF HEADSTONES INCLUDING CONCRETE, GRANITE, LIMESTONE, WOOD, SANDSTONE, MARBLE, FUNERAL COMPANY MARKERS AND ENGRAVED PETRIFIED WOOD THAT MARK THE BURIALS OF MANY RESIDENTS OF SARATOGA AND THE BIG THICKET.