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Established in 1846, this cemetery was originally known as the Walcott Graveyard. The earliest documented burial in the cemetery is that of James G. Gilmer (1814-1846). A native of Kentucky, Gilmer came to Texas in the late 1830s and settled in this area. He was buried on his family land, and his widow, Elizabeth Parrish Gilmer, later married Benjamin Stuart Walcott. Mr. and Mrs. Walcott gave the land containing Gilmer's grave to the community as a public graveyard. It later became known as Oakwood Cemetery because of the area's large oak trees. Members of Honey Grove's early pioneer families are interred in the graveyard, as are many of their descendants. Over 275 veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II are represented here, some with gravestones and some, whose bodies were not returned, with memorials. Also buried here are members of Honey Grove's pre-Civil War slave community and freed black citizens. Land acquisitions over the years have increased the size of the cemetery. An entrance gate was erected in 1910, and a fence was built around the graveyard about 1913. the Oakwood Cemetery Association, formed in 1923, maintains the historic cemetery. |
