FIRST Marked Burial in Oakland Cemetery - Grandview, TX
N 32° 16.047 W 097° 13.272
14S E 667539 N 3571469
A sign placed by the Johnson County Historical Commission at Oakland Cemetery, about three miles west of Grandview, TX on FM 916, notes that the first marked burial here was that of Sallie A. Gentry.
Waymark Code: WM1911A
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/05/2023
Views: 1
The sign at the front of the cemetery provides some background:
Oakland Cemetery occupies 2 acres and includes approximately 90 stone markers and several unmarked graves.
Phillip Walker (1815-1897) came to Johnson County in 1855. In 1860 he bought land west of Grand View on the site of an old Indian village near "Walker Spring." He was a veteran of the Texas War for Independence from Mexico. He gave money to establish a school. John Collier, Headmaster, named the area "Oakland". A student at the school, Sallie A. Gentry, received the first marked burial in 1886. Sallie was only 10 years old.
In 1936 Phillip and Elizabeth Walker's bodies were removed to the Texas State Cemetery. Their headstones remain as a remembrance.
Others interred include Mrs. Merriman (Tellitha) Cooper, widow of Pvt. Cooper, Confederate POW, who died in captivity at Camp Douglas, Il. and Dr. Samuel Hamilton who served the community as both a physician and Methodist Episcopal minister.
Grandview Cemetery Association has maintained Oakland Cemetery since 1981. Historic Cemetery Status was awarded by Texas Historical Commission in 2007 and Johnson County Historical Commission recognized Oakland as a County Historic Landmark in 2019.
Plaque is Property of Johnson County Historical Commission 2023
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Sallie A. Gentry was actually buried here in 1866, twenty years earlier than what's listed on the sign and an obvious typo, but she's still the first. They got it right on their Facebook page on May 7, 2023, when they posted about the Historic Texas Cemetery Medallion they had unveiled, and Findagrave also confirms "1866". She is buried next to her grandmother, Mary Gentry (1805-1869). Presumably, their headstones originally stood upright, but in light of their ages, they're probably safer on their backs. Both feature arches, presumably the gate into Heaven, with a set of hands reaching down from the clouds. While there is an epitaph, it is illegible, but we can still make out most of Sallie's inscription:
Sacred
to the
Memory
of
Miss Sallie A.
Gentry
Born
July 25 1856
Died
Sept 14 1866
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