English Cemetery

English Cemetery. . In 1852, Oliver English, and his uncle, Simeon English, brought three families and 30 slaves from Missouri to establish plantations in the area. They crossed the Red River at what was then known as the Mill Creek Crossing and travelled the Mill Creek Road until they came to the farm of Rev. William Duke. In this area they opened a 2,000-acre plantation, and Oliver English built a home and store at the heart of his namesake community. The first church was built soon after an 1859 deed to the land. The English store became a trading center for a wide area with many people crossing the Red River to buy there. Before it burned in 1983, it was one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in the county. , The English Cemetery, also known as Williams Chapel Cemetery, is the final resting place for generations of citizens, including military veterans from the Civil War through the Vietnam War. The earliest unmarked burial is believed to be that of John Aikin, who was born circa 1756 and died before 1849. The earliest identifiable grave is that of Margaret Alvey Dunagan, one of the charter members of the community church, who died in 1865. Oliver English, Rev. T. W. Anderson and his wife, Columbia, and A. J. Williams, all early settlers of the English community, are also buried here. The general landscape of English Cemetery is traditional in nature. Graves are oriented east and west, and gravestones are predominantly granite, limestone and marble, with a few surviving markers in wood. Tombstone detailing reflects fraternal orders including Woodmen of the World and Masonic orders. The English Cemetery Society organizes an annual homecoming to raise funds and awareness for the maintenance of this historic burial ground.