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Oakland Cemetery Camden, Arkansas by Bob Reeves Oakland Cemetery is located at the north end of Adams Avenue and along the north side of Maul Road in the city limits of Camden. A U. S. Geodetic Survey marker is located near the east-west midpoint of Oakland Cemetery about 25 feet from the Maul Road fence. This 8" concrete marker has designations of N, E, S, and W inscribed on it's top and is the marker for the corners of Sections 14, 15, 22, and 23 South, Range 17 West. Oakland was one of the first cemeteries in Camden, and it contains the graves of many members of pioneer families in this area. Many of the early monuments erected there were imported, and they are unique and irreplaceable. Some the early settlers buried in Oakland: Dr. James H. Ponder (1778-1855)-Camden's first physician William Bradley gave the land for the site of Oakland Cemetery some time between 1840 and 1850. Bradley was the owner of several thousand acres of land in this area, including practically all of downtown Camden. He came to Camden in 1833 and was involved in shipping timber on the Ouachita River to mills downstream. In 1834, Bradley married Elizabeth Henderson Nunn, the widow of John Nunn who was the first permanent settler of Ecore Fabre (later Camden). William Bradley and Elizabeth are buried near the west end of the cemetery.
Following the battles of Poison Spring, Marks Mill, and Jenkins Ferry, the bodies of the fallen Confederate soldiers were carried by wagons to places of burial. Many were brought to Camden and placed in the "Old Cemetery", or Oakland, in a central burial place. Some 22 years later, the confederate Monument was erected by the citizens of Camden and unveiled by Mrs. A. A. Tufts on May 29, 1886. There are some 250 stone makers surrounding the monument, most of them inside a chain enclosure. Thirty-eight of the markers have the names of the soldiers who are buried there, and the rest are marked "Unknown Confederate soldier". On the North side of the shaft is inscribed: WE CARE NOT WHENCE THEY CAME DEAR IS THEIR LIFELESS CLAY WHETHER UNKNOWN OR KNOWN TO FAME THEIR CAUSE AND COUNTRY STILL THE SAME THEY DIED.......... WORE THE GRAY IN MEMORIAM 1861-1865 For many years ceremonies were held each year in Oakland Cemetery on Decoration Day at the Monument site in which school children, Boy and Girl Scouts, and the high school band marched from school through Camden to the Confederate monument. People wore or carried garlands of flowers to place at the base of the monument. Speeches were made and prayers were given to honor the dead heroes. Floy Pope remembered the following poem, which was led by Miss Lalla Thornton, the Cleveland Avenue Principal, as the children sang or recited "Song for the Confederates". COVER THEM OVER WITH BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS COVER THEM OVER THOSE HEROES OF OURS LYING THERE BY NIGHT AND BY DAY SILENTLY SLEEPING THEIR YOUNG MANHOOD AWAY These ceremonies continued through the 1920's and 1930's, but fell by the wayside as the country began to head into the years of World War II. In the approximately 160 years since William Bradley donated the land for a cemetery site, the cemetery has been hit by a tornado, suffered neglect, and been subject to vandalism. In late 1997 a group of concerned citizens formed a Committee to Restore Oakland Cemetery. Grant money was obtained from The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston Texas in the amount of $30,000, and with matching funds, a total of $70,000 was raised. This was used to trim and remove trees, and construct a retaining wall with ornamental iron fencing and gates along Maul Road. Cleaning and restoring monuments has continued as the cemetery is now owned and maintained by the Ouachita County Historical Society.
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