Grayson County TXGenWeb
 


A group of volunteers gather at the Bloomfield Cemetery for a clean-up day organized by DeLoyd Hicks.
[CAPTION ON PHOTO] Pieces of the Bloomfield Academy historical marker that stood beside the nearby highway now rest in the Bloomfield Cemetery.
By DONNA HUNT Donna Hunt
Herald Democrat, Aug 14, 2011

In a grove of trees in the back portion of a pasture not far from Hendrix and Achille, Okla., lies one of the oldest cemeteries in Bryan County. Through the years it has been known as the Bloomfield Cemetery.
More than 500 graves are contained in the overgrown, weed patch in the middle of a pasture. Most of the tombstones are unreadable, broken or no longer can be found. In the early days of the cemetery some concrete blocks and plain stones with no marking on them marked many of the graves.
Like many cemeteries that don’t have regular upkeep, the cemetery had been overgrown with brush and trees and cattle have even gotten inside from time to time and destroyed some of the graves.
But new life is being breathed into the burial grounds by a group of eight or 10 volunteers who spent a very hot Saturday recently cleaning the cemetery. The temperatures rose above 100 degrees, but the volunteers persevered gathering sticks and shrubs, straightening tombstones as much as possible and mowing and weed eating a section of the cemetery. Future clean-up days also are planned when it gets a little cooler.
DeLoyd Hicks of Achille organized the work day and brought along three daughters, Rachel and her husband Craig Musgrove of Durant, and Karin Hicks and Rebekah Hicks of Achille, to help. J.M. Beshire from the Georgia Community north of Honey Grove near Tigertown came over with his weed cutter to help. Beth Alexander, legislator for the Chickasaw Nation, representing Panola District, and Richard and Doris Murray from Warren, Texas (between Lufkin and Beaumont) came up to lend a hand. Wendell Rochelle of Durant came to honor his great-grandmother, Elzira Kemp, who is buried in the cemetery along with other relatives.
Most of those helping had ancestors buried there. Richard Murray’s great-grandfather, Dr. H.F. Murray, was a physician and director of Bloomfield Academy for a short time. The academy was just across a knoll and a pond from the cemetery. It was in honor of Dr. H.F. Murray that his descendant came to help. DeLoyd Hicks’ grandmother and sister also are buried there.
Bloomfield Academy was also known as Bloomfield Indian Seminary that was founded in 1852 and actually opened in 1856. No one was responsible for maintaining roads in that area so buggies, wagons and two-seated hacks had to be built strong to cover ruts, tree stumps and roots in the road. This was especially true of the trail through the woods around Bloomfield. It was rough going for horses and often the driver had to get out and clean the mud from the wheels. There wasn’t even a farm house near the school making it a lonely place for the girls, mostly Indian, who boarded there.
Bloomfield was founded and named by John Harpole Carr, according to Chronicles of Oklahoma in December 1924 when he set up a church. In 1850 he applied for permission to build a school. Then during the Civil War, a Confederate battalion took it over.
Bloomfield, like all 13 boarding schools among the Choctaws and Chickasaws, was supported by funds from missionary boards and an annuity fund of the two Indian tribes. Mr. Carr was paid $66.66 a year for each student there. There were about 100 students, Indian girls attending the school. At least half boarded there and the rest either walked to school or rode the railroad dinky operated by the Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad.
The dinky had a station at the Academy and after school and on weekends a lot of the girls would catch the dinky and ride into Achille. Those were horse and buggy days and transportation was hard to come by.
Mr. Carr was a carpenter by trade and did all the cabinet work himself. He cultivated a farm, where wheat, corn and potatoes were raised. Peaches, plums and apples were available from an orchard. During the time the school was occupied by the Confederate Chickasaw battalion that camped on the school grounds. The troops ate well. After the troops left, a dormitory and a surgeon’s office were furnished. That’s when Dr. Murray came onto the scene. The dormitory later burned and was never replaced. The main Bloomfield building burned in 1914. The school was closed after the fire that year and moved to Ardmore, where it became known as Carter seminary.
The school was built by slave labor and it is ironic that not far from the Bloomfield Cemetery is what is known as the “Freedman’s Cemetery.” In stark contrast, that cemetery is in a quiet, peaceful section of land and is as clean as a pin and well groomed with flowers and carved headstones marking the graves. That cemetery is still being used today and some of the headstones were within the last few years.
When Denison came along, the town was a source of supplies for the school and the students. Bloomfield Academy operated its own ferry boat on Red River and would send the boat over often to load up with items purchased for the school and the students and adults. Students were allowed to make the trip to Denison if they had special written permission from their parents for each trip they made. Occasionally, however, a class would come over to Denison to attend a performance at the opera house.
With a few more cleaning sessions, the Bloomfield Cemetery could become the place that the volunteers want it to be. I’m sure that Mr. Hicks could use all the volunteers he can get. If interested, contact this writer and she will put you in touch with him.

DONNA HUNT is a former editor of The Denison Herald. She lives in Denison and can be contacted at d.hunt_903@yahoo.com.





Bloomfield Academy History


Chickasaw Roots
 

Native American Roots

Schools

Susan Hawkins
© 2024

If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message.