 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.  |