Oak Island Cemetery (African-American), Rapides Parish Louisiana Submitted by Jane Parker Mcmanus ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Directions: From Alexandria, take LA Hwy. 28 west past the coliseum. Turn right on Vandenberg Drive and continue until you enter the back gate of England Air Park (the old England Air Force Base). Continue on this road until you pass Huey P. Long Medical Center, and turn left into the golf course parking area. Go to the back parking lot where Oak Island Cemetery can be seen. The burial ground is not fenced, but is neatly mowed. The site has several very large cedar and oak trees scattered among the burials. Most burials have vaults, however, the large center area is littered with depressions that indicate lost graves. In 1861, Maj. Fred Siep, a member of the Alexandria Rifles, Crescent Regiment, CSA, owned this property in and around what is now England Air Park. He called his plantation "Oak Isle," and it was located where the Officers Club was built. When the property was subdivided and sold, the little cemetery was retained by the African Americans who had worked on the plantation. Later when the site became England Air Force Base in the 1940's, the cemetery was left intact at the rear of the Golf Course, and is still used today by the African-American Community around Alexandria. Tombstone inscriptions were read in rows as much as possible from the back of the cemetery near the bayou toward the front near the parking lot. Copied by Mary Parker Partain, September 1992, and updated by Jane P. McManus, 10 September 1996. Row 1: Sanders, Oscar Sr. - 21 Sep 1907/31 Aug 1990 [Identical vault, missing nameplate on funeral marker - no information] Row 2: [Right to Left] Cole, Derrick S. - 9 Dec 1966/27 Nov 1990 Mishey, Roy "Ted" - 14 Mar 1932/11 Mar 1989 Hayward, Ronnie Ray - 3 Feb 1959/10 May 1972 [hand-lettered stone] [5 unmarked vaults & 1 depression - no information] Perkins, Rev. W. P. - 1889/1958, age 69 yrs. [hand-lettered stone] Perkins, Anner S. - 14 Dec 1895/7 Dec 1948 [hand-lettered stone] Jons, Mrs. Corine - Jan 1910/Aug 1945 Slaughter, Sarah - 1873/1963, age 90 yrs. Mother Slaughter, Rev. Jessie - 1868/1934, age 66 yrs. Father Slaughter, George - 3 Aug 1937 / 29 ? 1946. Husband/Father [unmarked vault - no inscription] Slaughter, Joe - 1881/1945 Father Ellis, Myrtle - 1908/1951 Sister/Sister-in-law Wilkins, Bro. Albert - 11 Jul 1902/4 Dec 1975 Turner, Albert - 24 Jul 1903/28 Oct 1978 Row 3: Holmes, Oneal - died 2 Aug 1989, 43 yrs. [funeral marker] [unreadable funeral marker - no information] King, Willie - 26 Apr 1905/7 May 1979 [depression & unreadable funeral marker - no information] Rayson, Willie F. - 6 Nov 1929/6 Dec 1986, US Army Slaughter, Frank L. - 22 Nov 1921/11 Mar 1964 LA Pvt. Sup. Det. Sec. 2nd Su Div. WW2 Slaughter, Rosa C.D. - 7 Jun 1904/9 Aug 1959 [unmarked vault - no information] Slaughter, William - 1899/1965 [Groups of Burials - not in rows]: [vault with unreadable funeral marker - no information] W.W.W. - 10 Sep 1943 [vault with hand-lettered stone] Culbert, Bertha Lee - 15 Jun 1931/22 Aug 1988 [unmarked burial & vault with unreadable funeral marker - no information] Bayonne, Willie Sr. - 20 Feb 1920/9 Oct 1994 Bayonne, Susie Mae - 3 Aug 1930/13 Jun 1993 Byrd, Henry Jr. - 26 Mar 1925/14 Mar 1994 [3 vaults in a row] Madden -[unreadable funeral marker - no information] [2 unreadable funeral markers & depression for unmarked burial - no information] Madden, Nick Jr. - 10 Jan 1905/24 Mar 1984 [unreadable funeral marker & unmarked vault - no information] Lee, J. B. Jr. - 7 Jul 1949/16 Nov 1980 Madison, Rev. Hillary Jr. - 25 Dec 1905/16 Apr 1987 Madison, Cleo A. - 10 Jun 1910/2 Aug 1990 Madison, Rev. Thomas - 9 Jul 1912/3 Apr 1988 Kennedy, Theresa A. - 14 Oct 1904/7 Oct 1993 Parker, Willis Sr. - 19 Mar 1929/5 mar 1988 [broken stone with date only - 1906 - no other inscription] Edwards, Becky, wife of Abram Edwards - died 6 Mar 1899 [this is the earliest marked burial] Lee, Ernest Sr. - 28 May 1904/17 Sep 1988 Green, Agnes - 21 May 1875/4 Oct 19?? Mother Lee, Ernest Jr. - 20 Sep 1926/23 Jun 1989 Large Center Area: [many depressions in this area, too numerous to count, possibly lost graves] Kennedy, Albert - Jan 1875/3 May 1932 Williams, Richard - 15 Sep 1885/3 Jul 1950 Huel, William - 23 Dec 1922/6 Jun 1947, LA Pvt. Ord. Dept. WW2 Harris, Francis, Infant daughter of Ella Slaughter - [no dates] [depression & unreadable funeral marker - no information] Jones, Pattie K. - 1888/1950 McCoy, Elijah - died 1952, 76 yrs. Father Green, Earl - 16 Nov 1917/26 Feb 1996 Neal, Mary - 1901/3 Feb 1993 [3 vaults together] Gable, John - 4 Jul 1914/27 Jun 1990 [3 unmarked adult vaults - no inscription] [2 unreadable funeral markers - no information] [1 unmarked infant burial - no information] [2 unmarked burials with flowers - no information] Maddern, Martha - 20 Mar 1899/25 Dec 1970 Coty, Mrs. Vera - 18 Feb 1931/2 Jan 1986 Mother Byrd, Sammy D. - 13 Dec 1948/20 Feb 1989 [1 unmarked grave with flowers - no information] [1 unreadable funeral marker - no information] Cooper, Roylee - 7 Aug 1942/1 Oct 1993 Cooper, James L. - 30 Sep 1931/30 Aug 1974 Cooper, Thomas Jr. - 6 Dec 1888/4 Jan 1987 [3 unreadable funeral markers - no information] [2 unmarked vaults - no information] Thomas, Dorston Sr. - 4 Jan 1911/27 Nov 1995, 84 yrs. [funeral marker] [identical mounded burial - no funeral marker or information] Smith, Mandy - 19 Jun 1922/15 Apr 1993 Williams, Pearl D. - 9 Sep 1918/11 May 1989 Williams, Ben - 15 Apr 1915/27 Mar 1973 Jones, Daniel - 3 Nov 1915/22 Apr 1989 Davis, Joe - 20 Apr 1927/3 Mar 1993 [1 unmarked vault - no information] Davis, Rachel - 15 May 1889/13 Oct 1959 Jones, Herman - 12 May 1936/30 Nov 1988 Davis, Sandy Sr. - 20 Jun 1875/14 Mar 1966 Tony, Jim - 1881/1960 Group of Burials - Far Right Front Corner: Harris, Henry - 28 Sep 1903/27 Aug 1977 Harris, Beatrice Hall - 8 Mar 1913/31 Mar 1984 [Double stone & vaults] Green, Roosevelt - 16 May 1924/16 Feb 1974, LA Pfc. US Army Harris, Johnny - 2 Apr 1909/18 Aug 1993 Harris, Richard Charles - 25 Apr 1945/13 Jul 1994 Harris, Beulah M. Johnson - 4 Jul 1938 / 4 Sep 2005 [11 unmarked vaults - no information] Norris, Aaron - born 1924 [unmarked grave, information provided by family] Burials after Cemetery copied: Price, Mary B. "Cherry" - died 7 Nov 1996, 22 yrs.