"The lone oak among the virgin pines and cedar trees, for which Lone Oak Cemetery was named, is long gone from the scene, but the driveways flower and oleanders and other blooming trees, and many of the pines and cedars still drop their aromatic needles in the older parts of the cemetery." [Daily Commercial, July 3-4, 1976]
Lone Oak is the oldest cemetery in this section of the county. It was so named because there was, at that time, only ONE oak tree amongst the pines, near the log cabin that was used for both church and school purposes, with a little graveyard beside it. Early settlers in the vicinity of Leesburg first held their joint religious services in the area of Lone Oak in a brush arbor, and laid their loved ones to rest nearby. The first place of worship was a brush arbor erected in 1858 when a circuit rider visited the section, and brush shelters were used until the log cabin was built at Lone Oak. By 1870 the churches were using other buildings away from Lone Oak. The land for the cemetery was entered on the records by Dr. S. J. Bouknight for cemetery and church purposes.
"Lone Oak was in use for almost 20 years before the land was deeded by Dr. Sydney J. Bouknight and his wife on January 3, 1884 to Josiah A. Lee, Obed Fussell and Josiah S Dyches, as trustees of Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Lone Oak, and their successors in office. The deed was recorded November 1887, by which time W. W. Ward and Joel F. McClendon has been elected successors to Lee and Dyches." [ibid.]
The first recorded interment was that of Mrs. Minerva Howell, on February 2nd, 1867, and a pole fence was built around the grave to protect it from the "varmints", as the old settlers called the wild animals. A marble headstone now marks the site of this grave.
One day in January 1893, a number of Leesburg ladies met at the residence of Mrs. J. A. Hansbrough, for the purpose of organizing a Cemetery Improvement Association. Soon after this group became active, they had erected a wrought iron fence around the cemetery grounds. This fence now lines the roadway in front of the historic section of the cemetery.
Provided by Glorianne Fahs, Member, Lone Oak Cemetery Board of Trustees
