THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER OF OAK GROVE CEMETERY
BY RICKEY ROBERTSON
Located about 4 miles east of Hornbeck, La. on La. Hwy. 392, also known as Rifle Range Road, is the church and cemetery located in the Oak Grove Community. This is a very old community, with the cemetery being at this location since 1851. This cemetery was begun in a strange way that has led to many legends pertaining to both the cemetery and the little country community. With some assistance from my friend and fellow historian Nelta Nolen, we are going to look into this strange event that led to the death and burial of the Unknown Soldier of Oak Grove Cemetery.
Living in this small community was John "Johnnie" West and his wife Dicia and his children. Johnnie West was supposedly born in Ireland in 1801, yet some records show he was born in 1812 in Mississippi. So we begin with a mystery! If he had been born in Ireland, somehow he had made it across the great wide ocean to the American Colonies. Upon his arrival in the new United States, records show he married Dicia Cooper and they lived in Mississippi prior to moving to Louisiana. Near where the West Family lived were several other families, those of Joab Owers, Hirman West, Tabitha Brown and Jonathan Owers. These were hard working farmers who provided for their families, were probably kin, and who worked together as neighbors. But in 1851 something happened that impacted the West Family and has spawned many legends that still exist in this rural community.
In 1851 as one legend has it, Johnnie West picked out the very first grave-site at the present day Oak Grove Cemetery. The story is that Johnnie West selected the site for the grave of an unknown soldier who died unexpectedly at his home place. After this burial, Johnnie removed his wife's mother from a grave location east of the present day cemetery and her grave-site became the second burial at Oak Grove Cemetery.
But the story of the unknown soldier has several twists in it that we will attempt to follow. Another story is that an unknown soldier came riding up to the West home and was given water and food. The soldier was invited in to have a meal with this poor country family. As they ate, there was one biscuit left on the table and one of the children reached for it, but the soldier was quicker and he got the last biscuit and ate it. This made Johnnie West mad and he told the soldier you will not take the last bread from my child. Supposed a fight ensued with the soldier being killed.
And another story came from one of Johnnie West's daughters, Margania told many many years later to her daughter. She said that a man who was traveling home from war stopped at their house late one afternoon and as was custom at that time in our history, he was given shelter for the night and fed a meal before starting travel the next morning. The man snatched the last biscuit from one of the children and ate it. When he started to leave, Johnnie escorted him on his way from the farm. Margania said that she heard a shot and after her father had come back home, there was a fresh dug grave on top of the next hill from the West home-place.
I have heard this story throughout my life and some questions came up. First, as I looked through our early American history, in 1851 the United States was not at war with anyone. Where was this soldier coming from ? A little more research finds that he would not have been from Fort Jesup because it had been abandoned in 1846 or due to the rural location of this area, could it have been another year instead of 1851? Where were the nearest forts to this area in 1851? There were only 3 that I could locate. One was Fort Jackson near New Orleans, Fort Smith in the Arkansas Territory, and Fort Arbuckle located near the Oklahoma and Red Rivers. Another question that arises , was this a scout from one of these forts that possibly had sent a military patrol through this area or could this have been a deserter from the army ? One thing for sure, the man was identified from his appearance to be a soldier, and he must have been an American soldier who spoke English and not some foreign language. And Johnnie West had enough respect for the soldier to give him a proper burial and to have properly marked the grave-site. Johnnie West lived in this community until he died in 1884. He was quite active in church work, and he and Joshia Brown set the church cornerstones for both Oak Grove Baptist and Prewitt's Chapel Baptist churches. Well, after hearing these various stories and legends on this incident, what do you think? I think it will remain a legend till we get to Heaven one day and ask the Lord the true story of this event and the mystery surrounding it.
In 1968 the West and Owers Family donated and placed an appropriate grave-marker for the Unknown Soldier of Oak Grove Cemetery that has withstood the elements and still marks this unique grave-site. If you ever travel out to this little community, stop in and walk into the cemetery. You will see the grave-site of the Unknown Soldier and not far from it, the grave-site of Johnnie West and his family. Here in this cemetery lies two men whose lives, when they met, led to deathly consequences, yet they lie in peace in the same cemetery. Known Not to Man…..Known Only by God is this Unknown Soldier.
Grave marker for the Unknown Soldier buried at Oak Grove Cemetery near Hornbeck, La. Erected by the West and Owers Families in 1968. (Rickey Robertson Collection)
Grave foot marker on the grave of the Unknown Soldier of Oak Grove Cemetery. This marker reads "1851". (Rickey Robertson Collection)
Grave marker for Johnnie West located at Oak Grove Cemetery near Hornbeck, La. He buried the Unknown Soldier in 1851. (Rickey Robertson Collection)
Headquarters building at Fort Jesup. Could the Unknown Soldier been assigned to this post ? (Rickey Robertson Collection)