Time to step back into Tampa’s past. Oaklawn Cemetery awaits with stories etched in stone. As Tampa’s oldest cemetery, Oaklawn originated in 1850. It holds a rich history within its three acres.
Oaklawn is Tampa’s first public burial ground. It contains two adjoining cemeteries. The city owns Oaklawn. A Catholic portion is known as St. Louis Cemetery.
Notable individuals rest here. They were pioneers of Tampa. Tampa’s first Mayor Judge Joseph B Lancaster is here. Twelve other City of Tampa mayors are interred. One Florida governor rests here too. Two Florida Supreme Court justices also found their final resting place here.
In 2017, the University of South Florida Department of Anthropology created an interactive map of Oaklawn Cemetery. That same year, Oaklawn Cemetery earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
Oaklawn Cemetery includes Saint Louis Catholic Cemetery. It was established in 1874. This section had its own entry gates. An iron fence separated it from Oaklawn for many years.
Among those buried in the St. Louis section is Vicente Martinez Ybor. He is the founder of Ybor City. Five pioneer priests also rest here. Three of them died within 15 days during the 1887 yellow fever epidemic. Cecilia Morse is here too. She is the foundress of Catholic parochial education in the Tampa Bay area.
The Sexton House once stored caretaker tools. It was constructed in 1910. The word “sexton” comes from Latin. It means “someone who looks after the sacred objects”.
A gravesite exists for Darwin Branch Givens. He was born in 1858 and died in 1942. The marble marker reads that as a child he alerted Tampa. He warned of the invading Yankee soldiers. He cried “the devils are coming” in 1864.
Oaklawn is also known as Tampa City Cemetery. It was created when Tampa was a struggling town. It only had about five hundred residents. In those days, the grave markers were mostly wood. These markers rotted away. The cemetery’s plat was misplaced after the Civil War. The locations of many early interments were lost.
The most recent burial was in 2008. The cemetery is now considered full. The Tampa Parks and Recreation Department maintains it.
Dr. John P. Wall is on the right-hand side of the main path. He is just past the first crossroad near the Yellow Fever Memorial. He founded the first hospital focused solely on yellow fever patients. He contracted the disease himself.
Aboveground interments are unusual at Oaklawn. Vincent Martinez de Ybor rests in a large white mausoleum. He brought fame to Tampa as the cigar capital. He wished for his body to be sent to Cuba. The Spanish-American War prevented this.
Midway between the Ybor mausoleum and the yellow fever marker lies a simple granite marker. It reads “Charles Owen Hanged 1882.” Charles Owen was lynched. A mob strung him up on a tree in front of the jail.
Joseph B. Lancaster was the first mayor of Tampa. He was elected mayor of Tampa in February 1856. He became ill later that spring.
Near the front wall is the grave of Darwin Branch Givens. As a child, he alerted Tampa of the “invading Yankee Soldiers”. He cried, “The Devils are Coming” in 1864.
Just off to the right is the grave of William Ashley and Nancy Ashley. The epitaph reads: “Master and Servant Faithful to each other”. It concludes that in the grave all human distinction of race or cast mingle together in one common dust.
Oaklawn Cemetery is a place of history. It is a place of reflection. It serves as a reminder of Tampa’s past.