The Oakwood Cemetery

Posted: 01.26.2020 | Updated: 02.26.2025

The Oakwood Cemetery in Austin was originally called the city cemetery. The oldest of its kind, this burial ground dates back to the middle of the 1850s. However. no one knows exactly when because record-keeping in those bygone days wasn’t a priority.

Another, even more, startling legend says that the first Europeans to actually inhabit this place were the victims of Comanche attacks. So why is this startling?

Mainly because some archeologists have actually dug up circumstantial evidence that may point to the land once being an ancient Indian burial ground. In other words, the first tenants were laid to rest next to the family of those same brigands.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the cemetery was renamed to Oakwood Cemetery and an extra 40 acres were added to it. Suddenly there were sections dedicated to the disenfranchised of that era. Sections meant for Latinos, Jews, and Blacks. There was even a section devoted, on the south side, to paupers.

But not all who were buried here rested easy. The cemetery ghosts of the Oakwood Cemetery are now part and parcel with the other haunted legends of Austin.

Get to know them all on an Austin ghost tour!

What Ghosts Haunt The Oakwood Cemetery in Austin?

Oakwood Cemetery in Austin is home to several ghostly legends, including the spirit of a young girl named Eula Phillips, seen wandering among the tombstones at night. Visitors and paranormal investigators report eerie whispers, shadowy figures, and sudden cold spots near the oldest graves. Some of which date back to the 1850s.

One of the most well-known of the cemetery’s ghosts is Susanna, who survived the Alamo. Her written reports, and presence from beyond the grave, help us fully understand this pivotal moment in American history.

Notable Burials of Oakwood Cemetery

Over the years the cemetery evolved. It added a mortuary chapel, designed by Charles Henry Page. This very chapel, one of the highlights of the spot was later remodeled – in 1944 – by local architect J. Roy White.

But, what really makes the Oakwood Cemetery stand out above its local cousins is the who’s who of historical celebs buried in the plots.

Strolling down the aisles of a gravestone gifts the adept Austin historian a window into some of the region’s most intriguing patriotic pitstops. But, why I’m highlighting this? mainly because some of the ghosts that haunt the place are in fact these very personages.

Here’s a list of major burials in Oakwood Cemetery and why they matter. We’ll explore their spectral walkabout later on.

• John Barclay Armstrong (1850–1913) – Texas Ranger, U.S. Marshall, and rancher. The man apprehended the legendary killer John Wesley Hardin and is enshrined in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame in Waco.
• Susanna Dickinson (1814–1883) – Alamo survivor
• John Henry Faulk (1913–1990) – Radio Personality
• Thomas Green (1814–1864) – American Civil War General

Then there’s the flood of senators, governors and even a postmaster. Mind you, this place has crawled its way into the annals of history because its long-dead inhabitants refuse to take their fatal circumstances seriously.

Over the years, visitors have been flabbergasted by the insane amount of supernatural activity that seems to plague this Austin cemetery. The grounds transform once the sun dips over the horizon into a paranormal freak-fest.

The Hauntings Of Oakwood

More than twenty-three thousand people are laid to rest in Oakwood. But not all of them took the hint and went on their merry way.

One of the most pernicious ghosts to haunt the grounds is that of Eula Phillips. Eula was a 17-year-old- woman who was murdered with an ax on Christmas Eve in 1885.

Her husband was accused and then found guilty of the crime, only to be exonerated when other victims matching Eula’s profile started appearing in the Austin area.

Eula’s crime was one of the earliest examples of a serial killer. Her death, followed by the subsequent murders of 8 more victims, preceded the Jack the Ripper murders in Whitechapel. Some even believe that saucy Jack was, in fact, this Texan madman that later emigrated to London.

Eula’s killer was never caught, and the devil known by the press as Servant Girl Annihilator continued plaguing the Texan subconscious for years. 

Psychics have sensed Eula’s ghost at night. The frightened child roaming the cemetery wailing and bemoaning her lot.

Cemetery Ghosts at Oakwood

Another ghost said to haunt the landscape is that of Thomas Green.

Green was a Confederate General and one of that powers most prized military minds. In 1864, the man and most of his troops were killed while charging a Federal gunboat during the bloody battles taking place during the Red River Campaigns.

Thomas Green has been spotted countless times His ghost wanders among the headstones and is always decked out in full military regalia. One of the most intriguing factors surrounding Green’s specter is the fact that there are various recordings online of what folks claim are phantom hoofbeats.

Many people believe that Thomas is stuck in a loop repeating his death over and over again; the man charging against a gunboat.

The Alamo and Oakwood Cemetery

Another ghost we simply can’t help but mention is that of Susanna Dickinson. But we are only merely touching the surface here.

Most of what we know about what took place at the Alamo was thanks to Susanna’s observation. Susanna, whose husband was slaughtered in that siege, was part of a colonial party that came from Tennessee to try out their luck in Texas.

When Santa Anna attacked the Alamo, Susanna and her kin were among the civilians brought into the garrison for their own protection.

She prayed with Davy Crocket as the Mexican’s made their final assault. She was there as men bullets ran out and men defended themselves with knives, clubs, and bayonets.

When the battle was over, Susanna met Santa Anna face to face.She declined his offer to adopt her daughter, Angelina, even though both of thier lives were in danger.

Santa Anna spared Sussana, and although she was illiterate her oral account of the Alamo was crucial to understanding the battle and personal tragedies that took place. Susanna’s dramatic account is partly the basis for our understanding of the Alamo and how it was later depicted.

Susanna died at the age of 68 and was buried in Oakwood. She constantly appeas to strangers and is one of the most visually arresting ectoplasmic visions of the place.

Gunslingers in the Night

John Wesly Hardin was an American outlaw, gunfighter and like all of his – during Western expansion – a folk icon. Hardin was nothing a cold-blooded murderer and sociopath that boasted on killing his first man at the age of 15. When he was finally caught and sentenced to hard-time he claimed to have killed over 42 men.

The man who pursued Wesley finally managed to apprehend him on a train in Pensacola, Florida. He is also buried on the hallowed grounds of Oakwood. That man’s name is John Barclay Armstrong.

Barclay was a legendary Texas Ranger that was credited with the successful manhunt of Wesley.

He’s really one of the more colorful figures and haunts of the place. Barclay and, some say Wesley, are walk the Oakwoods at night.

People standing outside the gates and looking in have reported the sound of gunshots and gunpowder flashes. The general consensus is that Wesley and Barclay are up to their old tricks and settling scores.

Haunted Austin

The resident cemetery ghosts that call the Oakwood Cemetery home are just a few among many. Both within the walls of the old cemetery and Austin city limits await a mass of activity. Enter into their world to learn all of their stories on an Austin ghost tour! The tour guide team at Austin Ghosts work as the eyes and ears of these spirits, bringing you only the spine-tingling truth.

Read our blog to keep up with anything else haunted Austin and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok for even more spooky content!

 Sources:

• https://www.austintexas.gov/department/oakwood-cemetery-chapel
• https://www.sachome.org/oakwood-cemetery
• https://library.austintexas.gov/digital/oakwood-cemetery-database
• https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/red-river-campaign
• https://www.thealamo.org/remember/stories-of-texas-women/susanna-dickinson
• https://www.thewittliffcollections.txst.edu/research/a-z/hardin.html