"Oakland Christian Church did not have a cemetery prior to 1882.  On August 29, 1882, the church purchased from William Crocker and his wife, a piece of land adjacent to the rear of the cemetery for $35 to be used for a cemetery.  The piece of land measured "one half acre more or less...".  An early church historian recorded that the first person buried in the cemetery was an eight year old girl.

It seems that the chairman of the Cemetery Committee has always kept the church membership abreast of needs and concerns of the cemetery.  The following report is included in minutes of the first quarterly conference for which we have records.  (Earlier records of church conferences were lost in a fire.)

March 14, 1908: "It was moved and seconded that Bro. Darden be authorized to get a roll of wire to finish cemetery fence.  It was moved and seconded that we make an effort to raise the balance of money on the fence on the third Sunday in May.  It was moved and seconded that we meet on March 26th to put up cemetery fence.  It was moved and carried that report of the Cemetery Committee be received and put on file."  Later, this note was added: "March 26th, by consent of committee, a vote was taken by all present in regard to putting up the cemetery fence: Where it should be put?  On the line or 4 ft. from the line.  The vote stood 15 to 3 in favor of putting it 4 ft. from the line."

In June, 1910, the Conference voted to buy "two acres, more or less" of land in back of the existing cemetery.  The Financial Committee was instructed to raise the money to pay for the land.

At the March, 1912 conference, the Cemetery Committee reported that all lots in both plats had been numbered and owner or sponsor's names had been recorded.

From the beginning, the care of individual cemetery lots was left to its owners.  The result was that many of the lots were neglected and the cemetery was unsightly at times.  In March, 1946, the matter of cemetery care was discussed at length in a quarterly conference.  A Special Cemetery Committee was named to find ways and means of improving the general appearance and upkeep of the cemetery.  One of the recommendations made by the Committee was that a plat be prepared of all lots and that the names of present owners be designated.

By December, 1946, a survey of the church property had been made and the committee, under the leadership of Dr. N.G. Newman, was progressing with its task of numbering lots and identifying owners.
(In one of the conference record books, there is a yellow sheet of paper with lots numbered from 1 to 153 and owner's names by all but 8 lots.)

In December, 1949, the conference voted to name the Cemetery "The Newman Memorial Cemetery"  Dr. Newman, who was a source of leadership and wisdom to Oakland Christian Church during his later years, had worked diligently for several years to identify owners of cemetery lots, to improve the appearance of the cemetery and to oversee improvements to the property.

For a third time, land was purchased to enlarge the cemetery.  On October 30, 1953, a piece of land, 1.5 acres more or less, adjacent to the existing cemetery was purchased from Dr. N.G. Newman for $750.  Dr. Newman passed away in January, 1954, and the church was bequeathed $500 from his estate.

It was not until April, 1959, that the conference voted to make the church, rather than individual owners, responsible for the care and upkeep of the cemetery.  This action put an added burden on the church and often the cemetery account was in arrears.  About two years later, there was some concern about meeting operating costs of the cemetery.  The Cemetery Committee was authorized to submit a statement of the cost of the operation of the cemetery to each plot owner with a request for payment of a minimum of $5 annually to underwrite the cost of employing a cemetery custodian.

After working for several years on a proposal to make the cemetery self-supporting, the conference approved a Resolution for the Newman Memorial Cemetery as present by the Cemetery Committee on October 31, 1982.  It set the Committee size, rules and regulations relating to matters concerning the Cemetery, established a separate fund designated as the Newman Memorial Cemetery Fund, and designed a "Receipt for Cemetery Lot" form.  The Committee envisioned a $40,000 perpetual care goal.

In 1988, white brick columns and a white fence were erected on either side of the church at the entrances to both sides of the cemetery in memory of Henry Gayle Bradshaw, long-time member of Oakland Christian Church, who had worked steadfastly on the Cemetery Committee for many years.

In 1994, the Genealogical Committee of the Colonel William Allen Chapter (Smithfield / N. Suffolk) of the D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) gave two binders: "Oakland Christian Church Newman Memorial Cemetery" Volumes I and II, that they compiled for the church, which are kept in the Myra Gayle Library in the church office.  It contains a plat map, names of owners, and photographs of each lot in the cemetery.  Thanks to the D.A.R., we have a printed, loose-leaf book containing all cemetery lots and their owner's names!

(We have heard that this Genealogical Committee may be taking on the Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery - in Chuckatuck - next) 

Today, the Newman Memorial Cemetery Fund is self-supporting, with a principal of $82,000.  The interest from the fund pays all maintenance and operation costs of the cemetery.  The committee has reseeded the cemetery to be green all year long, and has begun looking into paving three parallel driveways running from north to south across the cemetery.  In April, 2003 new white fencing was added to both sides of the cemetery and the turn-around areas were expanded.

Committee Co-Chairman, Roy Pope, has put all the cemetery records on Microsoft Access as a database to be used by the church office for the many individuals who call the church or stop by to do some genealogical research on their families.

Our goal is to have this same information available through this website at some point in the near future.