Oak   At one time, Oak was a thriving community with a blacksmith, stores, church and school, a postoffice and its own lawman. It was located between Waxahachie and Maypearl on the Buena Vista Road one mile north of the cross road. Early settlers included Mr. Belk (the blacksmith); J. P. Bellew, Jesse Bearden, Louis Bentley (the lawman), Mr. Briley, Mr. Buckner, J. B. Burrow, Asa and James Bynum, W. M. Claunch, J. A. Higgins, C. B. Ingram, Clem Morris, G. Pierce, J. C. Reynolds and Jesse and Bud Watson. J. A. and Sarah Higgins came from Alabama in 1869 followed the next year by her parents, Asa and Cendarella Bynum. W. M. Claunch moved back from Maypearl in 1872 with his second wife, the former Mrs. Commings. The school was located at the Buena Vista crossroad between Oak and Oak Branch. Billie Beard was the last teacher before the school was consolidated with the Maypearl school in 1939. The town had a post office from 1890 until 1903 width these postmasters: George H. Foreman, April 11, 1890; William T. Reynolds, Dec. 4, 1891; discontinued with mail to Mountain Peak Dec. 31, 1891; reestablished Jan. 25, 1894; Wm. H. Tramel, Jan. 25, 1894; James M. Reynolds, Aug. 21, 1897; Robert S. Reynolds,Sept. 21, 1899; James M. Howell, Oct. 22, 1900; discontinued June 6, 1903, with mail to Waxahachie.. The church was organized in 1971 at the home of Asa Bynum, a Methodist minister. In June 1875, W. M. Claunch deeded 20 acres of land for a church site and cemetery. Church members between 1871-1877 were Asa Bynum, Caroline Bynum, Catharine Bynum, James Bynum, Winnie Bynum, Alice Claunch, Cinda Claunch, John Claunch, Martha Claunch, Sarah Higgins, Margaret Stewart, A. A. Stewart and Texana Stewart. Serving as church Trustees in 1875 were E. M. Brack, J. W. Burks, Asa Bynum, W. M. Claunch, G. H. Cunningham, A. M. DeBardeladen and M. T. Hawkins. Oak, with its houses, stores, school and church, no longer exists. Today (1987) only the steps remain to mark where the school building once stood. The church land was auctioned off in 1965 and the membership merged with Maypearl Methodist church. The Oak Methodist church, once famous for its camp meetings, is marked only by an iron gate leading into a grove of trees. A metal marker stands in front of the Oak cemetery marking the site of the remains of many of those early pioneers who once settled here. References: U. S. Postal Records, Washington, D. C.   Copyright © 2002-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:17:19 MDT