From the recording Sarah Barker & Gypsy Twang
This song was inspired by my friend Adam Miller. He told me of a grave marker in the little cemetery in his hometown of Wagoner, OK. He said it was very primitive and sat right by the side of the road in the older part of the cemetery. All it said was, “Octavy Jackson. 1909. Dide.” I began to wonder who Octavy was, and tried in vain to find anything out about her. Was she a woman, a little girl, or a baby? And who marked her grave? Was it her father, her husband, or maybe her sweetheart? There’s no way of knowing, but it was obviously someone who loved her very much. I thought that was so sad. So I wrote her this song.
Lyrics
Octavy Jackson died in 1909
No one knows her story
There’s no record left to find
But in Wagoner, Oklahoma
There’s a tombstone with her name
The year she died and not much more
Now isn’t that a shame?
Ah but someone cared enough about Octavy
To lay her gently down and mark her grave
Did he bring her flowers every day
‘Till he crossed over too?
Did he cry a thousand tears and walk away?
Octavy Jackson must’ve been somebody’s baby
Somebody’s darlin’, somebody’s kin
Her story’s buried with her
So I guess we’ll never know
But she had someone in Wagoner
Who was sad to see her go
Oh and someone cared enough about Octavy
To lay her gently down and mark her grave
Did he bring her flowers every day
‘Till he crossed over too?
Did he cry a thousand tears and walk away?
Octavy Jackson wasn’t buried in a plot
No one lies beside her
In the grave that time forgot
If you’ll look a little closer
At the handmade monument
You’ll see a heart beneath the letters
For the love it represents
Oh and someone cared enough about Octavy
To lay her gently down and mark her grave
Did he bring her flowers every day
‘Till he crossed over too?
Did he cry a thousand tears and walk away?
Octavy Jackson died in 1909
No one knows her story
There’s no record left to find
But in Wagoner, Oklahoma
There’s a tombstone with her name
The year she died and not much more
Now isn’t that a shame?
The year she died and not much more
Now isn’t that a shame?