Oklahoma Road Trip, Part 2
Oklahoma Road Trip, Part 3
Oklahoma Road Trip, Part 4
Oklahoma Road Trip, Part 5
Oklahoma Road Trip, Part 6
On this Oklahoma road trip, we saved all of our cemetery stuff for Sunday because many of the other things we wanted to do were closed on that day.
The first thing we did was drive out to Highland Cemetery in Lawton. My great-great grandparents and some others are buried there.
This is Mary Elizabeth Lenertz. She is the aunt of my grandfather. I'm pretty sure she is the "Aunt Beth" he often spoke of. However, there is another Beth in the tree so I may never know.
This is her husband, Irven Ernest Coffey. He has some patents in his name.
I found my great-great grandparents in the next section over. I don't know who bought their stone, or why it doesn't have dates on it. This family tree is very small, so it's just a few people who could have bought the marker.
This entire area was experiencing an exceptional drought. It was so dry. Therefore, all you see in my photos is dead grass.
Next, we went back to Duncan and visited the Duncan Municipal Cemetery. We went to the Jones-Williamson plot and visited all the ancestors there.
Here are my parents. It was about 106 degrees when this photo was taken. My dad is holding paper towels we used to clean off my great-great-great grandmother's stone. Time had covered it in dirt.
I went looking for the grave of my third-great grandmother Nancy Bourland Colbert, but I didn't find it. The excessive heat prevented me from looking any further. However, I did find the headstone of my third-great aunt, Kate (Williamson) Wharton and her husband.
I'm pretty sure this John T. Wharton guy was the one who convinced my great-grandfather to practice medicine in Duncan, Oklahoma and leave his Russellville, Arkansas home.
On this day, we also visited the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan. My great-great grandfather Frank Wiley Jones was a trail rider for years, so I wanted to see what life was like for him during that time. The center was very interactive with exhibits, art, artifacts and movies.
All in all, it was a good day.
That Chisholm trail museum was fun.
ReplyDeleteIt sure was. Even the live action movie with the rain in the theater.
ReplyDeleteSeems like you had a good day. I'm hoping to get more pics of ancestor graves when I go to Pakistan as well. Wish me luck.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Highland in Lawton. My son was at Ft. Sill for AIT in 2009 and I made a quick run through. I always enjoy finding cemeteries that other bloggers have visited too.
ReplyDeletewow wow This is a trip I must take !! My Aunt and cousin have been photographing stones in Oklahoma but there are more to find. I am shareing your blogs with my aunt. Thank you very much for posting.
ReplyDeleteIt was really cool to read this post, and realize that just recently I discovered that my grandfather's sisters were buried in this Highland Cemetery! Small World! I read your Jones info with interest, wondering if our 'lines' were colliding, but they weren't, or at least not that I know of at this time, though my family was pretty much in some of the same places that yours were. Enjoyed your post!
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