After I picked up Sarah at the Clinton Library, we headed to Fort Smith for the night. The next morning, we crossed the border into Oklahoma. If you are keeping score , we’d visited six cemeteries so far in three states (Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas).

This was not my first visit to the Sooner State. That was in the late 1990s when I went with Sarah to her childhood home in Lawton to visit her parents. I loved visiting Oklahoma then and again in 2019. There’s no other state like it and the people there are wonderful.

Remembering a Tragedy

During that first visit, the Oklahoma National Memorial Museum had not yet been completed. It is devoted to telling the story of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 and memorializing the estimated 168 lives that were lost that day. Sarah had already visited it so I asked if she would drop me off there while she visited some family nearby.

There are no bodies buried on the grounds of the museum. But it is a poignant memorial to those who died in what was at that time the worst act of terrorism on American soil. I felt compelled to go there to pay my respects. The museum does a respectful, thorough job of sharing the story of that day and its aftermath.

Outside the museum, there are 168 chairs that represent those killed on April 19, 1995. They stand in nine rows, each representing a floor of the Federal Building where the field is now located. Each chair bears the name of someone killed on that floor. Nineteen smaller chairs stand for the children who died.

There are two “Gates of Time” on each end of the reflecting pool in the middle of the chairs. According to the museum’s web site:

These monumental twin gates frame the moment of destruction – 9:02 AM – and mark the formal entrances to the Memorial. The 9:01 Gate represents the innocence before the attack. The 9:03 Gate symbolizes the moment healing began.

BBQ and Cemeteries

After Sarah picked me up, we headed for Van’s Pig Stand in Norman, a suburb of Oklahoma City. Van’s is a local chain with five locations. I’m always eager to try new barbecue places and Van’s did not disappoint. I think I love visiting barbecue joints as much as I do cemeteries! I’m not loyal to any one protein. I enjoy chowing down on pork, beef, turkey, chicken, etc. You smoke it, I’ll eat it. Fortunately, Sarah didn’t mind enabling my addiction.

Sarah had some other kin to visit in Norman, so I asked her to drop me off at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Memory Garden Cemetery located there. I’ve written about the IOOF before but I’ve never visited a cemetery that was owned/sponsored by them. It’s a fraternal organization with deep roots that still exists today, albeit with a much smaller membership.

To refresh your memory about their history, here’s a link to the IOOF web site.

The IOOF Cemetery in Norman is large and includes Saint Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery, located in the middle of it. I didn’t realize when I was walking around that I was photographing graves of both without knowing who belonged where at the time.

According to Find a Grave, there are more than 16,000 memorials recorded for the IOOF Cemetery. According to the sign, it opened on Sept. 25, 1891. Norman’s first graveyard was located on public school property on the southwest corner of Main Street and Berry Road. When the IOOF cemetery opened in 1891, most (but not all) of the graves were moved there.

It remains an active cemetery. You don’t have to be an IOOF member or related one to purchase a plot there. The Norman IOOF chapter operates it. There wasn’t much information online about it. I don’t know exactly when Saint Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery opened but it is much smaller with about 1,800 burials recorded on Find a Grave.

Death of an Oil Man

One of the more curious looking structures I saw that day was this mausoleum for Melvin L. Howarth, his wife, Maybel Fox Howarth, and their daughter, Myrtle Howarth Welch. It’s definitely rustic, with what looks to be block construction, and could use some restoration work. But it made me interested enough to see who Melvin was, and what his life in Norman had been like.

Born in the early 1860s in Chippewa, Mich., Melvin Leroy Howarth was the son of farmer George Washington Howarth and Sophronia Godfrey Howarth. In 1886, he wed Maybel Fox in Riley, Kans. They moved to the Norman area and began farming there.

The Howarths prospered in Norman. I found an article detailing how Melvin was instrumental in bringing a dependable water system to Norman in 1902. Son Floyd was born in 1888 in Kansas, while son Carl was born in 1896, and daughter Myrtle was born in 1898 in Oklahoma.

Maybel died on Jan. 11, 1900 at age 37, a few days after giving birth to daughter Pearl. Floyd was 13, but the other children were so young. Carl, Pearl, and Myrtle went to live with their Aunt Junia (Maybel’s sister) in Los Angeles, Calif. Carl later returned to live with his father. Melvin got into the oil drilling business, using the skills he used to find water in Norman. It was that work that would end up taking his life.

On Feb. 12, 1917, Melvin was helping build an oil well in Oklahoma City for Packington & Co. when tragedy struck. According to newspaper accounts, he was up on the derrick oiling the machinery when part of his jacket got caught in the cogs. Melvin was horribly injured before it could be shut down. He died as a result at the age of 54 and is interred with Maybel in the mausoleum.

Melvin’s obituary noted that he was a Mason and a member of Woodmen of the World (WOW). I’m not entirely sure he was an IOOF member. The WOW involvement would explain the tree-shaped monument beside the mausoleum. There are a LOT of WOW markers at this cemetery.

“Asleep in Jesus”

Daughter Myrtle married tinner Edward Welch on Christmas Eve 1918 and the couple settled in Tulsa. Floyd married in 1916 and was living there, too. Edward died in 1929 at age 33. Carl, who was wounded in World War I, died in 1926 at age 30 in Sawtelle, Calif. Floyd died in 1961 at age 73 and is buried in Glendale, Calif. Pearl died in 1973, also in California.

Myrtle died at a hospital in California on July 17, 1931, having spent a year there. She was cremated and her cremains were brought back to Norman, where she was interred with her parents in the mausoleum.

Mystery Mausoleum (Now Solved!)

I photographed a mausoleum that is a mystery to me. I only know that the last name is Berry and it is likely for a female. How do I know that?

There are 42 recorded Berrys with graves at the IOOF Cemetery, none in Saint Joseph’s. None of the IOOF memorials included a photo of the mausoleum. So I couldn’t tie it to anyone there.

Then I looked at the photo I’d taken of the inscription above “Berry” and saw that the deceased had been a member of the Woodmen Circle. This was the women’s auxiliary of Woodmen of the World and Norman had an active Woodmen Circle chapter. I did a little Newspapers.com dive to find out more.

Among the Berrys on Find a Grave was Adeline “Addie” Henry Berry, who died of heart disease on March 30, 1939 at age 65. She has her own flat marker and a surname marker she shares with husband Adolphus Andrew Berry, who died in 1916. The surname marker has a Woodmen of the World seal on it, indicating his involvement. From many articles I found, Addie was very active in Woodmen Circle and was one of the officers in Norman’s chapter.

“Beyond the Skies”

Then in researching Addie’s husband, Adolphus, I stumbled upon another potential candidate. On the same page in the Norman Transcript for Dec. 28, 1916 that published Adolphus Berry’s obit was the death notice and biography of Nora Irene Pugh Berry. They were not related. But Nora had passed away on Dec. 24, 1916 in a hospital in Oklahoma City after an operation to save her life had failed. Nora was 46 and has no memorial on Find a Grave.

As I scanned her obituary, the words “Interment will be in a vault in IOOF Cemetery” leapt off the page. There it was. I’m posting part of that death notice. Among all the tributes to her, none mentions the Woodmen Circle. It notes she was a member of the Ancient United Order of Workman (AOUW), the Degree of Honor, and Order of the Eastern Star (Masonic auxiliary for women). But nothing about Woodmen Circle.

Is it possible the vault/mausoleum wasn’t ready when Nora was buried? She died on Christmas Eve and her funeral was held only four days later on Dec. 28, 1916. I don’t think it could have been completed by then. Nora’s husband, Robert, remarried in 1919. His death in January 1940 of pneumonia and funeral was reported in several Oklahoma newspapers but none of them reported where or if he was buried anywhere. Only his funeral services were noted. If he was buried in the IOOF Cemetery, there is no Find a Grave memorial for him.

His obituary did note that he was a member of Woodmen of the World (among other fraternal organizations). Perhaps it’s through that connection that Nora’s vault was obtained. Perhaps Robert’s second wife was not keen for him to be buried with her. I don’t know.

EDIT: I called the number listed for the IOOF Cemetery’s office and left a message. A very nice young lady called me back to confirm that I was right. Nora is indeed buried in the Berry mausoleum, along with her oldest son, theater owner Ray C. Berry. He died in 1932 at the age of 40.

I’m just getting started so join me for Part II soon.

It’s time to finish up at Mount Holly Cemetery before the gates are locked. As I often do in my final installments on a cemetery, I’m going to do a bit of show and tell rather than doing really deep dives into history.

A Lasting Legacy

The Folsom mausoleum is a bit different. You might call it a hybrid of sorts. It’s made primarily out of bricks, with the top made out of stone. The doors are metal. It makes me wonder if the plans changed once construction began.

There isn’t much information on the Folsoms. Born on Jan. 10, 1827 in North Carolina, Dr. Isaac Folsom he married Sallie Puckett in January 1861 in St. Francis County, Ark. They had no children. I don’t know where he received his medical degree. During the 1870s and some of the 1880s, the Folsoms lived in Lonoke, Ark., which is about 30 miles east of Little Rock.

In January 1892, Dr. Folsom was making plans for the future. He wanted to leave $20,000 to a cause that would make an impact long after his death. He did that by establishing a free medical clinic for indigent patients. The Isaac Folsom Clinic was established at what is now the he University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). At that time, it was called Arkansas Industrial University. That would be about $650,000 today.

To this day, UAMS diplomas note that the graduate has received instruction at the Isaac Folsom Clinic. I was curious about this specific request and found a newspaper article that mentions it:

You can read more about Dr. Folsom’s clinic and the fate of the plaque that was once on the building that housed it here. That’s a sad story in itself. Dr. Folsom died on Sept. 5, 1895 at age 65. His wife, Sallie, lived another 32 years. She died on March 21, 1925.

Death of a Young Wife

Seeing a white bronze (zinc) marker is always a sure way to get my attention. I only saw two at Mount Holly and they were for the same family. They were for a mother who died young and two of her children.

Born in Virginia in 1846, William Pinkney Dortch, Sr. married Alice Orr in 1867 in Ohio. It appears that they met while William was attending Miami (Ohio) University. The couple settled in William’s adopted hometown of Little Rock, Ark. Daughter Daisy was born in mid-May 1869 and died three weeks later. Frederick Dortch was born on Jan. 23, 1871, and his brother, Harry Sherwood Dortch, was born on August 1873. Their mother, Alice, died on Sept. 4, 1874 for unknown reasons. She was only 26.

Harry, who was 15 months old, died on Oct. 16, 1874. He and his sister, Daisy, share a marker.

William remarried in 1878 to Frances “Fannie” Peterson. She died sometime before 1880 because she does not appear with him and Frederick in the U.S. Census for that year. An infant daughter named Judith, however, is listed. She was born in 1879. William married again in 1885 to Nettie Steele. Together, they had five children.

Frederick Dortch grew up and attended Vanderbilt University Medical School, becoming a physician. He moved to Derider, La. to practice medicine. He died in Shreveport, La. on Jan. 1, 1909 at age 30 due to complications from surgery. His body was brought back to Little Rock for burial beside his mother and siblings.

William Dortch died on Feb. 13, 1913 at age 65. He is interred with his third wife, Nellie, and four of their adult children at Oakland and Fraternal Historic Cemetery Park in Little Rock.

“My Wife”

I’ve featured round or “cradle” style grave markers before, but this one has a little surprise on the back that I thought you’d like to see.

A native of Kentucky, Louis Lawrence Mivelaz married Lula Hyacinth Meyer in Memphis, Tenn. in 1875. Both were of French descent. The couple had four children over the course of their marriage: Louis Jr. (1879-1920), Leo (1881-1932), Milton (1883), and Nannette (1884-1965). The family settled in Little Rock after Louis Jr. was born. Louis Sr. owned and operated a restaurant in the Capitol Hotel during the 1880s and advertised frequently in the local newspapers.

Lula died on May 25, 1889 at the age of 29. Her obituary states that she had suffered from a long and painful illness.

On the back, you can see this lovely carving. Ivy symbolizes fidelity, marriage, and friendship while ferns were a symbol of humility and sincerity during the Middle Ages in Europe.

Louis remarried on June 16, 1890 in Louisville to Mary Anna Weiss and the couple moved to Memphis. They had several children together. Louis passed away on Oct. 14, 1901 at age 47 in Memphis. He is buried with Mary in Saint John Cemetery in Louisville, Ky.

“Our Mother In Heaven”

There are more questions than answers that go with this final grave marker for Sarah Cecelia Hughes Kinnear. But her stone haunts me and I feel I must share it.

Born in Ireland in 1827, Sarah married James F. Kinnear of Philadelphia, Pa. Ancestry.com says they were wed in Pulaski County, Ark. in 1847. Over the next 10 years, they had four children together: Annie (1847-1870), Cecelia Rose (1850-1937), James (1851-1938), and Josephine (1855-1922). I believe that James was in business with Sarah’s family because ads for a Kinnear & Hughes (a dry goods store and later a drug store) are frequent in the local newspapers.

Sarah died on April 6, 1857 at age 30. I could not find an obituary or death notice for her. But the carving on her stone leads me to believe she must have died giving birth or shortly afterward, and that the child also died. The motif of an angel bearing an infant aloft while holding a woman’s hand is usually what this meant. It was a common but sad fate for many women during this era.

James remarried to Mary Elizabeth Brogan Cellars sometime before 1860. He died on May 2, 1867. From various legal postings I’ve seen, I believe it took a while to untangle his affairs and probate his will. He was 41 when he passed away. He is buried at Mount Holly.

You will be happy to learn that I did not get locked in at Mount Holly. As 5 p.m. approached, I made sure I was close to the gates. Sure enough, not long after that time, I saw a car driven by a woman and her children entering the cemetery gates. A sweet little girl called out to me, “You know it’s closing time, right?” I waved, smiled, and got into Sarah’s car and made a quick exit.

Thankfully, I beat the clock. It was time to move on to Oklahoma.