Brief History of Area Cemeteries
Petersburg Cemetery Belleville-Bourland Cemetery Old Courtney Cemetery
As Caucasian, or, "non Native American" settlers entered the area of Courtney Flats in the early 1870s, most buried their dead in established cemeteries south of the Red River. For those living on the east end of the Flat burial took place at Illinois Bend. For those settlers on the west side of the Flat burial took place at Burlington/Spanish Fort. Typically, burials occured on the Chickasaw Nation side only when the river was on a rise and usually in close proximity to where the family lived.
Annie Thompson McGee. was buried on the Nation side of the river in 1874. Thirty-two years old and a mother of three young boys Tom, Wallace, and Fillmore, Annie arrived with her family from the Tarrant County Texas area the previous year with the promise of a good future that lay ahead in the Chickasaw Nation . With her husband Sam Houston McGee they made a home near a small spring on the high bluff above red river across from Burlington (Spanish Fort). On March 15 of 1874 however Annie died.
Sawed lumber would have been unavailable so like many early pioneers the family most likely fashioned a coffin out of boards from the wagon bed and lined it with clothe. The spring rains had brought about a swollen Red River and the family was unable to make the crossing for the intended burial at Burlington (Spanish Fort). Annie was laid to rest on the high bluff. A engraved headstone was ordered and placed on her grave. Courtney resident Cotton Grant lived on the old Herman Longest place during the 1940s and remembered seeing the grave marker. A headstone no longer marks the grave.
Dick Young was killed in a shoot out with his brother-in-law Green Cook September 1st, 1877. The families shared a log cabin a short distance south of the current Petersburg Cemetery. The local parson "Dick" Hancock assisted in digging the grave. Family members of the deceased were already buried at Spanish Fort so it is assumed that they may have been unable to cross the river. Some 25 years later the Petersburg Cemetery was laid out in the same area of the grave.. The latest expansion of the cemetery adding area on the east end now included the grave which today is unmarked. .
Courtney resident Tankie Spivey tells of another grave from this period that of a man named Jackson. It is located on the northeast side of the Flat near Mud Creek and a short distance from the old John Dewbre place. In the 1950s while in Waurika, Tankie visited a blacksmith by the name of Jackson. He said the grave was that of his brother who was killed.
Three couples making up the Ross family arrived about 1876 from Missouri along with Martha Ross' parents and siblings. Her father being parson Dick Hancock. In 1878 four of the young Ross boys died, two of the boys being grandsons of parson Hancock.
Annie Thompson McGee. was buried on the Nation side of the river in 1874. Thirty-two years old and a mother of three young boys Tom, Wallace, and Fillmore, Annie arrived with her family from the Tarrant County Texas area the previous year with the promise of a good future that lay ahead in the Chickasaw Nation . With her husband Sam Houston McGee they made a home near a small spring on the high bluff above red river across from Burlington (Spanish Fort). On March 15 of 1874 however Annie died.
Sawed lumber would have been unavailable so like many early pioneers the family most likely fashioned a coffin out of boards from the wagon bed and lined it with clothe. The spring rains had brought about a swollen Red River and the family was unable to make the crossing for the intended burial at Burlington (Spanish Fort). Annie was laid to rest on the high bluff. A engraved headstone was ordered and placed on her grave. Courtney resident Cotton Grant lived on the old Herman Longest place during the 1940s and remembered seeing the grave marker. A headstone no longer marks the grave.
Dick Young was killed in a shoot out with his brother-in-law Green Cook September 1st, 1877. The families shared a log cabin a short distance south of the current Petersburg Cemetery. The local parson "Dick" Hancock assisted in digging the grave. Family members of the deceased were already buried at Spanish Fort so it is assumed that they may have been unable to cross the river. Some 25 years later the Petersburg Cemetery was laid out in the same area of the grave.. The latest expansion of the cemetery adding area on the east end now included the grave which today is unmarked. .
Courtney resident Tankie Spivey tells of another grave from this period that of a man named Jackson. It is located on the northeast side of the Flat near Mud Creek and a short distance from the old John Dewbre place. In the 1950s while in Waurika, Tankie visited a blacksmith by the name of Jackson. He said the grave was that of his brother who was killed.
Three couples making up the Ross family arrived about 1876 from Missouri along with Martha Ross' parents and siblings. Her father being parson Dick Hancock. In 1878 four of the young Ross boys died, two of the boys being grandsons of parson Hancock.
While Parson Hancock had a hand in choosing the location and in the digging of the grave for Dick Young the previous year, he undoubtedly had a hand in choosing the location of these graves as well. To protect the burials from animals and roaming cattle the graves were covered by two layers of stones brought by wagon from the Texas side of the river. A stone wall made of three or four layers of rock surrounded the graves with the interior filled with dirt. Headstones were secured and placed for the graves of the Ross boys picture here in the larger enclosure upper right. There are two other "unknown" stone enclosures pictured here to the left. Local residence had always "heard" that these were Indian graves though it is not proven. These graves are the oldest burials in the cemetery. A nice monument has been placed commemorating the establishment of the Bourland Cemetery dated 1870. The date however is more precisely dated ca. 1878. The Bourland family was still in the Tishomingo area in 1870 arriving at Courtney ca. 1874-77. The Petersburg Cemetery appears to have been set aside by Bill Eakins after the acquisition of the land following the Indian Allotments 1898-1906. We know that the grave of Dick Young in 1877 rested just outside the northeast corner of the cemetery based on 1979 boundaries. The cemetery has since been enlarged to the east and may include the early burial. There were graves at what would later become the Petersburg Cemetery prior to statehood. Bill Eakins set aside the land for the official cemetery after the acquisition of the land following the Indian Allotments 1898-1906. We know that the grave of Dick Young in 1877 rested just outside the northeast corner of the cemetery based on 1979 boundaries. The cemetery has since been enlarged to the east and may include the early burial. |
The Petersburg Cemetery appears to have been set aside by Bill Eakins after the acquisition of the land following the Indian Allotments 1898-1906. We know that the grave of Dick Young in 1877 rested just outside the northeast corner of the cemetery based on 1979 boundaries. The cemetery has since been enlarged to the east and may include the early burial.
The unkempt Courtney Cemetery has many more unmarked stone markers than it does engraved markers. The last marked grave was in the 1930s. We are unsure of the earliest burial in the cemetery. The earliest existing "marked" stone is that of W.R. "Bill" Rose in 1881, an uncle of Emma Cook Carnahan. I feel certain that Cub Courtney, the twenty-eight year old son of Henry Courtney was buried in the cemetery. Cub was shot in the back in June of 1879 by Meredith Crow. With the cemetery located roughly 100 yards from Henry's home it is hard to imagine burial elsewhere. But was Cub's burial the start of the cemetery?
I have heard rumors of an old "slave" cemetery at Courtney. This is highly unlikely as there was no one living in the area prior to 1865 due to hostile Comanche and Kiowa activity. We know that during the 1870s there were a couple of "older" x-slaves that lived either with Henry Courtney or on his farm. If they indeed died at Courtney, and given the culture regarding race at the time, they may have been buried in a separate location of their own. A couple of African Americans who had been slaves prior to the end of the Civil War may have found their final resting place somewhere at Courtney, but a slave cemetery; no.
The unkempt Courtney Cemetery has many more unmarked stone markers than it does engraved markers. The last marked grave was in the 1930s. We are unsure of the earliest burial in the cemetery. The earliest existing "marked" stone is that of W.R. "Bill" Rose in 1881, an uncle of Emma Cook Carnahan. I feel certain that Cub Courtney, the twenty-eight year old son of Henry Courtney was buried in the cemetery. Cub was shot in the back in June of 1879 by Meredith Crow. With the cemetery located roughly 100 yards from Henry's home it is hard to imagine burial elsewhere. But was Cub's burial the start of the cemetery?
I have heard rumors of an old "slave" cemetery at Courtney. This is highly unlikely as there was no one living in the area prior to 1865 due to hostile Comanche and Kiowa activity. We know that during the 1870s there were a couple of "older" x-slaves that lived either with Henry Courtney or on his farm. If they indeed died at Courtney, and given the culture regarding race at the time, they may have been buried in a separate location of their own. A couple of African Americans who had been slaves prior to the end of the Civil War may have found their final resting place somewhere at Courtney, but a slave cemetery; no.
The majority of the graves in the old Courtney Cemetery are unmarked. Please share if you have information on burials in the old Courtney Cemetery.