Hickory Creek Cemetery

A Forgotten Cemetery, Nowata County

Buried in Hickory Creek Cemetery, Nowata County, Oklahoma

"SARAH A [Morris] wife of WILLIS COX BORN APR20, 1844 DIED AUG 2 7, 1894"

On top: Open bible "When we meet, God be with us till we meet again"

We often forget to search for the forgotten cemeteries, the assumption being that once we find an ancestor buried in one cemetery, we usually find a half dozen more close by. But the forgotten cemeteries give us so much more. Although the records are often long gone, thanks to our “Cemetery Walkers” many of these forgotten graves have been uncovered.

In Lenapah, Nowata County, Ok, part of the Indian Territory, there is the Hickory Creek Cemetery, located two miles north of Lenapah on 169 Hwy. To access it you have to go east on EW8 (easy to miss) and then turn south on the gravel road. The adorable church is on the west side of the gravel road and the cemetery is in remarkable condition for not really being maintained. But you must watch out for rattle snakes in the summer’s early mornings or dusk. For burial names and marker information go to http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~oknowata/HickoryCreekCem.html.

There is a story behind each marked and unmarked grave and there’s so much to gain from seeing who your ancestor is surrounded by, the nearby family names, the type of tombstone or marker, and any etchings. Be sure to record all that you can, preferably spreading your search (and notes) to two or three rows surrounding your ancestor. In the case of the Hickory Creek Cemetery records, there is even a column of information that might reveal who paid for the interment. All of this information provides wonderful clues to relationships, as well as financial standings.

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy

Accurate, Accessible Answers

a3genealogy@gmail.com