NEW TOTAL: 244,651 Entries!!

The new total as of today, Memorial Day 2011, is 244,651 entries. This means that I have entered information on 244,651 individuals who died in Oklahoma before 1920. This is NOT 244,651 different individuals. For some people there are entries from obits, pension records, tombstones, probate records, etc.

Most recently, I have added people from Stroud (Lincoln Co.) obits and from the official records of Fairlawn Cemetery in Oklahoma City. For the Oklahoma City records, there are two sets of records: the "Old Book" which covers to about 1905, and the "new Book" which covers from about 1905 to about 1967. More information on the availability on these records in my next blog on Wednesday.

This morning, I drove to Norman to visit the Norman IOOF Cemetery. I walked the old sections of the cemetery looking for new tombstones and new bases, as well has inscriptions on the sides of old stones. In all, I found 16 "new" entries for the database. I was able to gather information to correct/add to an additional 26 entries. As I get time, I will be traveling to various cemeteries around Oklahoma to check for new stones for old burials. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the number of new "old" stones what with the rise in interest in genealogy these days.

Over the next couple of months, my weekly blogs will include lists of sources of information I use and how to obtain those sources. I hope you had a relaxing and patriotic Memorial Day!

Kolb Cemetery, Oklahoma County OK

On a day off from work for my semi-annual dental visit, I stopped at a couple of cemeteries. Now I moved to OKC two years ago, but I still go to the dentist in Stillwater. So after my visit to el dentiste, I traveled east to Oilton (Creek Co.) and walked Highland Cemetery. I had visited there back in the 1980s to get information on possible Civil War veterans. This time I was looking for anyone who died before 1920. I came up with 24 new entries for the database.

Then I drove to the east side of OKC and checked a couple of cemeteries that I had not known of before. But, alas, they were all recently established, even the two that were pet cemeteries! But I did stop at Kolb Cemetery. I had visited this cemetery several years ago, again looking for Civil War veterans. Since tombstone listings are available for it on several internet sites, I walked the cemetery looking for for pre-1920 death dates on new tombstones or tombstones with newly cemented bases. My 30 minute walk netted me 10 corrections to previous entries and 5 new entries. So overall a successful trip!

I ended the visit to Kolb Cemetery with a talk with the man in the uniform and black and white car with flashing lights on top (Spencer Police Dept.). He wanted to make sure I wasn't vandalizing tombstones. He showed quite a bit of interest in the project once I explained what I was doing.

The day ended with 3 hours in the Oklahoma Historical Society Library adding info on Blaine County deaths, followed by the May meeting of the Oklahoma Genealogical Society.

You'd think that would be a big enough genealogy fix to last for a while, but....

...until next time....