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A
PLAT OF MATHEWSON CEMETERY LOCATED
IN THE SW ¼ OF SEC. 24–R.6W.-T.14N. CANADIAN
COUNTY, OKLAHOMA Scale: 1” = 16’-0”
Revised April, 1960 2001 my30: PLAT converted to TABLE and
annotated by The
“old” Mathewson Cemetery contains 247 lots. There is a “new”
Mathewson Cemetery across the county road just west of the old. The
TABLE below, based on the PLAT, does not contain data on the new
Mathewson. The TABLE is based solely on the PLAT and has not yet been
confirmed by an on-site visit. Columns
and Rows: Geography of the Cemetery In
old Mathewson, 247 lots are arranged in the following order. Thirteen
lots run from west to east from the county road. In the TABLE below,
these are designated columns “A” through “M”. Each column
contains 19 rows, from north to south, 01 through 19. The designation
of lots by column and row, e.g., “B06”, is not indicated on the
PLAT. Columns and rows are introduced in the TABLE below in order to
give a comprehensive compass orientation to the location of each lot. The
system of numerical identification used on the PLAT is somewhat
disorienting, though not irregular. It gives no easy indication of the
geo-physical location of lots, and certain PLAT numbers repeat
themselves. It is possible that the PLAT numbering system is a loose
variation on the zigzag system by which township sections were
numbered in Oklahoma townships, such as Mathewson Township itself. The
PLAT numbering system suggests that the cemetery was laid out over
time in three parcels of lots. The first parcel is described by PLAT
numbers 1-100. This would be columns A-J and rows 10-19, i.e., the
southwest quadrant of the Cemetery. PLAT numbering begins with “1”
(A10 on the TABLE). This is the central point on the western border of
the cemetery. This western border runs north-south parallel to the
county road. From this west-central point, PLAT numbers run eastward
in a straight row from 1 to 10 (A10 to J10). Dropping straight south
to the next row, the PLAT numbering system continues back westward
from 11 to 20 (J11 to A11). Dropping straight south again, the numbers
run eastward again, 21 to 30 (etc., until reaching the southern border
of the cemetery). The ten lots along the southern border of the
cemetery (91-100) are for the most part inscribed by hand after the
printing of the PLAT, suggesting that the first 90 lots are part of
the original cemetery and the final ten a later expansion. PLAT number
1 is A10, PLAT number 2 is B10, and PLAT number 3 is C10. On the PLAT,
C10 is identified as “3 Stanton (First Grave)”. The
second parcel is described by PLAT numbers 1A-90A. This would be
columns A-J and rows 1-9, the northwest quadrant. These 90 lots are
located just to the north of the first parcel. In their arrangement
they suggest a mirror image of the first 90 lots in the first parcel
to the south. They run from 1A at the SW corner of the second parcel
to 90A at its NE corner. Lot 1A on the PLAT is located adjacent to and
on the northern edge of lot one in the first parcel.
Similarly, 2A abuts 2, etc. eastward to 10A, which abuts 10.
Then the PLAT numbering system jumps north to the next row and runs
back westward, 11A to 20A. Then it jumps north to the next row and
runs back eastward 21A to 30A (etc., until reaching the northern
border of the cemetery). The
third parcel is described by PLAT numbers 1-57. It occupies the whole
eastern edge of the cemetery, from north to south (columns K, L and M
and rows 1-19), furthest from the county road. These are the latest
lots to be sold. Lots in this third parcel repeat the numbers of the
first 57 lots in the first parcel. In the TABLE that follows, PLAT
numbers in the third parcel are distinguished by “x”, as in 01x to
57x. With
exceptions soon to be noted, each lot is 20’ along north-south side
and 12’ east to west. The exceptions are row 1, thirteen lots from
A01 to M01 at the northern boundary of the cemetery. These 13 lots are
10’ by 12’, i.e., half the size of all remaining lots. A
six-foot easement or walkway separates north-south columns. A
three-foot wide easement or walkway separates east-west rows. Owners
and/or Occupants In
addition to number, one or more names identify individual lots on the
PLAT. In the TABLE, these are labeled “Owners”. On five (or
perhaps more) occasions, lots have been subdivided and appear to have
at least two owners. It must be remembered that the name or names on
the PLAT indicate the owner of the lot, not necessarily the person or
persons buried there. Individual
Gravesites Each
lot appears to have capacity for up to four gravesites. Thus the 247
lots (13 of which are half lots) create a potential for 1066
gravesites in old Mathewson. The PLAT and therefore also the TABLE do
not often indicate individual gravesites, only lots and their owners.
Individual gravesites, when they are known, are identified on the
TABLE under “Column-row”. They are labeled from north to south
within each lot, “a“ through “d”. For example J05a might be
the individual gravesite of William Heilig Kimball on his half lot. Under
notes, “P|” means that the source is the PLAT. Other sources are
also indicated there. The entry “O|” will indicate personal
perusal of the gravesite. BXO means that Kimball Files contain a
biographical entry under the name. More
about the PLAT and the TABLE The
PLAT used here to create the TABLE is a photocopy of the original. The
original lettering is sometimes written over by hand. While the
original lettering is perfectly clear, the handwritten additions or
amendments are not always legible. I indicate text lined out with the
notation “[out]” and penciled additions with the notation
“[add]”. Two question marks indicate unsure text. The word
“flag” has been entered in pencil in several instances. In
the TABLE that follows, PLAT numbers one through nine (1-9) have a
zero placed before them in order to assure proper ordination. In
the Notes, KSB means the scrap book kept by Laura Kimball, containing
many obituaries and funeral programs. The funeral programs are small
2x3-inch booklets titled “In Remembrance”. They contain vital
information on the deceased and the funeral. On a facing opposite
page, all such booklets contain one of the following two curious
poems, either “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant (in the
majority of cases) or “Brotherhood” (anonymous) |
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THANATOPSIS So live that when they summons comes to join,
The innumerable caravan which moves, To that mysterious realm where
each shall take, His chamber in the silent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed, By an unfaltering
trust, approach thy grave, Like one who wraps the drapery of his
couch, About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. --William Cullen
Bryant |
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Brotherhood An old man, traveling a lone highway, Came at
evening cold and grey, To a chasm vast and deep and wide. The old man
crossed in the twilight dim, The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side, And built a bridge to span
the tide." Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near, Your are
wasting your strength with building here; Your journey will end with
the ending day, You never again will pass this way; You’ve crossed
the chasm deep and wide, Why build you this bridge at even-tide?”
The builder lifted his old grey head— “Good friend, in the path I
have come,” he said, “There followeth after me today, A youth,
whose feet must pass this way. This chasm, which has been as naught to
me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be; He, too, must cross in
the twilight dim—Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.” |