- - - - HISTORY OF ST. PATRICK'S CATHOLIC CEMETERY - - - -

OKLAHOMA COUNTY OK

St. Patrick's Catholic Church and cemetery was located at Lockridge, Okahoma Territory. The original homesteaders came from Germany and Ireland. They traveled to Canada where they rode the train to Oklahoma Territory for the Land Run of 1889. The town of Lockridge was located on a ridge where Logan, Oklahoma, Canadian and Kingfisher counties meet, thus the name Lockridge.

John and Musetta Kelly donated 5 acres of their land in 1890 for a church and cemetery. The cemetery was used by Catholic families for burial of their deceased family members prior to the establishment of cemeteries in surrounding communities. In March 1891, a meeting was held regarding the building of a church. The church was designed and built under the direction of Thomas Cashman with the help of the parishioners. Bishop Theophile Meerschaert dedicated the church and cemetery on November 4, 1891.

The town was vital until 1922 when the railroad discontinued its line through Lockridge. The town then slowly disappeared during the 1920's and 1930's, yet the church remained active. St. Patrick's Catholic Church served the community until July 5, 1959, when the Catholic Diocese closed it. The church building remained empty until August 9, 1967, when it burned to the ground. The fire was apparently the work of vandals who had previously broken windows, damaged and stolen tombstones. The bell, altar, and front door latch were saved by a few of the parishioners. All that remains of St. Patrick's is the church foundation and the cemetery, which is still in use. An article in The Oklahoman August 10, 2005 states that Kelly's Deed to Bishop Meerschaert stipulated the ownership would revert to his family if the diocese moved the church and that proceeds from the land be used to maintain the church and cemetery. His grandchildren are not trying to regain the land but have petitioned the Archdiocese for years to develop the cemetery and use its proceeds to build a replica of the 1891 church.

Charles A. Burke, a parishioner, drew the original plat of the cemetery in 1890. That same year, he was elected to the first Oklahoma Territorial Legislature. He died the night of the election of typhoid fever and never knew he had won this prestigious office. He was the first interred in St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery.

On October 25, 1986, the children of John C. and Musetta Kelly dedicated a marker at the site honoring the historical significance of this first rural church building in what is now Oklahoma. On October 21, 1991, notification was received that the St. Patrick's church site and Cemetery had been added to the Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory, the state's database of historic properties. St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery is under the care of St. Monica's Catholic Church in Edmond.

{Information obtained from OK County Cemetery Index - compiled by OK County HCE Genealogy Group, page 105.}