- - - - HISTORY OF VALLEY CEMETERY - - - -

OKLAHOMA COUNTY OK

Choctaw Oklahoma and Eastern Oklahoma County - A History, Volume 1, 1893-1993 by the Choctaw Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Centennial Committee, compiled by Doris E. Ellis {Eagle Printing: Harrah, OK} 1993, page 53 reads in part as follows: "It is uncertain when the first person was buried at this location or how many were buried in the early years....it is known that Thomas T. Olney homesteaded the land that would become Valley Cemetery on July 23, 1889. On April 21, 1891, he cancelled and relinquished claim to his homestead. On this same date, Aaron Cunningham filed a homestead application for this land. On March 24, 1892, Aaron Cunningham died at home and was buried on his homestead on the site of the present Valley Cemetery. It is believed that a friend and neighbor, Benjamin Hallman, was buried here about the same time. "On page 291 of the same volume is a different version of the events. The Historical Account of Samuel and Sarah Reeves written by their daughter, Luella M. {Reeves} Mawdsley states in part: "On August 2, 1892, Rachel A. Cunningham filed homestead application #5116 for the SW 1/4 of Section 14, T11N-R1W. It had been filed by Benjamin Hallman on May 8, 1890. After Hallman's death, his widow cancelled and relinquished her claim."

On August 4, 1892, Aaron's widow, Rachel A. Cunningham signed a Quit Claim Deed to 3 acres for use as a public place of burial. It was conveyed to three Trustees; Monroe Hazlep, A. J. Adams, Jesse Ricks for the sum of $1.00 and was filed for record August 17, 1892 in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Territory, Oklahoma in Book 6, Page 213. After her husband's death in 1892, Rachel persuaded her son-in-law, Samuel W. Reeves, to move to Oklahoma Territory and farm her land. On August 17, 1903, the Valley Cemetery Association was organized with officers, a constitution, and by-laws. Rachel Cunningham deeded the homestead, less 2.5 acres Valley Cemetery to Samuel W. Reeves, June 16, 1904. The Samuel W. Reeves family moved from the Valley community in 1916. The Valley Cemetery is still used as a public place of burial. In 1992, an effort was being made by Mrs. Dora Collins to identify and mark the unknown burials sites in Valley Cemetery.

{Information obtained from OK County Cemetery Index - compiled by OK County HCE Genealogy Group, page 131.}