THE MUSGROVE CEMETERY (approximately 20 graves)

The Musgrove Cemetery is located about six miles northwest of Westville, Adair County, Oklahoma (prior to Oklahoma statehood in 1907, this area was known as part of the Going Snake District, Cherokee Nation West, Indian Territory). The cemetery is located west of US-59 Highway and south of County Road E0670 in Section 13, Range 25-East, Township 18-North. A small electrical substation on the northwest corner of the intersection of old Highway 59 and E0670 as well as the intersection of US-59 and E0670 serves as a helpful landmark to the westward turn from either old-59 or US-59 onto County Road E0670.

The Musgrove Cemetery is located on private land and is south of the Rogers Cemetery. The Rogers Cemetery is a very small cemetery located on the north side of County Road E0670 and immediately west of a private driveway leading north to a home situated on a farm; among its graves is the grave of Robert Rogers, the first husband of Sallie (Vann) Rogers Musgrove and the grandfather of noted humorist, syndicated newspaper columnist, and actor, Will Rogers. It is about .7 mile west of old 59 Highway and US-59.

The Musgrove Cemetery is not visible from County Road E0670; it lies about .1 mile south of the road across a field just inside the tree and brush line on a sloping hillside. The private driveway to the farm with the Musgrove Cemetery is located on the south side of County Road E0670 just beyond the Rogers Cemetery about .1 mile along a slight curve in the road. The farm house is visible to the west as you turn into the driveway. Since the cemetery is on private land, anyone wishing to visit the cemetery will need to go to the farm house and speak with the owners about visiting the cemetery. This driveway entrance is about .8 mile west from old 59 Highway and US-59.

There are three rows of graves in this cemetery; the rows run from north to south. The above photo was taken from the north looking to the south before the cemetery became overgrown with brush and trees.

The first row lies to the immediate west or right of the three trees (two evergreen trees separated by a walnut tree) pictured in the center of the photograph. Of the two headstone bases shown in the photo, the darker one with its headstone lying face down against the side of the base is the first marker placed at William Alexander Musgrove's grave after his burial. It is believed to mark the general location of his grave; some shifting and settling of the headstone base has occurred due to tree roots, and some movement may have occurred due to the former owner of the land trying to remove the base.

The whiter base pictured in front of the three trees is part of a second marker placed by William's wife, Sallie (Vann) Rogers Musgrove, for her husband in addition to the first marker she had placed; this marker was larger and more ornate than the first (its headstone is lying on the ground face up to the left of the whitish base in front of the first tree).

William Alexander Musgrove's grave is believed by some to be the first or northern most grave in the first row of three rows that make up this cemetery (possibly because they didn't realize that the ornate headstone north of the three trees was the second of two headstones placed for William).

Others believe his grave is the second grave in the first row. The three trees near the two headstone bases are comprised of two evergreen trees with a walnut tree between them. The evergreen trees are said to mark the graves of two of William Musgrove's children who preceded him in death while the darker headstone and its base near the walnut tree possibly marks his grave between the children.

The cemetery was established by William Musgrove following the U.S. Civil War. The first burial was one of his children (the second burial is also thought to have been one of his children). He selected the site for this cemetery so the cemetery would be visible from his home; neighbors and friends reported seeing him sitting on the porch or standing at a window forlornly staring towards the cemetery following the his children's burials.

The second row lies directly behind the three trees and to the south, and the third row lies to the east or to the left of the trees. The first or northern most grave in the third row is Washington Jess "Wash" Lee's, former Sheriff of Going Snake District, Cherokee Nation and the son-in-law of William A. Musgrove.

This is the last known photograph of the cemetery before a former owner, of the private land where the Musgrove Cemetery is located, finished removing the original headstones and sandstones rocks used as grave markers from the property in 1988/1989 to convert the cemetery back to pasture land.

William A. Musgrove's second headstone was saved by family and placed in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Claremore, Oklahoma. Wash Lee's headstone was moved southeast of the Musgrove Cemetery by family to the Baptist Mission Cemetery located on the east side of old 59 Highway and west of US-59. Smaller marble replacement markers were placed near both graves at the Musgrove Cemetery for William and Wash. Unfortunately, the cemetery is not maintained and the years have reclaimed the land; it is presently overgrown with brush obscuring the remnants of the original headstones, two replacement markers, and twenty or more graves.