Cherokee Municipal Cemetery

Section 12 Township 26N Range 11 W



This cemetery was opened to take care of the needs of the community of Erwin soon after the Outlet opening and before Cherokee was located at its presen location. When Cherokee relocated three miles sout to its present site, the towns of Erwin and Alger agreed and did move most all businesses and post offices to Cherokee. The post offices supposedly were not officiallly closed until after they had moved, thus there were three post offfices in Cherokee at one time according to the writings of L. R. Smith, and W.S. David agreed to give one acre in the southeast corner of his quarter (Section 12- Township 26N- Range 11W) for a cemetery if a non-sectarian organization would care for it. A committee organized and sold lots for $10.00 to raise enough money to have the acre surveyed and platted into lots. In 1900 the Erwin Camp of Modern Woodmen (MWA #8163) organized and they became the sponsors of the cemetery on May 23, 1902. Robert Berry gave an acre in the southwest corner of the same section to allow for the Catholic Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. J.W. HOward had lost a baby and was buried on the farm and it was moved to the cemetery thus being the first burial. The Giradots lost a baby soon after and was the first to be buried in the cemetery. Robert Johnson in May then Mrs. Cicero Stout in August were the first adults buried in 1899. The cemetery is now owned by the City of Cherokee and the records are at city hall. Mary Erskine, Opal French, Mildred Hager, and Emily Rathgeber made this census about 1985 and it was rewalked several times with the last time being Spring 1993. A special thanks to Opal woh went with Mary each time to check the information. It is located 1 miles south and 1 and 1/2 miles east of Cherokee, Oklahoma.