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Sorghum Flat Cemetery (Price Cemetery) (Strawberry Flats Cemetery)
Murray County, Oklahoma

Lat: 34° 25' 57"N, Lon: 97° 05' 45"W
Sec. 33, T1S, R2E

Contributed by Dennis Muncrief, May 06, 2000, updated Mar 02, 2008 [mudman@cableone.net]. Total records = 80.

Take SH 7 one mile east out of Davis until you come to SH 110. Turn south, toward Dougherty, for 3 1/2 miles until you come to the Rayford Cutoff. Turn right and go for 1 mile until you come to the Southern Cross Ranch headquarters. The office is on the west side of the road. Permission MUST be asked at the office to enter the ranch property.

After you get permission, travel on west past the ranch office down a ranch road about 1/2 mile. You will come to two tunnels going under the Santa Fe railroad. Take the left tunnel as you are now in a creek bottom and the turning radius is extremely tight. In the creek bottom on the other side of the tunnels, you will see two ranch roads with cattle guards and gates. Take the left gate and travel down the ranch road south for 1/2 mile. The cemetery, which measures 1 1/2 acres, is in a fenced area with many trees, on the left, on a little hill, next to the road.

I wish to caution all. The cemetery is between the Santa Fe tracks and the Washita River. This country is very mountainous and if there is a sudden heavy rain you will be trapped by a flash flood in the area as the tunnels flood and there is no other way back out to the road.

The area was settled in the late 1860's just after the Civil War. The community of Sorghum Flats was the first such in Murray County and was settled by William Nathan Price, who is also buried in the cemetery. The name of the town was derived from the large amount of sorghum cane grown in the area in the Washita River bottom. Nathan Price built the sorghum mill along with a cotton gin and a sawmill. Nearby Price's Falls is also named for Nathan Price. A post office was opened across the Washita River about a mile west called Price.

Old maps records show this cemetery as Price Cemetery. I have never heard it called anything but Sorghum Flat cemetery. The cemetery is thought to be the oldest in the Arbuckle Mountain area. The earliest dated grave marker is 1876.

One will readily notice the very large proportion of children and women of childbearing age in the cemetery. A post office by the name of Price was established here on Aug 20, 1884 making it the oldest post office in Murray County. There are 24 native stone grave markers that have no identifying marks or are unknown burials.

Times were very hard in this area in the 1870's to the early 1900's. The average age of those interred in Sorghum Flats cemetery is only 18 years old. If you delete just four people who lived beyond 60 years, the average drops to 15 years old!

When the Santa Fe Railroad came through in 1887, a depot was built at the future site of Dougherty 2 miles south. No depot was built at Price and it just dried up and blew away as people began moving out of Sorghum Flats and moved to Dougherty. This probably had a bearing on why the cemetery was abandoned.

I visited this cemetery more than once in the past weeks, cleaning out brush and overgrowth, trying to restore it as best I could. Then I read the cemetery again, discovering additional names, after finding markers which were hidden the first time I read it. Completed on Nov 12, 2003

- Dennis Muncrief

Baus, Marthall, b. Jan. 2, 1879, d. Jan. 12, 1899, d/o J. & N.A.
Baxter, Mary Howell, b. Oct. 29, 1866, d. Oct. 31, 1886, w/o A.P.
Bays, Martha H., b. Jan 21, 1879, d. Jan 12, 1899, d/o J. & N.A.
Butcher, Martha, b. died Apr 3, 1878, Aged 17 Yrs
Butcher, Sinia, no dates, Aged 35 Yrs
Butcher, Walter Columbus, b. Feb 23, 1881, d. Feb 16, 1882, s/o Nelson & Tennessee
Caddy, Infant, b. Jul 12, 1901, d. Jul 12, 1901, i/o J.T. & M.C.
Campbell, Alice W., b. Apr 12, 1876, d. Nov 21, 1878, d/o R.C. & J.A.
Campbell, R.C., b. Jan 30, 1837, d. Sep 22, 1879, h/o Julia A.
Cape, Florae, b. Sep 2, 1895, d. Nov 26, 1900, d/o J.T. & Mary
Caton, L.S., b. Jul 9, 1831, d. Jan 27, 1893
Childs, Fannie, no dates, native stone
Childs, Martha H., b. Sep 9, 1857, d. Jan 26, 1907
Coday, Nancy L., b. Feb 11, 1870, d. Jan 18, 1885, d/o J. & E.
Coday, William, b. Feb 22, 1853, d. Apr 20, 1889, s/o J. & E., h/o Ruth
Colman, R., no dates, native stone
Cone, Edward Frank, d. c.1892
Cook, John W., b. May 21, 1835, d. Oct. 30, 1895
Cotten, Thelma, b. Sep 29, 1902, d. Nov 18, 1902, d/o E.R. & L.
Davenport, Henry, b. Oct. 12, 1883, d. Jan 2, 1887, s/o W.H. & S.E.
Dickinson, Della, b. Feb 6, 1865, d. Aug 4, 1891
Dickinson, Dora, no dates
Dickinson, Robert Brown, b. Jul 28, 1891, d. Aug 18, 1891, s/o Della
Dodson, Clay Adison, b. Nov 17, 1901, d. Nov 22, 1909, s/o M. & C.O.
Drew, Lueva, b. Sep 23, 1887, d. Jul 14, 1890, d/o W.R. & Sarah
Ellis Sarah E., b. Jan 15, 1826, d. Aug 30, 1894
Ellis, Bertha Ann, b. Aug 2, 1879, d. Jun 15, 1890, d/o J.P. & M.J.
Ellis, Edgar, b. Sep 4, 1889, d. Sep 9, 1889, s/o D.F. & Mattie N.
Ellis, Johnie L., b. Jan 11, 1883, d. Jun 31, 1889, s/o D.F. & Mattie N.
Ellis, Mattie N., b. Oct. 11, 1863, d. Oct. 8, 1889, w/o D.F.
Ellis, Oscar, b. Apr 20, 1893, d. Apr 28, 1893, s/o D.F. & B.B.
FaJulkner, Dewey, b. Sep 20, 1900, d. Nov 5, 1900, s/o H.M. & M.A.
FaJulkner, William Troy, b. May 4, 1896, d. Oct. 2, 1900, s/o E.S. & Sallie G.
Ferguson, Infant, b.&d. Jan 21, 1891, i/o M.C. & M.L.
Ferguson, J. C., b. Jun 4, 1888, d. Dec 22, 1890, s/o M.C. & M.L.
Ferguson, James W., b. Jun 29, 1871, d. Nov 15, 1889, s/o R.C. & M.J.
Ferguson, M. L., b. Apr 25, 1861, d. Feb 3, 1891, w/o M.C.
Fisher, J. B., b. Jan 13, 1881, d. Apr 15, 1895, native stone
Ford, Curtis, b. Aug 2, 1892, d. Sep 14, 1906, s/o John & Jane
Gaddy Infant, b. May 14, 1900, d. May 17, 1900, i/o J.T. & M.C.
Gaddy, Infant, b.&d. Jul 12, 1901, i/o J.T. & M.C.
Gettle, Luella, b. Jan 30, 1889, d. Apr 13, 1889, d/o F. & G.C.
Gibbs, Anna, no dates, native stone
Gibson, Georg, b. Jun 4, 1894, d. Oct. 10, 1895, s/o J.M. & L.L.
Gibson, Vivian, d. May 23, 1901, Aged 19 Yrs, 11 Days, drowned
Hancock, George A., b. May 11, 1862, d. Dec 10, 1896
Harvill, Mary Artie Missie, b. Dec 3, 1869, d. Nov 14, 1893, w/o S.A.
Isller, B. J., b. Jan 13, 1881, d. Apr 15, 1895
Johnson, Julia A., b. Feb 14, 1842, d. Mar 25, 1887
King, Erma, b. Mar 31, 1902, d. Mar 25, 1904, d/o H.C. & H.A.
Mitchell, Della, b. Aug 8, 1883, d. Nov 12, 1904, w/o R.L.
Morris, Effie B., b. Aug 21, 1888, d. Jan 12, 1900, d/o J.H. & Louisa
Offutt, Julia Ann, b. Jun 8, 1816, d. Apr 23, 1885, w/o S.R.
Perkins, C.C., b. Mar 27, 1888, d. Jun 6, 1891, s/o W.E. & Nannie
Perry, Clydes G., b. Apr 19, 1904, d. Nov 4, 1904, s/o T.L. & G.M.
Perry, Henry N., b. Mar 25, 1880, d. Aug 16, 1902, s/o M.C. & S.E.
Perry, William L., b. Oct. 22, 1882, d. Jan 23, 1896, s/o M.C. & S.E.
Price, Bertha, b. Apr 2, 1902, d. Apr 23, 1903, d/o B.F. & A.H.
Price, Infant, b.&d. Dec 7, 1897, i/o Nelson & Effie
Price, Infant, b.&d. Jun 5, 1901
Price, Lucy, b. Sep 5, 1895, d. Feb 29, 1898, d/o Nelson & Effie
Price, Mande, b. Oct. 1, 1884, d. Jun 21, 1903, d/o B.F. & A.H.
Price, William N., b. Mar 13, 1901, Aged 66 Yrs, 10 Mos, 26 Days
Price, Wm. Floid, b. Aug 15, 1897, d. Jun 26, 1898, s/o W.N. & Bicey
Reed, George Everett, b. Jul 28, 1876, d. Nov 15, 1882, s/o J.G. & Eliza
Rives, Martha M., b. Jan 21, 1820, d. Jan 19, 1887
Shartzer, Carroll Dudley, b. Nov 27, 1887, d. Dec 7, 1902, s/o A.L. & V.A.
Shields, George W., b. Oct. 9, 1890, d. Mar 5, 1903, s/o C.J. & M.S.
Smith, Mary, no dates
Stephens, A.B., b. Sep 3, 1888, d. Mar 4, 1894, s/o John & Annie
Stephens, Infant, b. died Jan 4, 1916, d. Aged 1 day
Stewart, John, b. d. Mar 6, 1884, d. Aged 42 Yrs
Taylor, Auburn A., b. Mar 8, 1830, d. Mar 3, 1881
Thompson, Carrie D., b. Mar 24, 1881, d. Sep _, 1907
Thompson, Hezekiah Augine, b. Jul 17, 1869, d. Apr 10, 1922
Thompson, James B., b. Feb 27, 1842, d. Apr 15, 1914
Thompson, Sarah J., b. Aug 13, 1846, d. Jan 24, 1912
Tracy, Infant, b. Sep 23, 1883, d. Nov 18, 1883, s/o N.F. & M.E.
Vawter, John L., b. Jul 2, 1882, d. Mar 23, 1890, s/o W.A. & M.E.
Williams, William A., b. Jan 12, 1839, d. Feb 22, 1892

Pile of slabbed rocks, believed to be Indian burial of Ishtickiyou
� marble footer with initials "C.D.B."
� native stone with initials "L.H."
� native stone with initials "M.M."
� native stone with initials "W.N.B."
� native stone with Star symbol carved