Update on First Visit to Laverty Cemetery

Just from the few pictures we got at the Laverty Cemetery on August 6th, I was able to create 59 new memorials on FindAGrave.com and upload 104 pictures (some of them duplicates as in the case of a husband and wife sharing a headstone) including one picture that made a lady's day (it was a picture she had specifically requested of her aunt's headstone).

Yay!  I am a bona fide FindAGrave.com contributor!!  :-)

Also kudos to Michelle for being quite likely the only person on earth to get the reference to my "country twin" in my first post!!  :-)

Laverty Cemetery

I have been doing TONS of genealogy research lately; both on my family and on my friend Michelle's family.  One of the AWESOME sites that I utilize is FindAGrave.com.  It is a database of cemeteries and those interred in them.  All the information and pictures are gathered by volunteers.  On Friday I signed up to be a volunteer photographer in my area and I uploaded some pictures right away of some of the family headstones at Eakly Cemetery. 

Saturday (8/6/11) I decided to get a jump on taking pics of headstones.  This called for a nearby cemetery, preferably pretty small to get started, and one that needs a lot of pictures.  Laverty Cemetery won out!  I had never heard of Laverty Cemetery until I started at my current job (funeral home).  We have buried several people out there since I started, but I had not personally been to any of the committal services.  Therefore I was curious to see this cemetery hitherto unknown to me, yet so close to where I have lived my whole life!

Rick got volunteered to be my adventure partner for the day.  The cemetery was as easy to find as everyone had told me at the funeral home.  It is in what was Laverty, Oklahoma--out past Pioneer.  Once you get past Pioneer School basically just keep going straight until you see the cemetery on your right.

Immediately upon our arrival, we noticed that this is a much smaller cemetery than we had been expecting.  The smart thing to do seemed to be to ignore the list we had of headstones sans pictures on the website and instead just walk up and down the rows taking pictures of all the headstones!  How long could it take?

It was a good plan.  We were moving quickly.  Unfortunately, so was the mercury.  It was so hot out there that the camera I was using was almost too hot to handle!  In the end, we completed the perimeter and saved the two middle sections for a cooler day.

While we did run across some interesting and some old headstones, the remarkable event was the fire we could see building to the south.  It looked BAD!!

When we finally dove for the blessed creature comfort of our car air conditioning, we decided to see how far we could follow the trail to the fire.  After crossing a bridge that looked like it belonged at Girl Scout camp on a hiking trail (and still would be scary to WALK on) and meandering aimlessly through time-forgotten back roads for some time, we somehow ended up headed in to Ninnekah.  At that point we gave up the hunt and drove to Daddy's house and thus our adventure ended.

A New Blog About Adventures in Oklahoma

My name is Betsy Phillips.  I was born and raised in the greatest state in the union:  Oklahoma!  I have lived my entire life in Grady County.

I recently decided that it was time to stop talking about exploring Oklahoma and get to it!  Besides, lets be real--I will never traipse around Europe or see Victoria Falls and meet my country twin.  I can, however, wander the Oklahoma trails and discover the fun facts behind the historical markers.  And lets not forget all the fun and excitement of cemeteries!  Every tombstone with a story to tell!

So this is my new blog.  I will chronicle my adventures in Oklahoma.  Happy Trails!  :-)