I made a short trip to Miami, Oklahoma on my way back to Alabama in October 2001.  My mother, Ellen O'Bryan West's grandparents moved there around 1905.  Both of her grandparents, Mary Ellen Hess Howard and William David Howard, along with some of her aunts and uncles are buried at the Williams-Coal Creek cemetery there.  I had hoped to find their graves, take some pictures, and pay my respects to them by placing flowers on their graves. What I found was a small family plot with only one headstone remaining. That stone was for Benjamin L. Howard,  Mother's uncle who died in a boiler explosion accident in 1913, along with his sister, Dolly Howard Kabel.  The base of the stone was obviously old, but the stone looked newer, as if the original stone had been replaced, possibly by his widow. It reads: B. L Howard, born October 30, 1889, died June 30, 1913, "Gone but not forgotten" This cemetery is in the country at the end of a dirt road, so I assume that the other stones have likely been vandalized and removed. It's a small cemetery and there were other stones laying on the ground, off of their bases and some just old and crumbling.  Several family plots were separated by a concrete border, as was the HOWARD plot.

A kind lady who lives in the area recently informed me that this cemetery is near a river which frequently floods the cemetery. This explains why the headstones have not held up very well.  ~ Linda ~

Below are some pictures of the cemetery.  Click on them for a larger view and then use your "back" arrow to return to this page.

                                                    

Below are views of the HOWARD plot. It sits at the back of the cemetery. Besides Benjamin's stone, there was actually a portion of a stone still sticking out of the ground.  Behind the fence at the back is the old Williams farm.  Jasper S. HOWARD died on the "old Williams farm" according to his obituary.

                                                      

Family members buried in this plot are:
Mary Ellen HESS HOWARD 1860-1916,
her husband, William David HOWARD 1849-1919,
their children, Madie Florence HOWARD 1896-1908,
Jasper Sylvester HOWARD 1880-1911,
Benjamin L. HOWARD 1889-1913,
and Barbara HOWARD COPAS 1877-1914.

I also made a visit to the public library in Miami, Oklahoma and while I didn't make any huge discoveries about the HOWARDS, I did learn a little more about them and the town of Miami. It was pretty interesting. The town of Miami was started when it was still Indian territory. Oklahoma didn't become a state until 1907.  Miami was formed in the late 1800 's by a group of businessmen from Kansas. It was named for the Miami tribe of Indians. The land was in the middle of an Indian Reservation, so the Indians had to approve the plan. It's early history was that of a lawless little town because any law enforcement had to be carried out by the elders of the tribe. Eventually Ottawa county became a huge zinc mining area. Perhaps that was what attracted W. D. Howard to the area.  There seems to be some link between the HOWARD family and the "old Williams farm". They may  have simply been neighbors. The family did not apparently leave any lasting roots in the area.  Most of their children either died or moved on to other areas. The one exception is Cnorah HOWARD MONTGOMERY. She married a local man and lived most of her life in the area.

The following is an interesting excerpt from the "History of Ottaway County".  Charles Parks Williams (1858-1951) was the oldest son of Richard Williams and Margaret Parks. He was 9 when the family moved to what is now Ottawa county.  They settled on Coal Creek and established the first cattle ranch in the county. Since then, no matter who has owned the ranch, the principal purpose has been cattle ranching.  During territorial days, Richard Williams set aside a plot of land near the ranch for a family cemetery.  Today it is known  as the Williams-Coal Creek Cemetery.  There is a family legend that the first burial was that of a child who parents were traveling through in a covered wagon when the child died.

linda@lfthompson.com

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