Headstone @dumpster, Lady b.Independence
I have been working on trying to find the original location of a
headstone that was found leaning up against a dumpster in Westville OK,
a couple of years ago. The mystery caught my couriosity about 3 weeks
ago, after reading about it in the Tulsa World newpaper. I have found
the place, and the families involved but there are many questions yet to
be answered. Maybe
someone on this forun has connections to this family line. I
have just about exhausted most of my sources, and now need some
descendants to help with the details.
Read the full story of the Mystery Headstone found in Westville, on the
following pages from the Tulsa World:
http://search.tulsaworld.com/archivesearch/default.asp?WCI=DisplayStory&ID=000227_Ne_a22questhttp://search.tulsaworld.com/archivesearch/default.asp?WCI=DisplayStory&ID=000227_Ne_a22quest
With the information on the headstone I went about trying to locate the
place. Mary F., wife of A. B. Harding, born Dec.1, 1866 died May 25,
1896.
With the following information found in public and church records, I
have determined that Mary F. wife of A. B. Harding is the following
individual.
Martha F. Reavis age 21 married A. B. Hardin age 29, in Fulton Co.
Arkansas, May 14, 1888.
Allen B. Harding recieved a homestead in 1897 in Fulton Co. Arkansas.
Reavis name is also on homstead records for Fulton Co. Arkansas.
The parents of Martha Frances Reavis were Morgan Reavis and Mary Moore.
In the 1880 census she was called Frances, age 14.
According to the IGI, from the Family History Library in Salt Lake
City, Martha Frances Reavis was born Dec. 1, 1866. Independence Co. AR.(same date as on the
headstone)
Martha F. died in Fulton Co. According to Oral history in the Reavis
Family history book, she died in 1895, not backed up with proof, and no
full birthdate, only the year.
Now that the mystery of to whom the headstone belongs, we have another
problem of figuring out why the name on the stone says Mary, when the
woman's real name was Martha Frances Reavis Harding, wife of Allen B.
Harding. and figuring out how it got to Westville, Oklahoma.
Martha had a sister named Mary Ann and her mother's name was Mary. The
headstone was made in St. Louis and supposedly purchased through the
Sears & Roebuck catalog. No one remembers the headstone being in the
cemtery in the last 60 years. The Reavis family placed a marker a few
years ago next to Martha F. Reavis Harding's twin brother's grave, with
information they evidently got from the census.
Her birth date on the new stone says just 1865. That was evidently
calculated from the age given on the census or from the Reavis family
history book.
Allen B. Harding remarried (to Ada Foust) 3 months after Martha's death
according to my figures, if Mary and Martha are one and the same.
He and Martha had no children. Allen B Harding died in 1931, and had at
least one daughter from the second marriage..
Was Mary F. an error when the stone was carved?
No one knows exactly where Martha/Mary is buried in the Stateline
Cemetery in Fulton Co. Records for burial are not complete. All of the
Reavis Family is buried there along with Allen B. Harding.
Mr. Rose, the man who has the headstone, just wants to put that
headstone back where it belongs. We are looking for all volunteers that
would like to offer their time to research to help get this headstone
back where it belongs. This headstone needs a proper resting place. Mr.
Rose doesn't feel right about returning it to the Stateline cemetery
until all doubt is quieted. It would be nice to have it in place for
the 104th anniversary of her death, May 25th and for Memorial day.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for any help you
might provide.
Barbara Stewart
[email protected]