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Cruce Community Cemetery

Stephens County, Oklahoma

As recorded by Wanda Slaughter and Deborah Cavel-Greant, Brenda McClure and John-Isaac Greant, July, 1982, all descendents of Henry and Mollie Clark, who are buried in this cemetery.

This cemetery once served the tiny village of Cruce, which was destroyed by a tornado in the late 20's.The first recorded burial, according to inscriptions on gravestones, was 1903. The last burial occurred in 1935.  This cemetery is reachedby taking old Highway No 7 east out of Duncan.  Turn onto Lake Duncan Road. Turn right onto Plato Road, proceed 9/10ths of a mile, crossing twobridges. Road veers left, there is a gate on the right. The cemetery is ½ mile off the road through the gate. There is no passable road,you must park your car off the side of the road and walk in.  This cemetery is on private land and when we were there last (in 1982) the farmerwas allowing cattle to graze over it. It is not fenced or maintained. It lies in a stand of live oak trees in a hollow, and is practically coveredin irises. The man who owns the land said he didn't realize there was a cemetery there, though it's hard to miss the larger stones. But he was gracious and accompanied us to the gravesites. He said now that he knew it was there he'd fence the cattle out.

This survey begins in the NE corner, but the term 'row' is used in its broadest possible context. In some places the soil is far too shallow to hold a grave. Probably due to the rocky nature of the site the graves seem to have been placed with an almost total disregard for order. Some lie between other rows or staggered above or below them. It's a small cemetery though and anyone searching for a particular grave can walk its entirety in five or 6 minutes.

1st Row

Contains a single unmarked stone - no other graves apparent

2nd Row

Contains a single grave marked by a flat unmarked stone which has fallen over

3rd Row

Contains a single unmarked grave which has been planted with irises

4th Row

5th Row

6th row

Baby Row

A single sandstone marker marks this row of tiny graves, perhaps as many as ten or twelve.

8th Row

Staggered all over are a number of unmarked graves - just depressions in the earth.

9th Row