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A Methodist church was organized at Pecan Point, in present-day McCurtain County, in 1818. It was the first Protestant church in the territory. Prior to statehood the largest numbers of citizens were Baptist, Roman Catholic, Disciples of Christ, or Methodist. Church records are among the most-difficult-to-locate sources in Oklahoma. Some are on microfilm at the Oklahoma Historical Society; others are maintained by members of the congregation and are housed in private homes rather than in church repositories. Still others are stored in the respective church. Some church records are deposited in the denominations' archives. A Historical Records Survey inventory was created relating to various church records in the counties. Preliminary List of Churches and Religious Organizations in Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Okla.: Historical Records Survey, 1942).
The Chronicles of Oklahoma frequently publishes articles concerning specific churches or denominations. An example is Walter N. Vernon, “Methodist Beginnings Among Southwest Oklahoma Indians,” The Chronicles of Oklahoma 58 (1980): 392–411.
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Numerous missions provided through the Presbyterian, Baptist, and Moravian churches were established to serve Native Americans. Both teachers and missionaries constituted part of the nonnative population in Indian Territory. Some records are on microfilm in the Archives and Manuscript Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Others are maintained by denominational archives.
Records for Methodists, Catholics, and Baptists are housed in state facilities:
- United Methodist, Box 1138, Bristow, Oklahoma 74010.
- Roman Catholic Chancery Office, 1521 North Hudson, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 63103
- Oklahoma Baptist University Library, Shawnee, Oklahoma 74801. Privately funded, the library collection contains some materials and histories of the Baptist church.
- Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73106. Founded in 1911 at Guthrie, it is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church. After uniting with Epworth University, it was relocated to Oklahoma City.
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The Oklahoma Historical Society Library has the state copies of cemetery transcriptions completed by the state DAR, although this group of compilations is by no means comprehensive. A card file index at the library lists cemeteries in the DAR collection and some other cemeteries that have been canvased. The card index is alphabetical by name of county and indicates the cemetery.
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Many other cemetery records exist that are not on the card file. Published records include some for Carter, Garfield, LeFlore, Murray, Muskogee, Payne, Roger Mills, Sequoyah, and Woodward counties. The FHL has Cemetery Records of Oklahoma. 9 vols. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1959–62). Also see James W. Tyner and Alice Tyner Timmons, OUR PEOPLE AND WHERE THEY REST 8-Vol Set. , (Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma, 1969–78), and Madeline S. Mills and Helen R. Mullenax, Relocated cemeteries in Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Texas (Tulsa, Okla.: the authors, 1974).
Cemetery records and gravestone inscriptions are a rich source of information for family historians. Cemetery and other sources of information associated with death include:
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- Biographical works
- Burial permits
- Church burial registers
- Cemetery records (often several different kinds are kept)
- Cemetery indexes (often compiled by genealogical societies)
- Cemetery sextons’ records
- Cemetery deed and plot registers
- Death certificates
- Death indexes
- Family bibles
- Family burial plots
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- Funeral director’s records
- Grave opening orders
- Gravestone (monument) inscriptions
- Military records
- Monuments and memorials
- Necrologies
- Newspaper death notices
- Obituaries
- Probate records
- Published death records
- Religious records
- Transcriptions of cemetery inscriptions
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