Caddo Co. - History of the Bethel Church & Cemetery Submitted by: Wanda G. Gilchrist hayseed@brightok.net 25 Aug 2002 ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ==================================================================== History of the Bethel Church & Cemetery Bethel Church originated in 1904 when the pioneer families of Mound Valley township in northern Caddo County, Oklahoma - (Roughly situated between Bridgeport (defunct), Hinton and Hydro) began holding sunday school in the newly built (1902) "Deer Creek School" located on the L. H. Crosswhite Claim, NE 1/4 Section 8, 12 West Indian Meridian-Range 12 North. "Grandma Mitchell" was the first sunday school superintendent. Every quarter section was newly inhabited with people who had entered the El Reno lottery of 1901 and successfully drawn the right to choose and prove an 160 acre claim in the newly opened, to settlement, Caddo, Kiowa, Comanche lands in western Olahoma. They had come from everywhere with their families, their livestock, their hopes and their dreams to a new land on the Oklahoma prairie. In 1904, Mr. Crosswhite invited his pastor, the Rev. B. C. Callahan, from Okarche Methodist Church to organize and help build the new church that became Bethel Methodist Church located on the section line a mile East and two miles South of the Crosswhite farm. (Section 22-Township 12 North- Range 12 West) now located abt 1 mile South of I-40 Highway on Bethel Road. "Grandma Haefer became the first superintendant at the new church. Hiram Stanfill gave 1 acre of ground and Wes Gregory with the help of J. W. Bickell did the bulding. Later, L. C. Stanfill gave additional land East of the church for a cemetery and he was the first person to be buried there. It has been said that this was the only church in the Clinton, OK district to own its own cemetery. But, the church did not own the cemetery. When the membership sold the church to the United Methodist organization during the great depression of the 1930's, the membership retained ownership of the cemetery, hence, when the United Methodist organization closed down Bethel Methodist Church on December 31, 1989. The cemetery was not sold with the church and the parsonage. Bob Karlin maintains the cemetery and the records with funds contributed by descendants of the membership. Among their neighbors who were original settlers and founding members of Bethel Methodist Church were: Stanfill; F. E. Appleman; P. D. Bickell; D. R. Kimble; John Dickey; William Bielby; George Barnes; G. B. Lane; W. W. Inlow; Mrs. Anna Gregg; W. M. Gregory, S. B. Gilmore, Haefer; Thomason, Warfield, Vardeman, Goodwin, Cartwright, Mathold, Mitchell and Kirk. Descendants of these and those who joined the church later and supported it throughout its existance are found buried in the cemetery behind the church. Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Crosswhite were the last surviving of the original founding members. They were married on Christmas Day, 1902. Bethel Church was the focal point of their lives. There are no published records for the cemeteries of Caddo County and Bethel Cemetery is not even registered with Caddo County. Respectfully submitted, This 3 day of June, 2002 Complied by: Wanda G. Gilchrist, OKDAR, Washita Chapter, and Connie Ringler, Member of Weatherford Genealogical Society & Applicant for membership, OKDar, Washita Chapter.