Washita Co. OK - Grisham Cemetery, Bachlor Family From: Ray Bachlor ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** My great grandfather, Lemuel Letcher "Letch" Bachlor with his oldest son, Charles Andy Bachlor (my grandfather), came to Oklahoma Territory in the spring of 1896 in search of land suitable for farming. He staked a claim southwest of present day Rocky, Washita Co., OK, and left his 20 year old son alone to dig a dugout home while he returned to Wise Co., TX, to get his family. After "settling in", on December 29, 1896, he filed a homestead application for the SW quarter of Section 23, Twp 8N, Range 18W at the Oklahoma Station Land Office and received his Homestead Final Certificate on July 20, 1903. His wife filed for the quarter section joining this property on the south and my grandfather filed on the quarter section joining that one on the south, having just reached 21 years of age. All three properties ran along a creek that ran north-south through Rocky. As each of the other five children became of age, they homesteaded on properties between Rocky and Gotebo. Letcher was said to have been the only blacksmith for miles around and he kept busy at that trade while the boys ran the farm. By 1900, they had the first "sawn lumber house with glass windows" in the area. Letcher was reputedly rich, having left Missouri a few years earlier with $10,000 in gold in his saddlebags (a fortune those days). He had a reputation for being "miserly" and after he died, people dug holes all over his property for a number of years looking for his "gold" for, although he was a principal owner of the Rocky Bank, he never trusted banks. All earlier family burials were in the Grisham (maybe Gresham) cemetery which may have been the first cemetery in the Rocky area. After 1935, family burials were at Lone Star. From what I hear from relatives who regularly visit Grisham Cemetery, it has been in deplorable condition although pictures I got last year look as though someone has done work there. The following family members are buried in Grisham Cemetery: (1) Lemuel Letcher Bachlor, b. December 13, 1852, Boeuf Creek, Franklin Co., MO, d. November 18, 1935, Rocky, OK (2) Hettie Jane (Bird) Bachlor (wife of Letcher), b. December 25, 1852, Fair Haven, Sevier Co., TN, d. April 13, 1934, Rocky OK. (3) Jesse Redman Bachlor, b. November 16, 1887, Wise Co., TX, d. October 6, 1905, Rocky, OK. (4) Lillie Mae Bachlor, b. 1910, Rocky, OK, d. July 4, 1924, Rocky, OK (5) Mary Emma (Berry) Bachlor (wife of Charles Andy Bachlor), b.April 16, 1879, Montague Co., TX, d. December 5, 1922, Rocky, OK. We have many other family members (including Teeters and McCains) buried in the Sentinel and Lone Star Cemeteries. Although I attended my great grandfather's funeral in 1935, I cannot direct you to Grisham Cemetery but if anyone is interested I can get directions. I do not know of any members of our family presently living in Washita County. I have genealogical information on the descendants of Lemuel Letcher Bachlor and Hettie Jane Bird and also for the Teeters and McCains who lived near Sentinel if anyone is interested. Ray Bachlor 6424 Lago Grande Drive Bonsall, CA 92003 bachlor@nctimes.net