Death Records, Hutchinson County, Texas: Persons who died in Hutchinson County but buried elsewhere, 1903-1987 Page: 3
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INTRODUCTION
During the preparation of the book CEMETERIES OF HUTCHINSON COUNTY,19011986,
Cleo Morrison and Polly Wheeler continued to be astounded by the
number of death certificates that indicated that the body had been shipped
elsewhere for burial. This curiosity led me, Charlene Ferrell, and my
sister, Cleo Morrison, to study the possible reasons for this and to
calculate the numbers of persons being taken to each locality.
First of all, it is important to remember that Borger, the leading
population center, was not established until 1926 when an oil boom
brought thousands of people from many directions. Most came with an
idea of making a fortune and going "back home." Most of the early
burials in Borger's Highland Park Cemetery were indigents and newborn
babies. Many of the few who were not taken "back home" were buried in
the nearby Panhandle (Carson County) and Amarillo (Potter and Randall
Counties) cemeteries.
Next, for the ones who chose to remain in the area, there was only
the one choice of a cemetery in the populous part of the county, and
in the early years, did not have perpetual care. The streets are
still unpaved. Whatever the reasons, when aggressive salesmen from
Pampa (Gray County), only twenty-eight miles away, offered attractive
plots for sale, many made purchases there.
About 1960 a second cemetery, Westlawn Memorial Park, opened west of
Borger, giving the people more choice. Many who might have chosen
Borger were still committed to the Pampa cemeteries as for some time
there was no provision for an exchange of the Pampa lots for ones in
Borger. More recently, arrangements have been made so that Borger
residents may make an exchange.
Also, in the 1950's a very attractive cemetery, Sunset Memorial, was
established in the county seat of Stinnett, twelve miles north of Borger.
This gave even more choice, especially to the residents of the central
part of the county.
The most northern part of the county, the agricultural area, has been
served by the very well kept cemeteries of Holt and Lieb so these
communities were virtually unaffected by what happened in the southern
end of the county.
As for the second part of our curiosity as to the places the earlier
residents called "home," some of our findings were these:
Texas 3,816 59.0%
Oklahoma 959 23.2%
Kansas 187 4.5%
Arkansas 85 2.0%
Missouri 77 1.9%
New Mexico 72 1.7%
Other 317 7.7%
Total 4,129 100.0%
ii
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Morrison, Cleo & Ferrell, Charlene McGraw. Death Records, Hutchinson County, Texas: Persons who died in Hutchinson County but buried elsewhere, 1903-1987, book, 1990; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29408/m1/3/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Genealogical Society.