06/25/2024
As you know, over the last several years I have been helping the Gower family take care of the historical Gower Cemetery. This year we have some repairs and maintenance that has come up. We need help replacing a broken flag pole, fixing the gate, mowing and leveling some headstones. A ladies group is donating a flag and a solar light so it can be flown at night. Cargill Art is going to take a look at the fence to see what can be done and the cost. He has also generously offered to mow at least once if not more. David and I can work on leveling the head stones. If you are able to help with any of these things, it would be appreciated greatly. If you can't physically help but would like to donate monetarily to help with repair and mowing costs, we will have a donation jar at Silver Leaf Gems or you can venmo us.
Gower Cemetery History-
John & Ophelia Gower relinquished a portion of their 160 acre homestead to establish the Gower Cemetery in November 1889. The Cemetery was historically significant for its association with the African American Settlers who lived in the area of their original homestead. John Gower was a stonecutter and Ophelia served as a midwife in the area.
After the Civil War and prior to the opening of the Unassigned Lands in April of 1889, African Americans in the United States searched for areas to settle. Directly after the war many of the freedmen simply wandered from place to place, exploring their new-found freedom. While Congress recognized the problem of integration or relocation of African Americans, racial discrimination continued. Many African Americans began to go west, and between 1870 and the 1900s, black leaders and emigration agents supported this action. Many felt that the West would offer opportunities that were not available in the South or the Northeast, maninly the acquisition of land. Kansas politician W.L. Egleson was one of the many emigration agents who urged African Americans to come to the newly opened Oklahoma District in 1889.
Not all African Americans staked claims for homesteading or settled in the newly found cities, but rather they chose to segregate themselves by establishing a number of black towns, including Langston, established in 1891, Boley, established in 1903, and approximately 25 other small communities scattered throughout the state. These towns, like the community referred to as “Nonsey,” where the Gowers settled, made it possible for African Americans to have control of their lives and live within an atmosphere free from prejudice.
Many of the homesteads claimed by the African Americans were located in the Cross Timbers; an area densely covered with black jack, oak, mixed grasses and thickets.
The earliest burial record at Gower Cemetery is Elizabeth Miller, wife of Henry Miller, on November 20, 1896. In the fifty years that followed, many of the early homesteaders and family members were buried in Gower Cemetery, including six African American males, known to have claimed a homestead in Oklahoma County prior to June 1890. They are John Gower, Anderson Harris, Henry B. Miller, William O’Kelley, Isaac Samuels, and Rev. Walton Owens. Burials in Gower Cemetery included an advanced group of “Americans of Color,” as an outgrowth of segregation.
The Gower Cemetery is located on Covell Road between Douglas Boulevard and Post Road. John and Ophelia Gower are both buried there.
Information from Edmond History Museum.
