About

The Beecham Cemetery is a designated historic landmark in the State of Oklahoma and is privately maintained by the Beecham Cemetery Association through donations and volunteer efforts.  

Our Board of Directors includes:
President: Mike Moore
Vice President: Kimmy Moore
Treasurer: Vonda Rice
Secretary: Jane Moore

About the Cemetery:
The Beecham Cemetery was established in May of 1891 by Nathan and Almira Beecham when they buried their 3 year old child, Anita Pearl, on the SE corner of their farm.  Their youngest child, Guy William followed in death days later- both taken in the dreaded Diptheria epidemic.  More pioneer children in the area followed the Beecham children in the days after Anita and Guy.  In late 1891, Nathan Beecham designated this burial ground as a public cemetery, originally naming it Pleasant Home Cemetery after the temporary church and schoolhouse he had built nearby.  The children in the area perished in quick succession during the epidemic and are interred together in a grave on the one-acre site.  

The site was part of the 160-acre farmland that was granted to the 89er pioneer, Nathan Beecham.  He was a Union Veteran of the Civil War and as such was allowed to secure the homestead by "Soldiers Declaration" -another pioneer tried to claim the same farm.  Southern veterans were not allowed the same veterans' privilege in the 1889 Land Run as they had fought against the United States.  

The cemetery is located in Canadian County, Oklahoma between the cities of El Reno and Okarche.  Here we are on Google Maps: