In Search for Old Five Mile
Who am I, what am I, and what is my purpose? These three questions have fueled my journey towards a greater knowledge of self and personal family history. Like the author Alex Haley, I have wanted to know and understand everything that shaped and influenced me through inheritance or environmental factors. So, who am I.? I want to learn and share knowledge of the family. Where did my ancestors come from, and how did they live and die? The Idea that many of my ancestors were bought, sold, bred, tortured, and enslaved for over three hundred years is haunting.
Part of my ancestral discovery has led me back home to the state of Oklahoma. Memorial Day Weekend of 2021, my cousin Dr. Angela James, her Son Zeke, and I searched Old Five Mile Cemetery. In my lifetime, although we are aware through our queries and research, we had never physically visited Old Five Mile Cemetery. According to Dennis Muncrief, Old five Mile Cemetery in south-central Oklahoma is one of the oldest cemeteries in Murray County. The burial site is in the Arbuckle Mountains, on private property, near Mountain Lake. The Murray County cemetery is located on a ranchers’ property. The view as you enter the cemetery presents a majestic and picturesque view of the Arbuckle Mountains. From the moment you step onto the property, there is an eye-level view of windmills stretching from east to west. It looks like a scene right from a Gus Vanzant movie.
The burial site is in a highly forested area that includes broken headstones and entombs bodies of formerly enslaved Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen and their descendants. My enslaved descendants came into Indian Territory with the Creek, Chickasaw, and Choctaw people when the U.S. Government removed them from Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The cemetery has five graves that are the typical stone monolith Chickasaw burials. The oldest grave belongs to Leah James. Leah, my 3rd Great Aunt, died in 1877. My Great Grandfather, Alexander Franklin’s (1906) body, is located in Old Five Mile Cemetery. The high ground and freshwater creek suggest this was not only a gravesite but a former space of a Chickasaw Freedmen Community.
I had to engage my cousin, who owns the adjacent property, to get on the land. We were lucky to be driving a truck and SUV. The grass was more than knee-high. The cemetery is about a quarter of a mile walk through a local rancher’s property. The trek led us to a desecrated gravesite. The gravesite is overrun by trees, a creek, and freely grazing cattle. The property owners’ cows have used the gravesite as a grazing area. As excited as my cousin (Dr. Angela James and Her Son Zeke) were as we approached the graves, a sense of calm came over us as we approached the first headstones. As trained social scientists, Angela and I understand the importance of notes and documentation. We began to photograph, take videos, and talk to our ancestors. We walked and spoke to our ancestors. We rejoiced in being in their presence. As we walked, we could see the devasting impact of the nearby creek. The creek has overflown, and the rushing waters have flooded the scared area. The Ole Five Mile cemetery headstones were dislodged, and many had floated into or near the river.
No gravesite should have to suffer this type of desecration. What does this say about us as a community? Where are our citizens of consciousness? Can the State of Oklahoma, Universities, and local municipalities help restore this sacred land? Does the current property owner have any responsibility in preserving this land? What obligation does the Chickasaw Nation have in helping to restore the graves of its former enslaved children and citizens? I hope someone reading this has a heart and compassion. These souls buried on the hill, near the creek, with the majestic view of our God, need our help.
“The wind came back with triple fury and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” Zora Neal Hurston
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Dr. Franklin is a native of Pauls Valley and Ardmore, Oklahoma. He is a professor of Public Policy and Public Administration. Dr. Franklin loves to write about his family and growing up in Oklahoma. He attributes his activism and social justice commitment to the influences of James Baldwin, Marcus Garvey, Buck Colbert Franklin, Bartlett Franklin, and his cousin Dr. John Hope Franklin,
