In 1910, a baby boy was born to W.R. and Mable Helt.

Given the name Virgil Lawrence Helt, he only lived for four hours and was buried at Grimes Cemetery, east of Kingfisher.

It was a piece of history unknown to Evelyn Helt-George, his niece, until approximately 30 years ago.

She, along with two cousins, learned about the infant from their aunts, who has rested in an unmarked grave for decades.

Over time, knowledge of the exact location of his burial plot was lost to family members.

With a desire to honor their mother (Virgil’s sister), George’s cousins agreed to purchase a monument if the location of the grave could be located.

So began George’s journey to track down baby Virgil’s unmarked grave within the country cemetery and erect a monument.

“This is a journey I’ve been on for 30-plus years since I first learned that our family had an infant buried in an unmarked grave out there and I was determined to see this through to completion,” George said.

With no records or legal papers about the infant and only an oral recollection of his birth and death, George, who is a resident of Gainesville, Texas, made various phone calls through the years seeking more information.

Having lost track of the cemetery’s caretaker, George recently made contact with Lucinda Grimes, the current caretaker who has taken on that role for the past several years.

With Grimes’ help and the other information George had collected through the years, everything began to fall in place.

In March, while visiting Kingfisher in an attempt to gather information about her parents who had lived in Kingfisher, George also spent more time researching the location of the infant’s unmarked grave.

With the information she had compiled from phone conversations with individuals at city hall, the county courthouse and a cemetery plat she acquired, George and another cousin, Brenda Williams, spent over three hours with librarian Joann Turner and her father gleaning even more information and history.

“We walked the cemetery back and forth counting rows, graves, reading headstones and matching the burial site to the cemetery plat until we were sure of the exact location for the stone,” George said.

A headstone was then ordered and a time determined to hold a ceremony and set the monument at the infant’s grave.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, George and numerous other family members gathered to set the headstone and memorialize Virgil’s short life.

Those attending the ceremony were: Evelyn Helt-George, Gainesville, Texas; Brenda Williams, Tuttle; Lucinda Grimes-Moore, Oklahoma City; James Helt, Broken Arrow; Ed Smith, Camargo; Wilma Duffy, Yukon; Douglas George, Pauls Valley; Marty Williams, Tuttle; Sue Smith, Camargo; Erin Kochenower, Kingput fisher; Marcie Patterson, Oklahoma City; Donna Martin, Broken Arrow and Kevin Patterson, Kinta.

“I was determined to see this through to completion,” George said.

“Today, my journey is complete and I have enjoyed every day of it. I have met the most helpful and kindest people in Kingfi sher of my entire life and am very grateful for their help.”

A history of Grimes Cemetery was written by Wilbur Grimes (Lucinda Grimes-Moore’s father) in 1994 and following is a portion of that history: Memorial Day 1994 will be the 104th “Decoration Day” observed at the Grimes Cemetery since the first burial there on April 22, 1890.

Mary Alice Slagle Pippin, her husband, Joseph, and three children had made the (land) run just a year before with the Grimes family group.

According to family papers, “She took suddenly ill, died and was buried on the northeast corner of the Marion and Lucinda Grimes homestead.”

Joseph Pippin was the brother of Lucinda and shortly after his wife’s death, he and the three children returned to Tennessee.

On July 19, 1891, the Grimes’ son, John W., died “of the fever” and was buried just to the north of Mrs. Pippin. A baby boy, George W. Altizer, had been buried there on Nov. 24, 1890.

The need to establish a cemetery there was rapidly becoming a reality, and after several more burials there by families in the community, Marion and Lucinda Grimes planned to dedicate two acres to the neighborhood for cemetery and church purposes.

The indenture conveying the gift, free and clear, to the Grant Township community forever was dated and signed on May 5, 1899.

The cemetery is located five miles east, two miles south (on Silo Road) and one-half mile east of Kingfi sher and is a beautiful and restful place to visit. Many Kingfisher families are represented there.

( Ed. note: For more information about Grimes Cemetery, contact caretaker Lucinda Grimes-Moore at 405-200-6019.)