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Investigation of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre grave continues and makes significant progress | News

TULSA, Oklahoma – The city of Tulsa’s search for victims and relatives of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre continues as the 103rd anniversary of the massacre approaches.

The Intermountain Forensics laboratory is assisting the city of Tulsa with the investigation using DNA analysis and is making significant progress, the city said.

The city of Tulsa said Intermountain Forensics, with help from the public, updated the surnames in the genealogy profiles of several graves.

“Through family histories and DNA comparisons, and thanks to the assistance of the public – both from people who submitted information online and from interested families who answered emails and calls from the genealogy team – Intermountain Forensics was able to refine and match the surnames of interest for many of the burials,” the announcement said.

The city said it is working with Intermountain Forensics to keep the public updated on these findings to help make progress in identification.

Intermountain Forensics has also identified two additional genealogy profiles from previously exhumed graves.

According to the city’s statement, one of these profiles has interesting surnames and places linked to it, and the other profile has the corresponding surnames and places just before it.

The following information was provided in the announcement regarding the two additional genealogy profiles:

Funeral 45 – Second excavation

  • Surnames/Places of interest:
    • Last name Suggs from Edgecombe County, North Carolina
    • Last name Hamilton, Brooks and Thomas from Eufaula (Barbour County), Alabama
  • For the funeral: Adult male buried in a simple wooden coffin. He was exhumed in 2022 and his DNA was collected. Forensic analysis found no signs of trauma.

Funeral 119 – Third excavation

  • Surnames/Places of interest:
    • TBD – Genealogists are working to gather more information from potential DNA relatives before they can release surnames and places of interest for this burial.
  • For the funeral: Adult female buried in a simple wooden coffin, exhumed in 2023. Forensic analysis revealed no signs of trauma.

The announcement included the following information about the updated genealogy profiles of previously identified graves:

Funeral 1

  • New surnames/interesting places:

    • Surnames Hightower, Mason, Brittman, and Marshall from Shelby County, Tennessee, Grenada County, Mississippi, and Marshall County, Mississippi, 1880–1920.

    • Last name Mathews from Tennessee, 1880–1920.

  • Existing surnames/places of interest:

  • For the funeral: A female exhumed in 2021, with additional DNA collected during an exhumation in 2022. The burial was found in a coffin matching burial 13 and bearing a plaque that read “At Rest.” There were no obvious gunshot wounds or trauma.

Funeral 3

  • New surnames/interesting places: N/A

  • Existing surnames/places of interest:

    • Surnames Daniel, Meriwether, Scott, Sims and Bohanon from Coweta County, Georgia.

  • Distant surnames/places of interest: None.

  • For the funeral: One man was exhumed in 2021 and additional DNA was collected during an exhumation in 2022. The burial was found in a simple wooden coffin. There were no obvious gunshot wounds or trauma.

Funeral 13

  • Updated surnames/places of interest:

    • Surnamed Thompson from Sealy, Texas, and Austin County, Texas, as well as nearby Colorado County, Texas.

    • Surnames Meadors (variant of Meadows), Johnson, Ballard, Core, Wright and Buchanan from Tallapoosa, Lee, Macon, Elmore and Coosa counties in Alabama.

    • Surnames Lovejoy, Birmingham and Zeigler from Elmore and Jefferson counties in Alabama and from Oklahoma during the period of Indian Territory, particularly Chickasaw until 1900 and Blaine County, Oklahoma until 1911.

    • Surnames Carter and Strong (related to the Lovejoy family) from Oklahoma during the designation as Indian Territory, especially Chickasaw until 1900.

    • Bremby surnames (also spelled Bembry, Brembry, Brimbry, etc.) from Sealy County and Austin County, Texas, as well as nearby Colorado County, Texas.

    • Some members of the Bremby family from Texas visited Tulsa briefly, so the genealogy team is trying to contact Oklahomans who may have variations of this surname.

  • Distant surnames/places of interest:

    • Last name Maggett from Mississippi.

    • Surnames Strong and McGee from Union Parish, Louisiana and Texas.

    • This was also the surname of Oklahoma when it was known as Indian Territory.

  • For the funeral: One female was exhumed in 2021 and additional DNA was collected during an exhumation in 2022. The burial was found in a coffin matching Burial 1 and contained a plaque that read “At Rest.” There were no obvious gunshot wounds or trauma.

Funeral 15

  • New surnames/interesting places:

    • Genealogists have added interesting places to the surname Holden, namely Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana from 1870 to 1920 and Sabine Parish, Louisiana until 1910.

    • Additionally, the surname Luckett occurs in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, St. Charles County, Missouri, and Loudoun County, Virginia.

  • Existing surnames/places of interest:

    • Last name Holden from Sabine Parish, Louisiana, and last name Luckett from Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

  • Distant surnames/places of interest:

    • Last name Larrimore from Sabine Parish, Louisiana.

    • Last name Mayre from Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

  • For the funeral: One man was exhumed in 2021 and additional DNA was collected during an exhumation in 2022. Burial was in a simple wooden coffin and there were no obvious gunshot wounds or trauma.

Funeral 17

  • New surnames/interesting places:

    • Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, was added as a potential place of interest for the surnames Traylor and Taylor.

    • Brown and Mack in Georgia and Louisiana, late 19th century to present

  • Existing surnames/places of interest:

  • Distant surnames/places of interest:

    • The Rentie, Kernal, Grayson, Island and Smith families, who were freed Muscogee (Creek) people in the 19th century.

    • The Davis family of Kaufman, Texas, and Okmulgee, Oklahoma, in the early 1900s.

    • The Genealogy Team would like to thank the community for the reference testers who enabled them to remove the previous surnames.

  • For the funeral: A man from the 2021 exhumation. The burial took place in a simple wooden coffin. No gunshot wounds or trauma were visible.

Funeral 41

  • New surnames/interesting places:

    • Surnames Black, Thompson, Parks, Kerns, Fletcher, Hinson, and Dixon from Cabarrus County, North Carolina, particularly near the communities of Huntersville, Long Creek, and Deweese, North Carolina, from 1870–1920.

    • Surnames Crawford and Watt(s) from Taylorsville, North Carolina, and Alexander County, North Carolina, in the 1870s.

  • Existing surnames/places of interest:

  • Distant surnames/places of interest: None

  • For the funeral: A man from the 2022 exhumation. Burial was in a simple wooden coffin and there were no obvious gunshot wounds or trauma.

Individuals whose family tree includes any of these surnames or places of interest are asked to visit the website linked HERE and click the “Provide Information” button.

“I am so grateful to our experts who have spent the last year looking at the samples and data to move this investigation forward,” said Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum. “Six years ago, we wanted descendants and the community to have more answers, and today we are one step closer to identification. I feel a great responsibility to do what we promised, and I look forward to the process moving forward.”

“All of us at Intermountain Forensics are proud and humbled to be able to contribute to such an important initiative that also serves as a model for addressing similar historical injustices nationwide,” said Danny Hellwig, Director of Laboratory Development at Intermountain Forensics. “The public’s support has been invaluable, and continued support of family histories and DNA comparisons will be critical as we move forward with this historic work. We are pleased to report significant progress in our work on the 1921 Tulsa Graves Project, as we have now successfully generated eight actionable forensic genetic genealogy profiles from the Oaklawn Cemetery excavations. Our team, along with our dedicated partners, is hard at work researching DNA relatives to identify individuals lost to loved ones for over 100 years.”

The City of Tulsa continues to work with DNA samples from previously exhumed graves and will keep the public updated on progress made.

Click here to view burial and surname information, as well as a current exhumation map.