Our Library Resources
Funeral Home Books and Obituary Collections
Funeral Homes
Chaney Funeral Records January 3, 1905 – July 30, 1996
Granger September 1, 1940 – February 13, 1978
Humphreys (Humphrey- Mills) August 16, 1918 – 1990
Evans (Evans – Mills) October 1927 – 1970
Obituaries (clippings from the McAlester News-Capital)
Intermittent prior to 1990
Continuous since 1995
Cemetery Records
Pittsburg County has approximately 150 cemeteries with over 50,000 known burials.
Several teams of dedicated volunteers canvassed every cemetery in Pittsburg County and a few in adjoining counties. The county was divided into quadrants with U.S. 270 being the north-south dividing line and U.S. 69 being the east-west dividing line. Eight books were produced, one for each quadrant plus one for the Hartshorne cemeteries and three for the McAlester cemeteries. This was a six-year project.
Many thanks for the teams who found and canvassed the cemeteries.
Naturalization Records
All of the naturalization records are indexed. The pre-statehood naturalization records are on microfilm. The 1907 through the mid-1950s records are copies of the originals.
Declaration of Intent: Six books spanning January 1908 through June 1954
Petitions for Naturalization: Eight Books spanning June 1908 through May 1955
Scrapbooks Collection
We extend our thanks to those who created these scrapbooks and to those who donated the scrapbooks.
“Countians at War” (A set of five scrapbooks containing World War II clippings donated by Hiram Impson, publisher, McAlester Democrat)
Pittsburg County Retired Teachers Association
Ohoyohoma Club
Baird Martin Historical Articles
Bicentennial Church Histories – Kilihoto Chapter – DAR
Hospitals and Medical Doctors two spiral bound books and four scrapbooks donated by Boyd Collard
Choate Prairie Baptist Church
Register – All Saints Parish
First Baptist Church, McAlester
Methodist Membership Rolls
Gowen Baptist Church
Hartshorne Presbyterian Church Directory
Microfilms
Over a third of the microfilm collection is census records that are readily available online. The items listed below highlight some of the non-census microfilms in the collection.
Choctaw-Chickasaw Citizenship Court
Case Files, South McAlester (14 rolls)
United States Court Records
Div. South McAlester, I.T.
Marriages
September 1893 – November 15, 1907
United States Court Records
U.S. District Court Records
Central (2nd) District
South McAlester (18 rolls)
Jones Academy
List of employees and some students.
7RA194, roll 1.
Choctaw Nation Court Records
Various Records (45 rolls)
Applicants & Dockets of the Choctaw Chickasaw Citizenship Court. 7RA27, rolls 1 2
The first microfilms purchased by the Society were the 1910 U.S. Census.
Marriage Records
The pre-statehood through 1951 marriage records are available on microfilm. The 1907 through 1996 marriage records are available on compact discs (Courtesy of Pittsburg County Court Clerk Office).
McAlester City Directories
These are more than a telephone book as they show the name, spouse, residence, phone number, and place of employment. The collection contains forty-five volumes spanning 1904 to 1999.
Books
The library was started by a donation of books from Mrs. Evelyn Durant. This was followed by donations from Carl Albert and Wanda Bass. Along the way the donations have been supplemented by purchases. The Book Collection includes over 3,000 publications including many significant genealogical books.