The Forgotten Cemetery at Hurley

I guess it’s not completely forgotten or there would have been no one to tell me about it. With the help of Doyle Shirey, Pat Criswell and the nice and efficient lady at the Hurley City Hall and others, as is in all of my columns, people are my best resource. There are two cemeteries in Hurley, NM, one which is called the first cemetery or sometimes the old cemetery. The other is the newer cemetery, although not that new, but the one currently used and is in a lovely location overlooking a broad and expansive prairie. But then, over the years there have been others. That is, each time the mine’s open pit expanded cemeteries were in jeopardy. We will begin our discussion with the older one, of course. It has not been all that easy getting information to share with my readers. I guess that’s because people that would have known the facts figure it is no longer of interest. But, of course, the opposite is the truth. It is interesting to step into number one, because there is just enough left to know that it is a cemetery, or was, but not enough to imagine its once bright and reverent character. I find that this cemetery was first used in 1910, however, according to the records I have found, the earliest recorded burial was on April 10, 1913. That doesn’t mean that there were not previous burials, maybe just not recorded. And, I believe from observation that there are plenty of burials that were never recorded. This is a great topic for conjecture Observe the chiseled cross in the stone. I would point to the many stones I find in nearly all of the older cemeteries with no inscription but a cross. Notice the photo of inset stone. But how to date the cemetery, these unidentified stones surely have their on story and may even indicate a date to someone, but not me. I’ll just go with 1910. Pat Criswell (L) with Doyle Shirey, at Margaret Criswell’s Monument. A human interest story is always interesting in a column. We found the monument of Great Grandmother Margaret Rhilie Criswell but her husband was not there also. I’ll tell you later. And here is how it goes from newest to oldest; Alexis Shirey Andrew Swaggerty Lana Criswell Shirey and Husband Doyle Shirey Patrick Henry Criswell William Henry Criswell Margaret Rhilie Crissell John Fines Criswell. Curious things happen when you mess with cemeteries. Margaret Criswell died first and was buried in Old Hurley, while John Criswell died later after Old Hurley was closed and was buried at Memory Lane. There are other monuments left behind in the cemetery, a few very ornate, as I will show you. John Criswell, buried at Memory Lane. It is fair for you to wonder why a cemetery would be abandoned and most of the occupants moved to other cemeteries. I would wonder, too. However, there is an explanation that might make you wonder even more. The only explanation I’ve heard is that the drainage across the cemetery was bad and it could not be maintained. Oh well, it is said that 897 graves were in this cemetery so I suppose it was about full anyway.

Let’s move on to the new cemetery.

New Hurley was established in 1918 as I find. And I have said, it is lovely and in a grand location for the view across the prairie. Otherwise, I didn’t find much history about it, other than it has some very nice monuments and I will show you some photos.

Some say that the unmarked sites could well be the result of epidemics that took place during its early years.

There many more cemeteries in our area that I could not get to, as in almost all communities. I expect to bump into you out and about discovering the many that I haven’t covered in the Cemetery Series.

People seem to love cemeteries. And I appreciate all of the organizations and communities that spend so much and work so hard to keep our cemeteries clean and beautiful. and I find them to be an excellent place to enjoy the quiet while reading a good book.

“And That’s My Opinion”