TULSA, Okla. — The City of Tulsa announced on July 12 that it has officially identified the first victim from the Tulsa Race Massacre graves investigation.
After serving in World War 1, C.L. Daniel of Newnan, Georgia, was in Tulsa, where he died from a gunshot wound in 1921.
"Family did not know where he had been buried for the last 103 years until this week," said Mayor GT Bynum.
Researchers linked his remains to a 1936 letter written by an attorney for his client, Amanda W. Daniel, who was C.L. Daniel's mother.
She had no discharge and had difficulty establishing his death.
"That long line of testing and refining evidence led researchers to this letter, written in 1936 by an attorney on behalf of his client who was seeking veterans benefits," said Bynum. "As a parent, I can’t help but think about his mom, Ms. Daniel, who knew her brave son had been killed but never knew what came of his remains.”
Records from the National Archives show C.L. Daniel, was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1918 and was discharged in December of 1919.
In February of 1921, he was in Utah, working to find a job and a way back home to his mother in Georgia.
While it's unclear why Daniel was in Tulsa, notes from his mother's attorney and another from a U.S. Congressman from Georgia corroborate that C.L. was killed in Oklahoma.
Dr. Phoebe Stubblefield is the lead forensic anthropologist on the grave search. Finding Daniel, she said, will surely provide a clearer path forward for the others who have yet to be found.
"Knowing now what it looks like, what a level of preservation looks like for that time period, 1921, yes, it does help," said Stubblefield. "And I have no doubt that we’ll find more of them.”
The City of Tulsa and Intermountain Forensics are working with the family to arrange a proper burial.
“This is one family who gets to give a member of their family that they lost a proper burial after not knowing where they were for over a century," said Bynum. "We know we have at least 17 more people to find."
The city said there is documented evidence of 17 other victims in Oak Lawn Cemetery.
Mayor G.T. Bynum said he hopes this generation of Tulsans can appreciate they helped his family.
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