Missing Person: Elijah Gersham Cravens (NamUs #MP9137)

Missing Person: Elijah Gersham Cravens (NamUs #MP9137)
Full Name	Elijah Gersham Cravens Nickname: "Lige" is used a lot on Ancestry, which is an abbreviation of Elijah.
Date of Last Contact	1900 or 1902
Missing From	Okmulgee, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma
Missing Age	30 - 40 Years as per NamUs, but Ancestry captioned photos say his birthday was October 20th, 1867
Current Age	Not possibly alive
Biological Sex	Male
Race / Ethnicity	White / Caucasian
Height	5'0" - 6'0" (60 - 72 Inches)
Weight	100 - 300 lbs as per NamUs, but he does not look 300 pounds in his photos; he looks like an everyday man in the 140 to 180 range.
Hair Color	Unknown
Eye Color	Unknown
Circumstances of Disappearance	Farmer who lived outside Okmulgee, OK. Left on horseback to attend a Woodmen of the World meeting and was never seen again.
Transportation	On horseback
Clothing and Accessories	No information entered
Distinctive Physical Features	No known information
NamUs Case Created	January 5, 2011

Elijah Gersham Cravens - Based on His Profile at Ancestry

The following is by no means 100% factual. It is information from the missing person's Ancestry profile. It will reflect the opinions, biases, or research of the people who maintain his family tree.

Elijah Gershom “Lige” Cravens, born October 20, 1867, in Honey Grove, Texas, to Gersham Cravens and Zerelda Darnell. Per the Ancestry profile, he married Mary Ella Ramsey in 1889, fathering Walter and Edith. After Mary’s death, he wed Nannie Dorcus Cole in 1894, having two more children, including Jeannetta. By 1900, he lived in Creek Nation, Indian Territory.

The profile claims he died that year in Payne County, Oklahoma, at age 33 and was buried in Stanton, Texas. This conflicts with NamUs (MP#9137), which lists him missing from Okmulgee, Oklahoma, in 1902 after leaving on horseback for a Woodmen of the World meeting.

The Ancestry profile’s burial detail in Stanton, 400 miles away, is puzzling with no supporting evidence. A family legend notes he borrowed $500—worth about $19,284 in 2025 dollars, per the U.S. Consumer Price Index, enough for a small farm or several months’ wages—then vanished.

What was The Woodmen of the World?

The Woodmen of the World, founded in 1890 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Joseph Cullen Root, was a fraternal benefit society offering life insurance and social gatherings for members. In 1902, it operated local chapters called "camps" across the U.S., including in Indian Territory, where Elijah lived. These camps held regular meetings for community events, rituals, and mutual aid discussions, often in shared spaces like town halls or churches. Members, typically working-class men like farmers, joined for financial security and camaraderie, with the organization known for providing distinctive tree-stump tombstones until around 1920.

August 30th, 1891. St. Louis Globe-Democrat.