Darla Engelbrecht said she used to work downtown and often walked by the alley on the west side of North Third Street between Court and Broadway streets.

She never suspected all the history that was associated with that humble place.

Over the weekend, Engelbrecht was one of nearly two dozen descendants of Muskogee Police Officer Lewis F. Harvey who learned of their connection to Harvey and Muskogee history.

Monday, she and other descendants, along with police, fire and others honored Harvey, who was shot twice and killed in that alley on March 10, 1908.

He was the first Muskogee police officer killed in the line of duty after statehood.

The ceremony was at Greenhill Cemetery, where police and fire officials unveiled a new headstone on Harvey’s formerly unmarked grave. The Muskogee Fraternal Order of Police purchased a memorial marker for the grave.

Jenny Speer, there with her daughter Jasmine, 8, said she had a mixture of feelings about the elaborate ceremony with 21-gun salute and Scottish bagpipes.

“For me this is more historical,” she said. “But it’s kind of sad to know he left a wife and three kids.”

Researcher Doug Hendricks put together the details of Harvey’s family with help from staff at the Muskogee Public Library.

Harvey left a widow Mary Truby and three small stepchildren: Charles, Edward and Lillie. A genealogy search through newspapers and old census records revealed the movement of the three children and their families since that time.

“None of the great-great grandchildren knew of their ties to Mr. Harvey,” Hendricks wrote in an e-mail. “Mr. Harvey and their great-great grandmother were only married for three years. She remarried after his death, and that was the great-great grandfather they were tied to.”

A former steamfitter, Harvey moved to Muskogee around 1905. He was a Muskogee firefighter for two years before being hired by the police department.

Harvey, 45, was last seen walking down north Third Street with a man named Jessie Cox. At about 10:30 p.m., he was shot twice and died at the scene.

Historians have speculated that Harvey had become aware of criminal activity in town, and Cox was hired to silence him.

Cox, 34, confessed and said he killed Harvey in self defense.

At the ceremony, Keelie Engelbrecht, 11, estimated that she is Harvey’s great-great-great-granddaughter

“I felt honored that he died in the line of duty,” she said. “I think that it was pretty cool ceremony they did for him.”

Kelcie Engelbrecht, 19, said she was surprised by the discovery and impressed by the ceremony that included a wreath laying by Muskogee Police Chief Rex Eskridge and Muskogee Fire Chief Derek Tatum.

“It’s nice to find out that someone has great meaning not just to their family but to the city and state,” she said. “I like that they had the same ceremony as they would for a firefighter or police officer that they would have had today.”

Shirley Roth, 72, said her late husband enjoyed genealogy and would have been excited at this discovery. She was very impressed with the grave marker dedication.

“This is far beyond what we had expected,” she said. “All the grandchildren were excited. I will include this information in our family history.”

Reach Keith Purtell at 918-684-2925 or Click Here to Send Email