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J.F. Whiteside
Died October 22, 1859
Aged 2 Years 8 Months
Greenwood, Sebastian County, Arkansas
Photographed by Mark Dodson, October 2009.
.JPG)
The Whiteside Tombstone
This old stone came from an old burying ground just
east of Greenwood. It was located near the east end
of Bell Road, where the street turns north toward
the City cemetery and Belle Addition.
This cemetery was perhaps the oldest burying ground
in this vicinity. It had a stone date 1835. That, we
feel sure, was the oldest known record of the white
man in the Greenwood area. The Courier de Bois, the
French woods travelers who were the first to
completely explore the Trans-Mississippi region were
here before this date. They left their names upon
the land, among them, Vache Grasse (Fat Cow Creek),
Pointe de sucre (Sugarloaf), Petit Jean (Little
John), and Fourche le Fave (The South Fork). But
they left no permanent villages here, having lived
and died among the Indians.
Some background events which eventually led to the
old stone being moved to the museum may be of
interest. Some years ago, eight or ten, this writer
decided to visit the old cemetery. Not a single
stone could be found, standing or otherwise. They
must have been thrown aside, or piled up somewhere
out of the way so the field could be farmed, I
thought. I found under the old elm a number of
scattered stones which I felt sure came from the old
cemetery but none with a mark upon them. Then I
decided to proceed to the nearest house to see if
the occupants there could inform me as to what had
happened. I had no idea who lived there but it
proved to be Mr. and Mrs. Yost. I had never met
them. After introducing myself, I said something to
the affect that there was once an old cemetery in
the field.
"Yes, I know," Mr. Yost returned and then he told me
the story of finding the old stone. "About two to
three feet of topsoil was removed from that field
for a fill somewhere," he continued. "It happened
about the time I moved here." That explained the end
of the old cemetery.
Mr. Yost moved to his present home in the 1930's.
Shortly thereafter he found the old stone under an
elm tree which still stands in the field. Although a
newcomer to Greenwood, he knew the stone was
historically important so he carried it to his home.
Later, he placed it in a retaining wall in front of
his home for safe-keeping.
Mr. Yost recalled recently that he talked at the
time to a number of people about the old stone.
Several said that they knew that there was an old
grave yard in the field; some recalled that road
graders had turned up human bones while working on
the old road to Belle Addition. "I had a feeling,"
Mr. Yost continued, "that the old stone would
someday be of interest. Since it was similar to the
flat stones I was using in my retaining wall, I
decided that was the best place to keep it."
In the meantime, the Old Jail Museum came into
existence. Many times I thought: "That old Whiteside
stone ought to be ing the museum. It is the oldest
dated stone of the Greenwood area."
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