Arkansas Ties

On the lawn of the Lafayette County Court House in Lewisville, there is  a small Civil War Memorial with several graves beneath it.  Some soldiers, some civilians.

• Lafayette Civil War Memorial

Added the Lafayette Court House located in Lewisville, Arkansas.

• Lewisville Court House
• Lafayette Veterans Memorial

The Mount Holly Cemetery Association, Parkview Arts-Science Magnet High School and First Presbyterian Church are pleased to announce the SIXTEENTH ANNUAL “TALES OF THE CRYPT” performance atMount Holly Cemetery, 1200 Broadway, on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 from 5:30 until 8:30 pm. Admission is free to the public, however donations to Mount Holly Cemetery are appreciated and aid in the maintenance of the cemetery.

This year’s presentation will feature fourteen grave sites with twenty student actors recreating the lives of Arkansans who have helped shape Little Rock’s history.  The students have researched each character and prepared original scripts for the performance under the direction of  Fred Boosey, Tamara Zinck.  Award-winning local costumer Debi Manire will once again provide the wonderful historical characters’ costumes.

An added feature this year will be the Jazz Ensemble from Parkview Arts-Science Magnet High School.  The students will perform for guests prior to the first tour.  Featuring a selection of New Orleans styled funeral music the Jazz Ensemble will set the tone for Tales of the Crypt.

Historical Marker Dedication, October 24, 2010
CONTACT:
White County Historical Society
1215 Whitney Lane
Kensett, AR 72082
http://www.argenweb.net/white/
ctr12098@centurytel.net

The White County Historical Society will host a dedication ceremony for an Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Historical Marker commemorating the 1862 action at Whitney’s Lane. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 24, at the Whitney Lane Family Worship Center at 1215 Whitney Lane in Kensett. The public is invited and welcome to attend.

Lewisville is one of those tiny little towns that is prime for renovation. There is “nothing” for 25 miles and then you come up on Lewisville. Trouble is, no one is pumping money into it. The town is a traditional small town strip with small buildings on each side of the road and closed down.

• Lewisville – Unknown Buildings
• King – Whatley Building
• First Baptist Church
• Peoples Bank and Loan

Basbanes to present Heiskell Distinguished Lecture

Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) will host Nick Basbanes, “King of the Bibliophiles” when he presents “Among the Gently Mad”, the J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture, on Thursday, Oct. 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Library’s Darragh Center.
“I am a writer who is obsessed with books in every imaginable sense and nuance of the word. I am fascinated by their history and composition, by the many shapes and forms they have assumed over time,” Basbanes writes in his 2003 book, A Splendor of Letters. “I want to know everything I can about the people who write them, make them, preserve them, sell them, covet them, collect them, fear them, ban them, destroy them, and, most of all, about those who are moved, entertained, instructed, awed, and inspired by them.” Basbanes’ lecture will include some of his professional adventures from the past 30 years, highlights from his eight books, and his unique perspective on books and book people as a former journalist, book review editor, and lover of books.
The Heiskell Distinguished Lecture is named for J.N. Heiskell, the longest-serving member of the Library’s Board of Trustees and editor of the Arkansas Gazette for more than seventy years. Speakers and programs honor Mr. Heiskell’s commitment to excellence in journalism, as well as his support of the library. This year, CALS is celebrating 100 Years of Service to our Community. Little Rock’s first library was built with a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, and Mr. Heiskell was a key part of the process of securing that grant.
The program is free and open to the public. A book signing and reception will follow the lecture. For reservations or more information, call 918-3029 or email lblackwell@cals.org.
For more information, contact Susan Hill Gelé at 918-3086.

Nicholas A.  Basbanes website: http://www.nicholasbasbanes.com/

So the review today is for Arkansas County and Clarissa Loyd is the webmaster for this website. Please note that many of the ARGenweb webmasters are not in Arkansas and do not have access to records and do the best they can with the limitation of distance.

The graphics for this webpage appear to pre-2005 (I really want to say 2000 but we will go with 2005) and includes an outline of the county (which may be the reason it has never been changed.)

There is a short history of Arkansas county with some original settlers listed.  One cemetery, Coose – Menard Cemetery, with about 35 listings.

Kelli Barton supplied a transcription for the 1900 census – Chester Township, which was a lot of work.  Very nice.

Mark Miller provide a transcription of the muster roll for Company I of the 26th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, which mustered in 1862, and which he is looking for more information on.

Don Essex provided an index for the Essex funeral home records with estimated death time periods.

There was a photograph page with photographs for the following surnames:  Ramsey, Stillwell, Vaughn, Davis, Watkins, Wallace, Simpson, Turner, Bigham Carter, Berhost, Overstreet, Hayes….Tichnor Post Office, William School – about 20 photographs.

A partial transcription (about 60) listing of marriages for Arkansas.

Outside Links that work:

• 1860 Large Slave Holder census
• Dewitt Era – Enterprise Newspaper
• Stuttgart Daily Leader Newspaper

Links that DO NOT work:

• Index to Arkansas State Federal Land Records
• ArGenweb Archives

Link suggestions for Arkansas County:

• Arkansas Archives – Provides a listing of Scull Cemetery, Van Camp Cemetery, County Officials, Federal Land  Records, World War II soldiers
• Arkansas Historic Preservation – Detailed list of Historic properties in Arkansas County, Historical marker database.
• Arkansas Encyclopedia
• Arkansas County Sheriff’s Office – Old Photographs
• Genealogy Trails

A “What’s New” list or last update notice would be nice.  So in conclusion, this website could use some work.  I suspect no one has done anything with it in the past two years.

Annual Angels on the Bluff Tour – Natchez, Mississippi

Come to Natchez for an evening of history and excitement with a tour of the Natchez City Cemetery the first weekend of November (usually…check with the Natchez Visitor Reception Center for exact dates because they do, on occasion change.) The elaborate presentation at the Cemetery features selected gravesites with actors portraying those buried there and the life they led during their time on earth.  The actors are local with some of them being descendants of the individuals they are portraying.

The tour consists of guides taking groups of about 40 people at a time from grave to grave where the actors, who are dressed in period costumes) tell the stories about the lives & or deaths of the people buried in the grave.  At some of the sites there is music accompanying the presentation.

A groups begin the tour every 10 minutes, consisting of about 40 people allowing everyone to get the full impact of the presentations and the stories.

Since parking is limited at the cemetery for the tour but there is a free shuttle from the Natchez Visitor Center to the cemetery.  They request you be on board 30 minutes prior to the tour.  You MUST go to the Visitors Center and get on the buses provided to come to the cemetery for the tour.

For those who may be organizing a bus tour to attend Angels on the Bluff, group bus parking is available in the cemetery area if you will contact the cemetery director in advance at 601-445-5051 or email for arrangements.

Tickets go on sale for Angels on the Bluff in August and cost $15.00 per person. Tickets for children between the ages of 12 and 6 are $7.50 and no charge for children younger than 6.

No refunds.
No rain dates, but in the event of rain the tour may be re-scheduled.

Angels on the Bluff tickets and information available at the:
Natchez Visitor Reception Center
640 Canal Street, Natchez, MS 39120

Tel. 601-446-6345 or 1-800-647-6724

A few of those in the cemetery are:

Capt. Thomas P. Leathers (1816-1896) who was the colorful and dynamic captain of many of the steamboats named Natchez.  He captained the Natchez that participated in the race with the Robert E. Lee on the Mighty Mississippi River in 1870.  Although he lost the race to Cannon by a little over 6 hours it still made history and is remembered even today.

Ruphus E. Case and his rocking chair.  Mr. Case wanted to be buried in his rocking chair facing his home state of Louisiana so when he died he was placed in his rocking chair, next to his grandchild’s grave, above ground and then a brick structure was built around him and the child’s grave.

Young Florence Irene Ford was just 10 years old when she died of yellow fever in 1871.  While living she had been terrified of storms and would rush to her mother whenever there was a storm to obtain comfort.  Following her death her mother had Florence’s casket constructed with a glass window at the child’s head. The grave was dug to provide an area, the same depth of the coffin, at the child’s head, but this area had steps that would allow the mother to descend to her daughter’s level so she could comfort Florence during storms. To shelter the mother during storms, hinged metal trap doors were installed over the area the mother would occupy while at her child’s grave. You can still see the trap doors behind the tombstone and they still open although in the mid 1950s a concrete wall was erected at the bottom of the stairway covering the glass window to keep Florence’s coffin away from vandals.

There are great stories to be told about those buried in the Natchez City cemetery so if you are in the area in November, be sure to take the tour.

Normally I try to find the best in everything but the town of Bradley made it very hard.  There is not much going on in Bradley but they did have a little park that could have been a wonderful source of community pride.  Sadly it was over grown, trashed and not taken care of at all.   Bradley, how do you expect your children to carry the torch if you don’t carry it yourself?

• Bradley War Memorial

Oakland-Fraternal Cemetery Carriage Tour & Fundraiser

Sunday October 10, 2009

Tour Times 1:00pm, 1:45pm, 2:30pm, 3:15pm

$20 admission per person for a 30 minute horse and carriage ride.

Proceeds will help restore Oakland-Fraternal.

Oakland-Fraternal Cemetery is located 2101 Barber Avenue , next to the National Cemetery and Booker Arts Magnet School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

To purchase tickets please contact Lakresha Diaz: lxdiaz@ualr.edu or 255-0839.

All tickets will be sold in advance.