Black Oak Cemetery Reclaimed

February 15, 2011...

After, April 16, 2011...

March 12, 2011 John V. Leathers stone.  You can barely see the white stone in the brush beside to the left of  the down tree.

John V. Leathers stone April 16, 2011.  Jacob Shank stone in background.

Jacob Shank stone March 12, 2011.

Jacob's stone April 8, 2011, before George Aday and his tractor got a hold of it.

April 16, 2911, Jacob Shank's stone reset and cleaned.  The inscription along the bottom says, 'A loving husband, a father dear, a faithful friend lies buried here.

Stacked stones and McNiel graves March 12, 2011.

Stacked stones, McNiel family graves, April 16, 2011.

Minnie Cox stone, March 12, 2011.  Jacob Shank stone to the left.

Minnie Cox stone, April 16, 2011.

William F. Cox stone April 16, 2011.  There is not before of this stone because it was broken, laying down flat and buried about 6 inches under the ground next to Minnie's stone.  George was trying to fill in the hole where the Shank stone had sunk into the ground and uncovered William's stone and foot stone.  Inscription says 'A light from our household is gone, A voice in our midst is stilled, 

     A place is vacant in our hearts That never can be filled.'

April 16, 2011, Minnie, William F. and John A. Cox, three siblings revealed again.

Southwest corner March 12, 2011...

Same corner, April 16, 2011,  with my homemade gate.  George took a gate down but it was too short for the opening.  I used a metal post and the wire that was there for a makeshift gate.  I went down by myself today.  George will be able to improve on the gate when he gets back down there.  Cemetery Man is tired of the cemetery, but he has done a great job.  No way could I have done anything like this without him, his chain saw and his mighty tractor...

April 16, 2011...

Taken from brother's yard, April 16, 2011 about 4:30 pm.  If you click to enlarge, you can now see Jacob's stone from here.

New and Old

I bought a new printer today.  Just a little cheap HP inkjet all in one pretty much like I had.  The old one was over 4 years old, but the reason I bought a new one is that a set of new ink cartridges for my printer costs $57 at   Wally World.  The new printer cost $59.

Yesterday, George got Jacob's stone pulled up and reset.  I will go take photos tomorrow.  Too rainy today and I forgot the camera yesterday.  It looks great.  I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who would work so hard at something that is mostly my thing, not his and turned out to be a LOT of work for him.

Winnie asked about Grandma's family in the Civil War.  I have not found any Civil War service for our Maples family in Carroll County.  Russell Reno, Bee Maples brother, was supposed to have served in the Confederacy, but I do not have any details.  Benjamin Coxsey, Grandma's Grandfather, served in the Confederacy in Tennessee.  The service was not fairly uneventful.  Details of his service are in my notes here.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fletaaday&id=I2671

Now, Grandpa's family has a host of Civil War actors with interesting stories.  Eli Cooper served in the Union  Army.  Records are here
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fletaaday&id=I771
A photo of his Civil War grave marker is  here
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~powell/cooper/cooperew.html

Our Powell family served in the Confederate Army. They were not casual soldiers.  Even though they lived in extreme Norther Missouri almost to the Iowa line, they were died in the wool Confederates.  Their story is here
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fletaaday&id=I1734
and here
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~powell/docts1.htm#doc9

Henry and John Powell fought with the Confederate Army at the Battle of Prairie Grove.  Eli Cooper fought in the Union Army at the same battle.

For Betty

Footnote.com is granting free access to their Civil War files through April 14.  Click on the image to load a much larger version that you can read.  Patsy, you would probably like this also.  Helen can pass.

If you want to try a search go here

http://www.footnote.com/category_19/

you can search for free.  If you want to look at an image, you have to register, but it is still free until Friday.  It works a little differently than most sites I have tired, but it was fun trying it out.

Leathers family

John Vinson Leathers that is buried in our little cemetery was born in 1827 in Rutherford Co., Tennessee.  He married Emily Catherine Lipps in Tennessee before coming to Arkansas.  His brother Raleigh H. M. Leathers married Margaret Rachel Lipps and his sister Elizabeth Ann leathers married first Thomas Callen and second James Harrison Lipps. There was also a brother Alfred that married a Callen.  This Alfred, uncle to Watson Leathers, was also a teacher and he and his wife are buried in the cemetery over by the old Stone place.  All these individuals migrated to Arkansas.  Raleigh lived near Capps / Batavia in Boone Co.  Elizabeth Ann Callen Lipps lived somewhere close to her brother John. Alfred and John both owned land right here.

John Leathers had four children:  Scotia Leathers married Thomas Capps.  She has a child buried in this cemetery.  The Capps left the area for New Mexico sometime around 1910-20.  James McClure Leather married and moved to Oklahoma. Turvilla Estella Leathers married John I Worthington.  Alfred Eugene Leathers married Elizabeth Kirkham.  Alfred, the school teacher and state Representative from Carroll Co., was the  father of Homer, Hosea, Watson, Ruth and Rena Leathers.  Ruth married Arlis McNemar and Rena married Herbert Charles Hedrick.  Homer, born 1894, was a dentist that lived in Fayetteville. He married an Eldridge.

Alfred and Elizabeth (Betty), Watson and Ruby, Hosea and his wife are all buried in Glenwood Cemetery.

I found it interesting, from the CCHS book I  have, that Blackburn Henderson Berry, the founder of Berryville, purchased a portion of the Leathers estate in Tennessee in 1854.  Blackburn Henderson Berry is on our abstract as a homestead claim from an Indian.  The CCHS article does not explain any connection between the Leathers and Berry.

Cemetery Man almost out of a job

Today, he took the tractor inside.

He cut the end of the big tree up into firewood and I stacked it.

He cut the remainder of the tree into 4 pieces and took them out 1 at a time.

He did not break any stones and got the entire tree out.  Then he even cut the stump down.

This is the John V. Leathers stone.  Somewhere around here is a flat stone marking graves for two of his grandchildren, but I still can not find it.  It is a flat stone that was put in by a descendant sometime in the last 20 years or so.  I am still looking.

Next, on to Jacob's stone.

A walk at sunrise

Last Sunday I walked up on top of the rock quary.  This morning, I walked down to the cemetery.  I started out just before 7 am.

When I got back at 9, Papa and the red headed boy were watching Ice Road Truckers.  

The boy had cereal and banana for breakfast.  He had eight slices of banana because he counted them himself.  I was slicing them and he just started counting.  Some things are beyond words.

Red headed girl in one of her Easter dresses.  Memaw bought her 3 dresses and a shorts outfit.  She loves clothes. Her hair is growing back really thick.  It looks like a really bad haircut.  Reminds me of the hair cuts Mama used to give us.

It is going to be another beautiful day.  Maybe I can get the cemetery man back to work today. He took yesterday off.