Mount Vernon Cemetery Special New June 2018
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Page 1 of 313 ` This sign is at the entrance. To reach the cemetery, from Forrest City, go north on Arkansas Highway 1 to Arkansas Highway 284 and turn east, go to the top of the ridge where you will find a historical marker shown above on left side of road. Published June 2018 by Paul V. Isbell from records shown in Sources and relatives who have contacted me over the last ten years. My purpose here is only to show records as of a certain time, not complete by any means. Some of the tombstones are not easy to read due to age as you will see from the photos of the gravestones. Foreword: This is one of the three oldest cemeteries, along with Loughridge and Hughes, in St. Francis County, Arkansas, that are still allowing people to be buried in their cemeteries.. It is physically located on the western side of the Crowley Ridge formation which was located near the town of Mt. Vernon which has now disappeared, overlooking the north end of Forrest City where the high school is located, and the old Laughinghouse family land, which was renamed the Beech Grove Addition, at the time it was built at the end of World War II. The Mallory and Laughinghouse familes were prominent in the maintenance of the cemetery, some of the older Mallory and Laughinghouse family stones are overgrown in the back part of the right side of the cemetery. There are 633 records of death as of June 2018 mentioned in this record of the burials. The oldest burial by date is for Nicholas Hoffman Izard, father of Mark Whitaker Izard, who died in 1836. Deaths during the 1800’s shown are 53, during the 1900’s are 467, during the 2000’s are 104, others unknown. Thanks to Sandy Curry for many of the tombstones pictures taken after my 2006 visit. There are 240 with Obituaries, 38 with Biographies, and 93 were Veterans, including 11 graves of Confederate soldiers. Page 2 of 313 ` The obituaries were mostly taken from the Forrest City Times from 1897 to 1914, afterwards from the Forrest City Times Herald from 1915 to 2018 that were gleaned from the pdf files available on CD, from the Forrest City Times-Herald Corporation for a nominal fee, and from newspaper on the web, records are through the current date and are also available at the Forrest City Library on Highway 1 in Forrest City. For the newspaper, their website: http://thnews.com/ From book “The Izards” by Mrs. Juliet (Julia) Saint Francis Izard Hemenway published 1935. (GEN 929.2 H488 IZARD FAM) Born Dec. 28, 1858 and died April 3, 1945, Grand Daughter of Mark Whitaker Izard: Origin of Town of Mt. Vernon: Mark Whitaker Izard and wife came to Arkansas in 1825 with their infant son, Flavius Josephus Izard, father of Juliet, and daughter Martha, by the first wife. Martha was about three years old. They settled four miles north of the present site of Forrest City, on a place that has been known for several years as the Will Barrow place, which at the time of their coming was in Philips County and was a few miles southwest of the small Indian village known as Cherokee Village, two miles from the St. Francis River near the U.S. Military Road from Memphis to Little Rock. The country at that time was principally settled by Indians. The older members of our family frequently stated that Grandfather had a road Commision when he came to Arkansas and assisted in laying out and building the old military road from the St. Francis River to Clarendon. In 1827, by an act of the legislature, St. Francis County was formed from the northern portion of Philips County and by that act they were in St. Francis County. The same legislature changed the name of Cherokee Village to Franklin and made it the County site of the newly formed St. Francis County. Grandfather was a Baptist preacher. The first Baptist association in that section was organized at Franklin in January, 1831 by Mark W. Izard, Philander Littell, O. B. Caldwell and others, and Mark W. Izard who also elected as moderator. This association is still extant and is known as the Missionary Baptist Association. There appeared in the Arkansas Gazette July 25th, 1832 a reproduction under News of Other Days, stating that a Bible society was organized at Franklin under superintendence of the Rev. Benjamin Chase of Louisiana, July 8th, 1832, Agent for the American Bible Society. Mark W. Izard was chosen President, William Strong Vice president, Austin Kendrick, treasurer, Philander Littell., secretary; Nicholas B. Clopten, C.H. Alexander and Mathew Smith, committee. Later the citizens advertised a "Respectable Bible Society" and a "Respectable Jockey Club" as an inducement to purchasers. Later the county site was moved to Madison on the St. Francis River. Grandfather decided to change location and bought land in the southern portion of the present site of Forrest City. Many years later the First Baptist Church was built on the site of this home as an honor to Governor Mark Izard. His little daughter, Rebecca, who Page 3 of 313 ` was burned to death by her clothes catching fire from a blaze around a wash-pot, seems to have had her accident here at this place, as she was buried in 1839 on the opposite hill (present site of the Forrest City Cemetery) and possibly was the first to have been buried there. In the late 1830s Grandfather bought 320 acres of land, extending from the place he was living but two miles north and a village by name of Mt. Vernon was built on the northern section of his land on a hill. This place being more centrally located, the county site was moved from Madison to Mt. Vernon. He chose an ideal location for his home about one-fourth mile south of Mt. Vernon in a valley on a lovely creek branch fed by cool springs above (I believe this is known as Stuart Springs now). He built a large double log house, two stories, with a long front porch and some small rooms back and a large log kitchen in the rear,(the custom in those days was to have the kitchen separate from the house) with an immense fireplace in which they could burn huge logs to make coals for cooking food. They had large iron hooks above the fireplace on which to swing pots and ovens for baking, putting coals' under the oven and on top of the cover. There was a log Court House and log jail at Mt. Vernon, two or three stores that seemed to have done a flourishing business, and a blacksmith shop. My father and his brother James had a two-story building. Their store was on the lower floor and a Masonic lodge on the upper floor. (Grandfather and his sons, Mark W., James, and Van Buren, were Masons). I have seen old deeds and papers that were signed at Mt. Vernon by John M. Parrott, who was the clerk. Nicholas H. Izard and wife, Rebecca Whitaker, parents of Grandfather, with their family, came to Arkansas in early 1830s from North Mississippi and bought land a little south and west of Mt. Vernon. The land they bought has been known (For years as the "Dawson Eldridge" and "Laughinghouse" places. Before leaving for Nebraska, Mark Whitaker Izard bought a nice home on a hill near the home where they all had lived. They had a large orchard and many beautiful flowers. My father kept the home on the creek branch and later built a modern two story frame house on that site that for years was rated as one of the most hospitable homes in that section. We all lived there until we married and had homes of our own. Our parents both died at the "old home place". About the time that Grandfather come home, the Court House was burned at Mt. Vernon, Arkansas and the county site was returned to Madison and all business at Mt. Vernon abandoned. Grandfather's oldest daughter, Elizabeth, had married Frank M. Prewett. They first lived just a little west of Mt. Vernon, later bought land in the southern portion of Forrest City where they built a large log house and they farmed in that section for some years. The only famous burial is for Mark Whitaker Izard, who was the first territorial governor for Nebraska . Tombstones are shown after name as td. In the index, total 549. As with all living history records, this is to the best of the author’s knowledge from my residence from 1947 to 1958 in Forrest City. Representing the prominent families present Page 4 of 313 ` in the cemetery, these are the most found, Mallory 43, Laughinghouse 20, Lanier 21, Eldridge 15, Oliver 11, Dawson 10, Smith 11, Gorman 10, Prewtt/Prewitt 8. To see a listing on the web, try Find A Grave site which has pictures and other data not shown here due to size of file, this is the address: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/55236/mount-vernon-cemetery To contact the person in charge of the cemetery records in 2018: Mail to Mrs. Susan Berry-3910 Highway 284-Forrest City, Ark. 72335 Index: Aldridge, Lucinda Woodward, Mrs. Barber, Ben Fulton td.1991 Obit Korea td.1906 Obit, 13 Vet, 23 Aldridge, Nancy Catherine Hester, Mrs. Barber, Gladys Hughes, Mrs. td.1981, 24 td.1948, 14 Barrow, Thomas W. d.1907 Obit/1905 Bio, Aldridge, Ruth Infant td.1896 Obit, 14 24 Aldridge, William Henderson td.1942, 14 Barrow, William H.