Shell Cemetery (Sage)

One of the most rewarding things about doing what we do is learning about
the pioneers who settled the Izard County area. It's especially exciting when it becomes personal as it did while researching the names of those resting near Sage in the Shell Cemetery.

The very first name from this cemetery I began researching online, William Mynatt, seemed to be a dead-end except for basic genealogical information. But as I began to read the descending lines from Calvin Mynatt of Tennessee, I discovered that William was my own Great-Great Uncle - brother to my Great Great Grandmother, Delitha (Mynatt) Kidwell. Small world, Izard!

Amidst the excitement is always a bit of disappointment, however. Take the grave of George w. King for instance - someone went to a lot of trouble and displayed much creativity in fashioning the stone that marks his place of rest. It's engraved with great care with the symbol of what must be an anchor as a center-piece as well as an unreadable inscription around its edge. But an online biography? No chance! Was he a mariner? If so, where? Did he serve in the navy of the confederacy? Did he just like boats? Finding a stone like this and not being able to put a story with it is indeed deflating. Perhaps someone out there in cyberville knows more of what can only be a very interesting story about an early Izard County pioneer.

Oh, and...nothing about Joseph King (1801-1859) either!

In fact, this particular cemetery has led me to spend hours searching for information online just to find out that there is a single biography available on James H. Roten in Karr Shannon's A History of Izard County (which, of course, I have a copy of but absolutely cannot remember where I stored it after using!) and that John Shell, the Tennessee Volunteer of the War of 1812, owned 3 slaves at one time (a good way down the page but the whole article is well worth the read).

If I had any hair, I'd be pulling it out!

Anyway, the Shell Cemetery is located at the end of a long lane and is quite remote. It lies among an ancient grove of magnificent cedars and is one of the most peaceful places of internment I have encountered in Izard County.

Enjoy the photos!

Flat Rock (Sharp County)

Near Sidney in Sharp County, just across the Izard County line, is Flat Rock. It is a rock shelf with a small stream running across it that falls over...and through! Jim and I had set-out to visit this site the previous weekend but took a wrong turn and found the Saint Paul Cemetery, instead. Rick and Jim returned this past weekend and got a few photos and three video clips which are strung together below for your enjoyment!



View the video in a larger player at our Hunkahillbilly YouTube Page!.

Saint Paul Cemetery (Sharp County)

The Saint Paul Cemetery is located between Sidney in Sharp County and Mount Pleasant in Izard. It stands on a hilltop along Saint Paul Road and is home to the final resting places of several Civil-War vets. Sadly, as in several other similar instances around Izard county, the Civil-War vets buried here have little information available online about them.
Strangely, there are two Civil-War markers honoring the service of Hiram Ruben Meeker crediting him with service in both the CSA and the USA. According to the markers, he served in Company C of the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry Regiment in both armies!
I confirmed his service with the Union Army by finding his company roster. I was unable to find the Arkansas 2nd Cav's roster.
Reverend Grove Meeker who was born in 1797 is also buried here.
Other vets include Daniel C. White who fought with the 9th Illinois Cavalry (Union); Lieutenant Robert Wiley of the 4th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment(Confederate); J.W. Jones (or is it really W.J. Jones) in Company F, 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment(Union); J.E. Hedges of the 12th Kentucky Cavalry (Union).

Video: Piney Fork Traverse!

Below is a video from a ride Rick and I took this past Sunday through the eastern part of the county.

Enjoy!



To watch more of our videos, visit our Hunkahillbilly YouTube Page!

UPDATE!

Reader Eddie Chet sent us photos of the Andrew Jackson McElmurry (1816-1853) Home which we believe to be the "Unknown Homeplace" visited on the video above. Following are photos of the home in use and after it had been boarded up.

Finley Creek Baptist Church & Cemetery

Finley Creek baptist Church stands just east of the Bonetown/Sage area along Finley Creek for which it is named. The creek itself is named after the Finley family which is well represented in the adjacent cemetery. The Finley Family was among the first to move to Izard County having arrived in 1814 according to Samuel Thomas Taylor, Isaac Finley's grandson.
James Finley, who is buried here, enlisted twice in the CSA during the War Between the States. Both terms of service were served with the 27th Regiment of the Arkansas Infantry, first in Company H, then Company G. He enlisted both times as a private and was eventually paroled at Shreveport Louisiana in June, 1865. Accounts of the struggles of making their way home after the Civil-War have been recorded by other Izard County veterans of that conflict and one can imagine James Finley's was likely similar.

Another Finley of a later generation, Aubrey Finley (photo from marker), died in Germany only a little over a month before the Victory in Europe. He served as a Private First Class in the 19th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 14th Armored Division which crossed the Rhine River on Easter Sunday of 1945 only two days before he died. The unit faced heavy to moderate resistance during its push into Germany.

For a photo of the old John Finley homeplace and genealogical information about the family, visit this helpful page.

Thong Tree Along Rose Trail

Amazingly, Jim and I noticed this Thong Tree only a few feet off of Rose Trail above East Rocky Bayou while out this past weekend. We must have driven by this relic at least three-dozen times over the past few years but only noticed it on this occasion.

I found a description of how these trees were fashioned by our Native-American forefathers:

"Every tribal nation had its own timber language which everyone in the tribe knew how to read. There was also a general timber language consisting of a few markings to help distant travelers find their way and survive on unfamiliar ground.

It was quite simple to shape a thong tree. A stone ax to cut the two thongs was the only tool needed. The thongs were sturdy forked green sticks in the shape of a Y, heavy enough to hold the weight of the sapling and thick enough not to rot out in the ground for the few years necessary to set the tree in its desired shape. The base of the fork would have been at least six inches in diameter if the sapling was the size of a thumb.

The sapling chosen was usually white oak because it was supple enough to bend easily and had less likelihood of splitting and causing the tree to die. If white oak was not available, any nearby hardwood was used--even sassafras.

To shape the sapling the Indians first drove the base of one forked stick into the ground near the foot of the sapling. They bent the trunk through the fork to form the first or hip bend. Then they placed the other forked stick upside down over the trunk some two or three feet toward the crown of the tree, driving the two prongs into the ground. Though the trunk was imprisoned in a sort of inverted J pattern, the top of the tree was left to either grow up toward the light or rot away, thus forming the second bend which became the nose. The further shape of the tree depended upon the location of small branches on the trunk of the sapling. Most of the side branches were trimmed off, but sometimes they would leave one on top causing the tree to grow in the shape of a 4 with the two branches growing upward. One occasionally finds a tree with three or more branches. " - Teresa Maddux from Bittersweet Volume VI Number 2

For more info on Thong Trees, view the Trail Tree Project page at Mountain
Stewards.org.

Wideman

Jim and I got out this weekend and explored around the Wideman area. We had already visited the Hammett House and the Wideman School but have never taken time to stop and get photos of the old Post-Office and feed-mill.
Wideman was once a thriving little town having at one time hosted a band concert featuring musicians from the Batesville Oddfellows' orphanage which drew attendants from all over the surrounding county.

Here is an excerpt from "Wideman Then and Now", an article featured in the October 1975 issue of the Izard County Historian (Volume 6 Number4).

Miss Frankie Thompson writes:

Wideman is a picturesque little village being situated amid beautiful wooded hills bounded on the north, west and south by free-flowing streams. These streams with their fertile valley afforded an ideal location for farming which years earlier was carried on quite extensively. Hence the need for blacksmith shops, cotton gins and grist mills.
Various gristmillers plied their trade there, the last of whom was Lewis McVey. Mr. McVey closed his doors in the mid or late 1940’s, thus ending that industry in Wideman.
There is now only one store in Wideman. It is owned and operated by the Hayden Kankeys. The Post Office is located in the store. Miss Mildred Kankey, sister of Hayden Kankey, is the Postmistress.

Note-The white post-office (Kankey Store) is no longer in use...a new modular building stands across the road. Al-Ozarka

Only a few decades ago there were three general stores in Wideman and a drug store owned and operated by Dr. Steve Jones, a well known practicing physician in the area for many years. Some of the operating merchants of the time can be remembered as: Bill Craig, Jim Shaver, Sam Harris, Bob Wood, Jim Dockins, Homer Jones, Dolph Wyatt, Jim Kankey, Ab Hammett, Jim Blankenship, Richard Reynolds, Joe Acklin, Joe Garner, Marvin Webb, and perhaps others.
About the year 1921 the Craig store, in which the Post Office was housed, Mr. Craig being Postmaster at the time, burned destroying all the postal books and records. The Postoffice was shortly rebuilt on the original site and continued in operation.
Some few years later a nearby store operated by Jim Shaver and Sam Harris burned to the ground. This, also, was a total loss and was never rebuilt.
At one time in its history Wideman had two blacksmith shops at the same time, each doing a thriving business. Among the operators were Lawson Stroud, Andrew Montgomery, Henry Gifford and Henry Martin.
On the opposite side of the creek from the business part of town, and some fifty yards above the confluence of Garner and Indian creeks, stood the old cotton gin which served the cotton farmers of the area long and well. The first gin was a treadmill affair powered by oxen and was owned and operated by Sanford Hames and son-in-law, Jim Kankey.
The old gin later evoluted to steam power and a number of gin masters exercised their skills there, among them was Ab Hammett and nephew, John Hammett, who will be remembered as former County Judge of Izard County, 1935-1939. John Hammett had earlier built and now lived in the big two-story house across the way from the cotton gin. An amusing story is told that one day during the busy ginning season, the Hammetts, John and Ab, rushed over to John’s house to eat dinner. John asked his wife, Allie, if dinner was ready. She, with her witty sarcasm, replied, “I don’t know. I put it on to cook, but you left no stovewood cut and I doubt if it is ready.” Mrs. Hammett was the former Allie Bray, a daughter of the George Bray of this story.

ICH&G Society's Fall Meeting (Featuring "Civil War in Izard County" by Roger Harvell)

Following is the video of Part 1 of Roger Harvell's presentation during the Izard County Historical & Genealogical Society's Fall meeting at Lunenburg's newly remodeled Community Center. The event occurred this past Sunday, October 8th, 2009.

Links to the rest of the presentation are located at bottom of post.

Enjoy!



View the rest!

Part2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7

Robert Tallbird at Knob Creek!

Following are photos and video from last night's appearance of Robert "Tallbird" Ryan at Knob Creek. Mr. Tallbird spoke at Knob Creek Church about Native-American history and the environment before taking questions at the Carl Cooper Cabin. At the cabin, Tallbird's art was on display and availabe for purchase.

Video Below!












See full YouTube version here!

Video: Magical History Tour - Parts 1,2,&3

Following are parts 1, 2, and 3 of the video covering our recent "Magical History Tour"!

View YouTube versions of all three by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Part 2 Below...Link to Part 3 at Bottom!






Click here for YouTube version!




Click here for Part 3!

Webshots Album Slideshow: "The "Magical History Tour"!

Following is the Webshots Album we put together from photos by various participants in the "Magical History Tour" Road Trip!
If you'd prefer to see it in a larger version, click here.

Enjoy!

Note-If you have photos you'd like to include, attach them to an e-mail and we will add them.



The "Magical History Tour" Road Trip

Video Coming Soon!

The "Magical History Tour" Road-Trip

Following are just a few shots taken by the "Magical History Tour" staff during Saturday's road-trip. Though we didn't get an absolute head-count, there were between 50 and 60 people who attended the event and 24 vehicles snaked through the backroads of old Mount Olive! We had a good crowd out early for the short walking tour back to the double-chimney which once stood in the town's hotel and to another foundation we think might have been one of the schools or academies. The tour began with Terry Smith, new owner of the old Mount Olive Schoolhouse, who informed everyone of the excellent plans he has for the historic building before participants departed for the rest of the road-trip. Mrs. Carol (Jeffery) Cooper thrilled us all with a history of her family and a tour of the Augustus Curren Jeffery home before the tour continued to the Old Jeffery Cemetery and the Jehoiada Jeffey homeplace. From there, everyone returned to the Schoolhouse for excellent musical entertainment from Bo & Mary of the duo, Jubal, while eating desserts bought during the pie-auction.
Because of your generous participation, Exploring Izard County will be presenting a check to the Melbourne Museum in the amount of $500!
Thank you all so very much!

NOTE - We will be working on our Webshots Album as well as a video over the next few days and will post them both to the site when they are completed. You'll not want to miss them as we will be including many photos from participants and quite a lot of video!

A Little More Lunenburg!

This past weekend, we got out again around Lunenburg and managed to get some great shots! We stopped by the Lunenburg Community Center/Schoolhouse to see how the remodel was coming along and found it to have a beautiful new hardwood floor, bathrooms, and fresh paint! It really looks wonderful and the Lunenburg Community Center Association should be proud of what they have accomplished! The building will be hosting events and remain standing for another generation or two to enjoy!
While there, we just had to investigate an old building we've always noticed in a field next to the School-building. It appeared to be an old shed with a collapsed roof...until we took a closer look! It is a square-log building we believe to either be the old Post-Office or the old store-building...or at least PART of one of those two.

Early Autumn, Tanner Hollow - Plus: "Visit to Gid Waterfall" Video

This past Sunday afternoon, the EIC Crew got together to discuss our upcoming "Magical History Tour" event and decided to make a short visit to the Gid Waterfall. The day before, Jim and I had driven up through Tanner Hollow and got some wonderful photos.

Video Below!