Scatterville Cemetery
The
Although a few people trickled into
According to Robert T. Webb in his 1933
History & Traditions of Clay County, the first
… one man put a store at the foot of
a hill, another put one at the peak, still another put one at the foot on the
other side. The few stores and cabins were scattered about over the hills in a
careless way.
The first families to locate in the
Scatterville community were the McNiels, Allens, Copelands, Mobleys, Snowdens,
Waddells, Nortens, Mitchells, Golbys, Whites, Bradshaws, Deans, Rayburns,
Whitakers and Simmons. They were mainly subsistence farmers; however, the
Allen, Knight, Simmon, Bradshaw, McNiel and Mobley families brought a few slaves
with them when they emigrated from
Scatterville also owns the distinction
as the scene of the first "battle" of the Civil War in
Apparently Scatterville was a meeting
place for many of these events, which were called pitched battles, and the
preparations emulated dueling formalities. The fight ended when one
admitted defeat or if the contest was too one-sided. The Holifield-Johnson
battle is said to have ended with both men exhausted and unable to raise an arm.
On a more serious note, actual Civil War skirmishes were fought in the
Scatterville vicinity on August 3, 1862 and March 28, 1863.
Although information on Scatterville
during and after the Civil War is scarce, it is known that the community
remained stable until the arrival of the
As there are no known structures that
are extant from that period in the Scatterville vicinity, the
Bibliography
James Glasgow submitted on 30 Sep 2007 his reminiscences of Scatterville Cemetery:
"I am James E Glasgow. I was born in 1929, just NE of Marys Chapel School at my daddy's place on the Old Military Trail. My information on Scatterville is anecdotal, as related to me by my father, Luther Columbus Glasgow, b. May 2, 1886, and the home of is father Marion Columbus Glasgow, on the "old Home Place, which was on the front hill of Crowley's Ridge, just South of the Old Military trail where it veered at Mary's Chapel, to the West, and up into the hills, and actually on to Scatterville.
My father, was born and died in Clay County. On a visit with him in circa Early 1960s, we drove up this old military trail. Daddy showed me visually the location of "the old home place" or Elijah Glasgow, father of Marion Columbus Glasgow; to wit just on the south side of this still existing road, and on the front hill of Eastward facing Crowley's Ridge.
We drove on to Scatterville Cemetery, which then was located in a pasture, with just a worn wagon type of trail to it from now Hwy 90. The cemetery was overgrown with brush; mostly (cedar?) shrubs and trees. Daddy told me that the custom at that time was to plant a cedar sapling at the head of a grave (they thrived of multiplied over the years), and also to place some kind of rock or stone at the head of the grave.
We located what he 'thought' hoped' was a round dinner plate flat rock that had been placed at the head of his grandmothers grave, as had been identified for him years ago by his father.
His grandmother was "Jane Jeans Glasgow". She died in 1954, after the Glasgow family arrived from Weakley County Tennessee in 1853. I had the impression that there were already earlier burials in this cemetery.. This all ante date the stated beginning of Scatterville Cemetery.
RE: NAME OF CLAY COUNTY. I saw this in some history many years ago; cannot authenticate. The gist was that Clay County was first named Clayton County, for the then GOP Governor of Arkansas. As soon as the damn Yankees left Arkansas, the name was changed to Clay, just to get rid of the Clayton. This saved money on stationery too etc. The Clay name could have also honored Henry Clay or somebody; though I an not sure in the 1870s that these people were ready to honor anybody other than Robert E. Lee.
Incidentally, my paternal grandfather, Marion Columbus Glasgow, (1843 - 1916) served in the Confederate Army twice. Wounded once.
Also incidentally, slavery was not encouraged in Clayton/Clay County. In my 1930s youth, on the streets of Rector, one Saturday night early, my brother and I met the only black then in Clay County. He stopped us and introduced himself; "I'se Nigger Mose". Mose was the most famous celebrity in Clay county them. Billy and I had both heard of him. He as a celebrity that outshone, Paris Hilton, or Bill Clinton then. Later on a visit to the Mobley family, of which my father was related by marriage, Mose (still 1930s) took Bill and me down to see his cabin home on the Mobley farm. The walls were covered with souvenirs and artifacts. My memory is vague one details."
Jimmy Glasgow