Poor House Cemetery

Submitted by Cheryl Paul who writes:

"The poor home was located outside Piggott.  At the time its address was route #3, P.O. Box 15.  Now it is called City Park (though the entrance to the park reads Heritage Park).  I was told where the poor home was is now where the lake is up on the hill is where the cemetery is.

Thanks to Shannon Williams who worked to have the cemetery made a historical land mark and had the bench and stone put in.  Una Pollard has found one book from the poor home and has made a copy and given it to the Piggott Library genealogy section."

The County Home Cemetery is being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion A for its association with the Clay County Home and Clay County ’s efforts to provide aid to the poor and destitute.  The last Civil War veteran from Clay County lived and died at the home.  It is also being nominated under Criteria Consideration D:  cemeteries.

Located on a hill inside a beautiful 40-acre public park that is maintained by the City of Piggott Parks and Recreation Department, this historical site is marked by a small stone marker, honoring those buried at the site.  The monument was placed at the site in 1995 by the local genealogy society.

Approximately ten years ago, the City of Piggott Parks and Recreation Department took over the maintenance and development of the park.  At that time, the cemetery was cleared of debris, and the area was manicured.  Since then, a family memorial bench has been placed near the cemetery.  There are only indentions in the earth marking the gravesites;  the original, small wood markers have since deteriorated or have been moved.

In 1911 bids were taken on plans for the construction of a brick two-story county home with a basement, to be located on a 40 acre tract of land that was, at the time, two miles west of Piggott.  Joe H. Morgan, Anderson & Company received the bid, and the architect was E. E. Porterfield.  When construction of the Home was completed, it boasted of indoor plumbing, which was rare in Arkansas in 1912.  According to newspaper articles, the caretaker and family lived on the main floor, while the male inmates lived in the basement.  The female inmates resided on the top floor.  The building was occupied sometime in early 1912 with Arthur Daniel as the first caretaker, as he and his wife were the caretakers of the previous County Home that was located about five miles north of Piggott.  Over the Home’s 42 years of operation, from 1912 to 1954, 16 different caretakers managed the Home.  In many instances the caretakers were married couples who would live at the home, along with their children and other family members.  They were paid anywhere from $40.00 per month to $75.00 per month to manage the home, farm, and cemetery.

The site was known as the County Home, or as some called it the “Poor House”.  The purpose of the farm was to provide a home for destitute widows with young children, orphans, mentally and/or physically handicapped people who could not care for themselves, and elderly people with no family to care for them.  The tenants, or “inmates” as they were called, who were able-bodied assisted with farming the land, canning foods, and other tasks related to the upkeep of the home.  The farm produced most of the food needed for the residents of the home.  Some of the food produced was bartered for other items that were needed.

A stigma surrounded the home and its tenants.  Many times, the people that were left there were forgotten.  Children who were residents of the home were available for adoption, and were inmates until adopted out, or, if adoption seemed to not be an option, the children were relocated to a children’s home.  In the back of the only remaining document associated with the Home—a ledger, there are numerous notations containing the names of potential parents, along with a description, the age, and the gender of the child wanted.

A Chaplain would visit the home and conduct church services.  When a resident passed away, the caretaker would prepare the grave.  Other people would help make the casket from pine boards; the interior was padded with cotton, and the box was covered, inside and out, with a material that was suitable for the age of the deceased.  The last Civil War veteran of Clay County died at the home.  His last name was Craddock; although his first name is unknown.

After 1951, when Arkansas established a managed health care system to handle people in need, such as the County Home inmates, the need for the Home no longer existed.  The Clay County Home closed its doors in 1954, and was demolished shortly thereafter.

An unknown author once wrote of the Clay County Home:
I have sheltered the homeless, the ages and the sick.  The helpless have been tended and the hungry fed beneath my roof.  Within my walls have been joy and laughter, and also heartache and tears.  Many who were unable to fend for themselves found security in my heart—this Home.”

The County Home Cemetery is the only extant site remaining that is associated with the history of the Home itself.  Unsubstantiated records indicate there are approximately 60 burial sites.  Unfortunately, when the home was demolished in 1955, the records of the home and its tenants were also destroyed.  There is only one intact ledger book remaining from the home.

In 1995, the local genealogy society attempted to trace death records and contact past residents’ family members in an effort to gain more accurate information and a more accurate count of the burial sites.  The society honored those buried in the cemetery with a simple marker placed at the foot of a 100-year-old tree.  The marker reads:  County Home Cemetery, Clay Co Arkansas , 1912-1954.

The County Home Cemetery is being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion A for its association with the Clay County Home and Clay County ’s efforts to provide aid to the poor and destitute.  The last Civil War veteran from Clay County lived and died at the home.  It is also being nominated under Criteria Consideration D:  cemeteries.

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