Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Introduction

Memphis, TN 38128-5914

December 2, 1999

To Whom It May Concern:

An explanation is in order to explain this cemetery survey, and the reason behind it. Several years ago, I was doing genealogical research on several families with Marion County, Arkansas ties. It seemed inevitably I would get to a certain point and then it would become necessary to go to the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery to check on dates. After several trips, I decided it would be worth my while to just make a complete survey of the cemetery.

I completed my first survey on December 7, 1993, but I kept detecting errors in my work. As a result, I made a second survey and finished that one on September 4, 1995. I again made a recheck on April 25, 1997, and a fourth time on October 2, 1999. The survey continues to be updated with current burials from information carried in obituaries printed in various area newspapers.

Somewhere along the line, I realized that I had a large number of death notices and obituaries pertaining to Pleasant Ridge burials in my files, so I made copies of them and added them to the back of the survey. Then I decided I wanted more obituaries, so I made a concerted effort to read old microfilm files of The Mountain Echo, The Baxter Bulletin, The Cotter Courier, and The Cotter Record. Various people contributed obituaries from their collections, and I eventually expanded my microfilm search into Harrison and Little Rock newspapers. By December 2, 1999, the obituary and death notice collection had grown to 617 article that corresponded to Pleasant Ridge burials plus three that may refer to a person buried at Pleasant Ridge and one for which the burial site is not stated, but other members of that family were buried at Pleasant Ridge.

Like many of my efforts, I realized that I had not followed through as I should after I had numerous pages of obituaries that I had not indexed to the survey listings. As a first step to rectify that mistake, I had to number the obituary pages. Most of the pages did not have room for a number. As a result, I resorted to placing the numbers in the extreme upper left corner of the page. That is a poor place for the page number, but at the point when I began numbering, it was about the only option I had. Then I went back and printed a line under every entry that had an accompanying obituary showing where that obituary could be found. In later years, I started putting the page number in the upper right corner where it is easier to locate.

Unfortunately, I am sure that I still have numerous mistakes in this survey. I can assure you that it is almost impossible to copy as many entries as there are in the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery without error and without making typographical errors when reentering the data. Be assured that none of the errors was intentional, and I would welcome anyone pointing out any errors that they detect because I continually update my master copy. I would also appreciate copies of any additional obituaries that anyone could furnish.

I have given one copy of this survey to the Marion County Library; one to the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Association; and one to the Arkansas History Commission, Little Rock. I have also furnished the files of the survey to Linda Haas Davenport for inclusion on the Marion County Genealogy Page on the Internet.

Sincerely,

Max Parnell