Marion Co TOC

Before you begin to search the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery listings there are some things you need to know. Please take the time necessary to read ALL of the below information - you will save yourself a lot of time and make your search more productive.

(Letter from Max Parnell)

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 articles 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

       In the above letter Max has explained how this survey and the companion obituaries came into being. To get all of Max's information online I divided it into two parts. One part is the actual survey itself and the second part is the obituaries. Using one part without the other may well cause you to miss locating your ancestor.
       You should begin your search with the Cemetery Survey and read any notes (in red) found beside the name. If there is a note that says "No Obit" then you will know there is no obituary in the obituary file. If this note is NOT listed then an obituary is online and you can access the obituary by using the link below.
       The program I use to record obituaries requires a full date (mm/dd/yy) and not all tombstones have a full death date. When that is the case and there is NO death date in the obit I used the issue date of the newspaper where the obit was published. Most of the older obits say something like "passed away last Tuesday" with no date given. There are many programs on the web that will allow you to enter a date and look at a calendar for that time frame. Using one of these programs will help you to determine an actual date of death.
       You can also search for an obituary by name. However, many of the obituaries have names that do not match the tombstone. Use the information found in the survey to locate an obituary.
       Please do not write to Max and ask him for family history information if you find a family member listed here. He is not compiling genealogies on these people - he is only recording the information from the cemetery.
       Enjoy your stay and as you go thru this huge, huge list remember to thank Max for all of his hard work!