Boggs Family Cemetery

Clay, Arkansas

List updated October 26, 2021
Legal description: SE, SW, SE, Sect. 29, T9N, R7W
GPS Location: 611593 - 3914937
Arkansas Archeological Survey site #: 3WH0731

This cemetery was originally listed by Cloie and Leister Presley of the White County Historical Society February 17, 1962. When it was visited by another Historical Society member, Leroy Blair of Clay, August 25, 2000, it was badly overgrown and no longer in use.

Following is the Presley report:

"This cemetery … is about one-quarter mile west of the southeast corner of the Section and about 200 yards north of the south line of the Section. There are signs of an old house … built by Robert Israel Boggs soon after he married Jennie Whisnant, November 12, 1867, in White County, Ark. About 300 yards north across a meadow and at the edge of the woods is a rock pen about 30 by 40 feet and about 3 1/2 feet high. Inside the fence are 11 graves. Mrs. Annie Henderson of Pangburn, who is a daughter of Robert I. and Jennie Boggs, said she had two brothers and a sister who died in childhood. Mary Ida Boggs was the first one, born in 1870, and she died in infancy. When she died the creek was in flood and Howell Cemetery was so wet, she was buried here and the cemetery was started."

Boggs, Charles Edward (unmarked) - born 1876 - died Dec. 1884.

Second child of Robert Isreal Boggs and Jennie Whisnant Boggs. When he died the creeks were in flood and it would have been very difficult to reach Mt. Pisgah where the Boggs family were buried, so this place was chosen and a family cemetery was started.

Boggs, John Wesley (unmarked) - born July 7, 1888 - died 1894 - sixth child of Robert Isreal Boggs and Jennie Whisnant Boggs.

Other children of Robert Isreal Boggs & Jennie Whisnant Boggs:
Mary Ida Boggs - born 1870 & died in infancy - buried Mt. Pisgah Cemetery.
James M. Boggs - born Mar. 29, 1872 - living in 1962
Robert Cuba Boggs - born June 22, 1882 - living in 1962
Annie J. Boggs Henderson - born Sept. 22, 1884 - living in 1962

Boggs, Jennie - wife of R. I. Boggs - Nov. 26, 1849 - July 6, 1914 - tombstone.

She used the name Martha J. when she married but her daughter says her name was Eliza Jane but all names definitely refer to the same person. She was born near Oxford , Miss. and was the daughter of Nicholas Whisnant and Nancy Smith Whisnant, both natives of South Carolina. Other children of Nicholas and Nancy Whisnant were: Sallie Whisnant Stahle; John Whisnant; George Frank Whisnant; Robert Henderson Whisnant - Nov. 19, 1839-May 24, 1916; Jim D. Whisnant; Will Whisnant; Hughie M. Whisnant - Sept. 13, 1846-Nov. 26, 1897; Margaret Catherine Whisnant Stahle; Nancy Whisnant Short - Jan. 24, 1852-1910.

Boggs, Robert Israel - Pvt. McGee's Ark. Cav. CSA. - died July 14, 1925 - tombstone.

He was born June 1843 in Miss. and was the son of John W. Boggs of South Carolina and Catherine J. Smith Boggs of Miss. John W. Boggs was born in 1815 and attended school in Yorktown, S. C. He went to Miss. in 1840 and married Catherine J. Smith, daughter of John & Martha Smith, in 1841. In 1853 they moved from near Oxford, Miss., to White Co., Ark., because of the land available here and he was opposed to slavery and especially the increase of mulattos on his neighbors’ plantation. He was not a minister but was a very religious man and helped organize churches in his community and neighboring communities in White Co. After the death of his wife, he went to Texas with some of the children. They lived near Cleburne, Texas. Two rooms of the old Boggs log home are still standing about 3/4ths mi. from Hwy. 16 on the Clay Road. Other children of John W. Boggs were: Mandy Boggs; Joseph W. Boggs; James P. Boggs - Nov. 10, 1844-Jan. 21, 1919 - Rosebud family; Newton J. Boggs; John Boggs; Mary Frances Boggs; Charley W. Boggs; Martha M. Boggs; Addie E. Boggs; Harrison B. Boggs.

Boggs, infant - (unmarked) son of James M. Boggs and Bertie Ervin Boggs - born and died July 20, 1913.

This is a grandson of #3 & #4 above.

Lytal, Earl - (unmarked) son of W. Hodge Lytal and Jo Emma Boggs Lytal.

Lytal, W. Hodge - (unmarked) husband of Jo Emma Boggs Lytal.

They were married Nov. 11, 1887 in White Co., Ark. Other children were O. Gibbon Lytal and Gertrude Lytal. Jo Emma Boggs was the only child of Joseph W. Boggs and Martha J. Majors Boggs, who were married Feb. 15, 1866. She was the niece of #4 above.

Lytal, Lois Valera - Feb. 6, 1911 - Sept. 8, 1911 - daughter of O.G. Lytal and Eva L. Hall Lytal - tombstone

Hall, Eva Lida - wife of O. G. Lytal - Mar. 20, 1892 - Aug. 23, 1915

Mother of #9 above. Tombstone [shown above].

Hall, Mrs. Ervin - mother of #10 above - (unmarked) - she was the last person buried here
Pelton, infant - (unmarked) son of W. H. Pelton and Oceola Short Pelton - born and died Dec. 1909

Oceola Short Pelton is the daughter of William T. Short and Nancy Whisnant Short. She is a niece of # 3 above.

There are two children buried about 20 feet north of the fence. It is said that their family did not help to build the fence and it was not extended to include these graves. All persons buried in the enclosure are related in some way but no relationship has been found for these two children of Sam and Grace Baker. Mr. Ewin Davis is the present owner of this property [in 1962].

REFERENCES:
Biographical & Historical Memoirs of Eastern Ark., Goodspeed
County Records; White Co., Ark.
Cemetery Records
Mrs. Annie Boggs Henderson, Pangburn, Ark.
Mr. O. G. Lytal, Searcy, Ark.

Following his visit in 2000, Leroy Blair reported, "The cemetery is overgrown with trees and briers. The rock fence has started falling down. I found these graves that were marked – Jennie Boggs, Robert Israel Boggs, Eva Lida Hall and Lois Valera Lytal. There appear to be about seven unmarked graves." Blair returned for a second visit on January 10, 2005. By this time he was chairman of the Historical Society’s Cemetery Committee and a member of the board. He reported this time that the land is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Bell of Albion and "still in very bad need of cleaning." The best way to reach the cemetery, he stated, "is to take Clay Road east from Clay to just before you reach Pratt Road. There is an old farm road on the right of Clay Road. Take the old farm road for about one-quarter mile. The cemetery will be on the left."

If you have corrections or additional information on Boggs Family Cemetery, contact the White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 537, Searcy, AR 72145.