--Photo by Gerald Torrence , 2000
This cemetery is located due north of the Judsonia water tower, on State Highway 371 approximately 100 yards east of the U.S. Highway 67 overpass. The names and dates were taken from gravestones by Katherine and Charley Figley of Judsonia January 11, 1980.
W.E. Leach of the White County Historical Society interviewed two McDearman relatives July 12, 1986, and published his report in the White County Heritage that year. Two years later, the Heritage published a letter from another relative who provided additional information. The cemetery was checked by Historical Society member Leroy Blair July 14, 2000. He reported the cemetery condition as fair, noting the grass had recently been mowed but not close . All graves are covered with concrete and there is no indication of unmarked graves. Several stones were found broken when Gerald Torrence visited the cemetery for the Historical Society in September 2000. In 2004, Blair prepared a map that shows where each burial is located. The number (in parenthesis ) beside each name in the list below corresponds to the number in his map.
The cemetery was established in the northeast corner of the front yard of the J.S. McDearman home which was built between 1882 and 1885. Beside the McDearman graves, the Hanson graves are McDearman daughters and the Perkins grave is that of a granddaughter. Other family members are buried in Evergreen and Oak Grove cemeteries.
Edna Karnes and Mae Hanson were
interviewed for the 1986 article. They were granddaughters of Mary Hanson
and great granddaughters of J.S. and S.J. McDearman .
Laurie Jeanne Graves (R#2, Box 124C, Hughes Springs, TX
75656) wrote the following in response, two years later: This story was
told to me by my mother, Edna Hanson Karnes
Mother has told me that [John
McDearman ] built his house
between 1882 1885
As far as she can remember, the only place her
Uncle Jim ever worked was the box factory and he walked to work every day, as I
am sure a lot of people in Judsonia did
John S.
McDearman was born December 28, 1832, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
Either as a boy or young man, he went to Henry County, Tennessee, where he
married Sarah Jane Travis, born June 10, 1836. They were married April 2,
1854. She was the only sister of William B. Travis of the Alamo.
[William Barrett Travis was born in
Edgefield
District, South Carolina,
August 9, 1809, the son of Mark Travis Sr. The family moved to Conecuh
County, Alabama, in 1818 and he left Alabama for Texas in early 1835. He
died March 6, 1836, at the Alamo.]
They had one daughter, Virginia, in Tennessee
before moving to Judsonia around 1858-59. John homesteaded 40 acres of
land where the little cemetery was located in the northeast corner of their
front yard. Four more daughters, Mary, Minnie, Emma and Harriet, a son
James, a grandson Orlando B. Hanson, and a great granddaughter Edna Hanson, were
all born in a double log-house on the farm. Sarah and John raised their
family and Orlando on the farm. He passed way March 15, 1913, and Sarah
continued to live on the farm until 1916 when she, Minnie and Emma went to live
in a house in town, across the road from her son James. His house still
sits on the edge of Little Red River, just down from where the Enterprise Box
Factory was located. Sarah McDearman died February
16, 1917. After her death Minnie and Emma moved into their brothers house
and the farm on the highway was sold.
If you have corrections or additions to this list or additional information on this cemetery, contact the White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 537, Searcy, AR 72145.
Hanson, Alice Edna (1) December 5, 1895 August 9, 1896, age 7 months, 8 days.
Hanson, Horace (2), son of W.T. and V.S. Hanson July 10, 1882 October 9, 1888
Hanson, John W. (3), son of B.F. & M.A. Hanson (3) December 18, 1878 June 13, 1879
Hanson, Lillie (4), daughter of W.T. and V.S. Hanson August 17, 1886 August 25, 1890
Hanson, Mary A. (5), wife of B.F. Hanson September 27, 1859 January 3, 1882
Hanson, V.S. (6) September 5, 1857 [ no death date; may be buried at Evergreen; however, her site is concreted over; she had later married a White; V.S. was Virginia]
Hanson, W.T. (7) September 10, 1857 June 27, 19 15 [ W.T. was William]
McDearman ,
baby daughter (8) of J.A. & Ida McDearman June 24, 1893 July 29, 1893
McDearman , Harriet (9), daughter of J.S. and S.J. McDearman August 19, 1871 April 30, 1930 [marker on ground]
McDearman , Mattie (10), daughter of J.S. and S.J. McDearman July 18, 1862 March 11, 1882 stone is broken
McDearman , J.S. (11), born Spotsylvania County, VA, December 28, 1832 died Judsonia, March 15, 1913
McDearman , Minnie Ellen ( 12) January 30, 1873 February 22, 1938
McDearman , Rena Bell (13), daughter of J.A. & Idea McDearman January 31, 1886 July 17, 1887
McDearman , Sarah J. (14), wife of J.S. McDearman , born in Henry County, TN, June 10, 1836 died Judsonia, February 16, 1917
Perkins, Gertrude (15) June 15, 1915 September 25, 1915