--photo by Leroy Blair, 2003
Early residents of this area have also called this Oliver Cemetery. It was listed as Norman Cemetery June 16, 1967, by Cloie and Leister Presley of the White County Historical Society. They described the cemetery "off a road turning north off Highway 36 at Mt. Bethel Church. It is east of the road across a field and is abandoned. There are at least 31 unmarked graves, four of which are enclosed with rock. There is a fence around the cemetery and many sassafras bushes but the fence was down and sheep were lying in the shade of the bushes." The cemetery is in Section 18, Township 8 North, Range 9 West.
The cemetery hadn’t changed when it was visited 33 years later by Leroy Blair of the Historical Society. Following is his report: "I visited this cemetery on October 25, 2000. To get to this cemetery, take Highway 36 west about one-quarter mile past Mt. Bethel Church, turn right onto White Road. Go about one-half mile on White Road. The cemetery is on the right off a road leading to a white house that sits back in a field. The land where the cemetery is located is owned by the White family who live in that house. They were not at home. The only marked graves I found were Mary Ann Oliver and J.L. Oliver. There are four graves that have a rock wall built around them and a flat rock slab that acts like a roof. There are a lot of graves marked with rocks with no information on them. There are some not marked at all – just depressions or mounds. Due to the weeds and grass it is hard to tell how many. The cemetery was in bad need of mowing."
Oliver, Mary Ann (1) – September 22, 1847 – July 12, 1927
Oliver, J.L. (2) – July 4, 1843 – June 11, 1917
Oliver, Alf (3) – no information
If you have corrections or additional information on this cemetery, please contact the White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 537, Searcy, AR 72145.