--photo by Leroy Blair, 2000

Taylor Cemetery

Holly Springs, Arkansas

The original record on this cemetery was prepared February 17, 1962, by White County Historical Society member Cloie Presley and her husband Leister, who lived at one time at nearby Clay. Then it was updated 38 years later by Leroy Blair, a member of the Historical Society who, coincidentally, also lives at nearby Clay. The cemetery is located in Section 33, Township 9 North, Range 7 West. Here’s how Mrs. Presley described it: "Going from Clay to Holly Springs, about three miles from Clay a road to the left through the woods leads to the cemetery about a half mile off the main road. It is on a beautiful pine-covered hill; the wind moans through the treetops and the graves are covered with a carpet of pine needles." She added that the Taylor family came from Tennessee.

Blair visited the cemetery July 20, 2000, and was impressed with its natural beauty. He found 28 graves that were not on the original list. Following is his report: "To reach this cemetery from Searcy take Highway 16 to Fairview Road at the north Searcy city limits sign. Stay on Fairview to about one-fourth mile north of the Holly Springs Church. Across the road from the Wayne Walls residence at 1078 Fairview Road there is a gate across a dirt road that goes out into an open field. Take that road. The road winds back into the hills about half a mile. The cemetery is on the left of the road. It is a very nice and clean cemetery. The number of graves has about tripled since the list was prepared in 1962."

Wayne and Helen Walls, who own the farm where this cemetery is located, provided updated information in December 2001. According to Mrs. Walls, "There is one grave that had a marker that wasn’t engraved, and it is broken and not in the right spot. Also, there is a rock that I was told was marking a grave."

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

Name Birth Death Comments
? funeral home marker, illegible
Baker, Herman "Buck" January 6, 1922 July 30, 1989
Baker, Infants March 21, 1955 March 23, 1955 two graves, children of Buck and Mildred
Baker, John G. October 27, 1889 May 2, 1964 on double stone with Ola Baker
Baker, John Ray December 15, 1931 November 27, 1995
Baker, Mildred Louise February 7, 1925 May 4, 2001
Baker, Ola Mae September 22, 1901 March 28, 1979 on double stone with John G. Baker
Barnett, Pauline June 27, 1920 September 23, 1981
Barnett, Troy February 1, 1918 February 3, 2001
Deaton, Minnie Lee June 1870 March 5, 1935
Evans, Carson Grady August 15, 1917 November 24, 1988 on double stone with Ona Mae Popham Evans
Evans, Ona Mae Popham November 2, 1925 January 5, 1998 on double stone with Carson Grady Evans
Featherston, Ina Flo January 21, 1901 September 24, 1973 on double stone with Vester Featherson
Featherston, Vester February 4, 1889 January 30, 1974 on double stone with Ina Flo Featherston
Helms, Ada E. December 1, 1891 June 8, 1968 on double stone with Sam Helms
Helms, Samuel E. May 29, 1890 July 24, 1951 on double stone with Ada E. Helms
Lemons, James A. August 3, 1844 April 8, 1947 funeral home marker
Maddock, Kenneth Edward April 7, 1931 December 1, 2009
Maddock, Mae Catherine April 1, 1933 September 26, 2014
Miller, Josie Lemons February 23, 1905 February 7, 1957
P., D.X. (initials only) this marker has been replaced by a marker that reads only "Baby"
Poole, Mattie Ellen November 26, 1917 April 1, 1999 on double stone with Wilton Lee Poole
Poole, Wilton Lee June 4, 1914 March 21, 1993 on double stone with Mattie Ellen Poole
Pylent, Hannah D. April 1, 1855 December 6, 1938
Smith, Cody Baughn November 8, 1980 November 8, 1980
Smith, Hestor February 12, 1889 February 14, 1950.
Smith, Lewis February 12, 1885 November 4, 1965
Smith, Maude Walls February 20, 1890 March 29, 1935
Smith, Ola July 1, 1893 April 17, 1980
Smith, Zella Estha Snowden November 8, 1915 July 7, 2004 wife of Paul D. Smith
Taylor, Alice October 11, 1863 April 4, 1940
Taylor, Carl Wayne March 17, 1932 March 14, 1992
Taylor, Frank C. March 3, 1859 January 20, 1929 first person buried in this cemetery
Taylor, Guy Madison March 26, 1913 January 9, 2001 military stone U.S. Army Air Corps WWII - Purple Heart
Taylor, Ida Mae January 4, 1931 December 14, 1988 on double stone with Robert L. Taylor
Taylor, Infant child of John and Ora Taylor
Taylor, John E. February 27, 1905 May 2, 1905
Taylor, Mira Matilda July 14, 1890 April 21, 1981 on double stone with William Troy Taylor
Taylor, Ora D. March 7, 1905 May 11, 1905
Taylor, Robert L. November 19, 1928 no death date on double stone with Ida Mae Taylor
Taylor, William Troy December 11, 1889 January 9, 1955
Treat, David Herol April 28, 1947 May 16, 1993
Treat, Derol Bernell April 3, 1937 July 15, 2014
Treat, Don January 18, 1935 January 19, 1935
Treat, Dustin Colt May 20, 1985 June 7, 1985
Treat, Elizabeth Ann July 18, 1966 July 18, 1966
Treat, George Mason December 21, 1900 January 20, 1958 funeral home marker
Treat, George Owen January 9, 1924 March 12, 2002 husband of Nellie Geraldine Treat
Treat, Glenn R. April 25, 1905 June 18, 1905
Treat, J.D. September 24, 1929 December 28, 2000
Treat, Larry - - - March 25, 1946 June 14, 2009 Husband of Debbie Treat.
Treat, Steve September 20, 1941 March 26, 1979
Treat, Susie May 31, 1959 February 25, 1973
Treat, Thomas Elton December 29, 1925 August 13, 2001 husband of Fred Helen Norman Treat
Treat, Zella October 19, 1903 March 25, 1953
Walls, Leola McNew December 6, 1910 September 23, 1989
Walls, Martha Susan Madden February 23, 1859 April 4, 1939
Watkins, Flora Lorene May 28, 1927 October 24, 2002 wife of Albert Watkins

In 1929, Alice Taylor, 13, of Holly Springs was working in a cotton field when she picked up one of the largest diamonds ever found on the North American continent. (Her remarkable story was recorded in several installments by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Bob Sallee beginning March 24, 1998.)