--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.

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

Miller, Josie Lemons – 1881 – February 7, 1957

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

P., D.X. (initials only) – this marker has been replaced by a marker that reads only "Baby"

Smith, Cody Baughn – November 8, 1980 – November 8, 1980

Smith, Hestor – February 12, 1889 – February 14, 1950.

Smith, Maude Walls – February 20, 1890 – March 29, 1935

Smith, Lewis – February 12, 1885 – November 4, 1965

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, Infant – child of John and Ora Taylor

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, John E. – 1885 – 1949

Taylor, Mira Matilda – July 14, 1890 – April 21, 1981 – on double stone with William Troy Taylor

Taylor, Ora D. – 1893 – 1958

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, 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. – 1942 – 1996

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

? – funeral home marker, illegible

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.)