The cemetery is located in this dense brier thicket.

Vinson-Barnett Cemetery

Hiram, Arkansas

By LEROY BLAIR

This cemetery is located in Cleburne County in what at one time was part of White County. I first visited this old cemetery in the fall of 2000 with a Mr. Floyd who lives in the area. But it was so overgrown with greenbriers and honeysuckle vines we could not get to where we could see many of the markers. I think I lost a pint of blood that day from brier scratches. Mr. Floyd thought I was going to bleed to death. I take medicine to thin my blood and any scratch bleeds like I had been stabbed.

I had been looking for the Old Hiram Cemetery when I was told that this was probably it. The directions that had been printed seemed to match this place.

I revisited it on February 2, 2001, and brought along some hedge trimmers which enabled me to cut my way through the briers and honeysuckle. After looking at all the markers I did not find the graves of the Hilgers who are buried in Old Hiram, so I knew I had the wrong cemetery. But since I found it, I thought I would list it anyway.

To get to Vinson-Barnett Cemetery from Pangburn, take Highway 110 north to the top of the hill at Hiram Bluff. Turn right on the first road at the top of the hill and go one-half mile. You will see a white house and a trailer house on the left of the road. A road goes down between them. Straight back at the end of this road (driveway) back in the pasture field about 200 yards is a fairly large clump of honeysuckle vine. The cemetery is located in that clump of vines. You cannot see any part of it from the road. It is fenced with a gate on the right side. When we visited it in the fall, the honeysuckle and briers had vined through the gate so bad it probably took us 10 minutes to cut them with our pocketknives enough to get the gate open.

That day I was only able to get to where I could read six markers but could see several more that I could not reach. On my second visit I think I found all the markers but not 100 percent sure, because it is such a mess out there. This would be a pretty cemetery if it were cleaned up. It has nice, beautiful stones. Two of them have separated from their base and fallen over. I found two graves marked with rocks. There may be more. I did not see any unmarked graves but it is impossible to say for sure, due to the condition of the cemetery.

I found the following marked graves.

Name Birth Death Comments
Barnett, Adda May March 18, 1876 January 9, 1894
Barnett, Anna September 17, 1887 January 13, 1924 wife of J.F. Barnett
Barnett, James A. January 20, 1847 March 14, 1913
Barnett, Martha March 20, 1852 March 17, 1922
Barnett, Mary September 6, 1876 August 2, 1910
Barnett, Opie W. April 6, 1919 September 6, 1920 son of J.F. and Anna Barnett
Davis, Emma R. June 16, 1890 February 2, 1919 wife of A. Davis – stone has separated from base and fallen over
Davis, James Earl September 5, 1912 May 9, 1980
Sandefur, T. Roy March 2, 1906 September 14, 1906 son of L.T. and L.H. Sandefur
Turner, Mrs. N.A. December 4, 1856 January 17, 1922
Vinson, E. Rufo October 14, 1881 March 3, 1901
Vinson, Eliza November 3, 1847 February 9, 1925 wife of J.S. Vinson
Vinson, J.S. August 26, 1840 January 30, 1922
Vinson, Martha E. February 5, 1858 April 28, 1937 on double stone with Simeon H. Vinson
Vinson, Simeon H. November 25, 1852 December 18, 1932 on double stone with Martha E. Vinson

If you have additional information on this cemetery, contact the White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 537, Searcy, AR 72145.