Location: On Hwy 27 North heading north to
Story. About two miles north of Mt. Ida. Red barn will be on your right and the
cemetery will be just ahead on left through an opening in the trees. Driveway takes you up
to the well maintained rock fenced cemetery on a knoll. If you pass Wood Creek you have
gone too far. Further on is the Sweet Home Church."The Whittington's came to ARK. in 1834. To Mt. Ida in 1836. They established the Whittington cemetery for their descendants. He was first Postmaster of and named Mt. Ida in 1842 then in Hot Springs Co." Reference: transcribed from a large new upright marble headstone beside Granville's and Cordelia Whittington's neat old flat white gravestones. About 125 graves here and two unmarked. The homestead and post office were located on a hill west of the cemetery. Oldest grave 1846 Sara Whittington. Still an active cemetery with two recently dug graves in June 2000.
FMH = Funeral Home Marker
Star = Eastern Star A fraternal organization for wives, daughters, mothers widows
and sisters of Master Masons. Master Masons are also included in the membership. The
Chapter for Mt. Ida was issued 1903. Reference: Montgomery County : Our Heritage Vol.
1 page 381
Row 1
D.E.M. footstone
A.J.W. footstone
Wingfield Jeff A. Jan 19 1910 - Mar 1 1978 PFC US Army WWII Wingfield Jettie L. Apr 18 1915 - Aug 4 1987 m. Sep 14 1936
Wingfield William Earl May 31 1904 - May 4 1987 Mason. Wingfield Eunice Kathleen Jul 1 1907 Star emblem. m. Mar 26 1924
Cearley Ethelene F. Nov 13 1900 - Oct 13 1962 Cearley Lon A. Oct 7 1896 - Oct 7 1970
Row 2
Tullos Ashton Mar 17 1909 - Jun 29 1991 SGT US Army Air Corps Tullos Marguerite Oct 19 1914
Wingfield Clara Mobley Jan 8 1894 - Aug 15 1996
Mobley E.P. Apr 16 1898 - Feb 2 1957
Whittington Lonnie S. Mar 7 1887 - Apr 10 1968 PVT US Army WWI
Martin Blanche Aug 6 1916- Martin Edwin Lee Oct 6 1905 - Jun 19 1999
Watkins Ada W. Nov 17 1892 - May 2 1969
Whittington Mary W. Dec 11 1859 - Jun 6 1938 Whittington Jeff D. Aug 21 1861 - Dec 14 1953
Bearce William Paul 1910 - 1946
Bearce Della 1889 - 1972 Bearce Gibson S. 1888 - 1963
Watkins John Jefferson Apr 8 1918 - Apr 7 1988 Lt. Col US Air Force WWII Korea Watkins Forrest Camelia Oct 2 1920
Watkins John J. Apr 18 1945 - May 29 1996 Capt. US Air Force Vietnam m. LaDonna March 4 1996
Row 3
Short James Rloand T. Aug 21 1921 - Jun 27 1985 SGT US Army WWII FHM
Ray Cleo Lendel Jan 20 1918 Ray Mary Whittington Dec 14 1921 - new grave m. Oct 26 1940
Whittington Maudie H. Feb 18 1894 - Mar 20 1986 Whittington William G. May 10 1877 - Dec 24 1953
Barker Marion 1865 - 1897 At rest
M.P.F. footstone
Spadling Martha Ann Freeman Nov 21 1858 - Dec 25 1925
Rogers Ruth Elder 1884 - 1918
Freeman John H. Jan 1 1896 - Jan 22 1954 Freeman Viola Jun 30 1896 - new grave
Freeman William D. Nov 20 1901 - Freeman Minnie Oct 8 1903 - Nov 29 1980
Row 4
Freeman Elaine Williams 1904-1945
Freeman W.D. MD Oct 6 1863 - Feb 3 1947 Mason emblem Freeman Allie E. Jun 20 1874 - Jun 21 1915 Age 44 years & 1 day Asleep in Jesus to awake in the ressection morning where there will be no pain, no sorrow, no more parting (beautiful cursive writing)
Freeman Master Paul Feb 25 1907 - Jan 30 1911 s/o Dr. W.D. & Allie Freeman Age 3 years 11 months & 5 days He is gone but not to return But his memory we cherish
Freeman H.D. Nov 7 1825 - Jun 3 1908 Age 82 years 6 months & 26 days His memory we cherish
Freeman Stella Jul 19 1893 - Sep 3 1895 Age 2 years 16 days Dau. of Dr. W.D. & Allie Freeman
Freeman Alven Jan 27 2895 - Feb 22 1895 Age 25 days s/o Dr. W.D. & Allie Freeman
Whittington Celia Jan 28 1846 - Nov 8 1941 wife of J.G. Whittington
Whittington Junius G. Jul 5 1839 - Feb 9 1886 Mason emblem
Whittington Granville A. Jul 20 1901 - Nov 8 1941
Pearl Aug 15 1895 - Sep 14 1896
Charline Aug 24 1913 - Nov 25 1914
Whittington Annie H. Nov 6 1871 - Feb 6 1965
Whittington Granville A. Jan 18 1864 - May 3 1942
Moreland Whit L. Mar 7 1930 - May 29 1951 PFC US Marine Corps Korea Medal of Honor
Moreland Lloyd Wood Mar 19 1901 - Dec 2 1985 Moreland Patsy W. Jan 4 1912 - Jul 24 1986
Whittington Billy D. 1925 -1961
Whittington Myrtle C. Jun 17 1902 - Jan 3 1994 w/o June Whittington FHM Thornton
Whittington William J. Mar 25 1897 - Dec 9 1967 CPL US Army WW1 MH
Murphy Carl E. Apr 2 1916 - Dec 1989 US Marine Corps WWII
Row 5
Russell Joseph Wingfield Jan 1 1919 - Jul 9 1974 He built a monument of love
in the hearts of all who knew him
Whittington Walter L. Aug 24 1899 - Mar 10 1980
Whittington Karen Lyn 1971 - 1-3-1971 FHM Thornton
Whittington James S. Mar 27 1909 - Apr 27 1968
Whittington George Granville 1939 - Nov 26 1966 Age 27 FHM
Kennedy Edith Jun 26 1907 - Sep 19 1910 Dau. of L.S. & Edna Kennedy
One of the sweetest buds in the
flower garden of heaven
Kennedy Edith Cordellia May 1878 - Dec 12 1918 Wife of Dr. L.S. Kennedy
Kennedy Dr L.S. Nov 29 1874 - Oct 21 1923 His words were kindness,
his deeds were love,
his spirit humble be rests above. Mason emblem Dr.
Kenndey Grace Holt Oct 25 1891 - Dec 19 1967 Star
Kennedy Harold Martin Aug 29 1920 - Feb 29 1976 The last portion of a good man's life, his life,
his little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love
Row 6
Jackson Bert Feb 28 1921 - Jan 28 1923 s/o George A. & Lydia
Jackson Sadie, Mrs Sep 16 1882 - Mar 25 1912
Elder Granville Whittington Nov 29 1873 - Feb 23 1895 His memory is blessed
Elder Cordelia Z. Whittington Nov 3 1848 - 24 Feb 1895 w/o J.S. Elder
Elder J.S. Jan 25 1845 - Jun 15 1913 Mason
Whittington Rebecca 1878 - Dec 9 1899 21 yrs 6 ms w/o H.B. Whittington
Whittington Stella Oct 6 1880 d/o H.B. & Rebecca age 3 years 8 months 4 days Whittington Arthur B. 1882 - 1949
Whittington Martha J. Mar 28 1859 - 1887 Whittington Alvine May 30 1878 - Sep 22 1882 s/o H.D.
Whittington H.B. Mar 8 1846 - Mar 13 1905
Ambers Mamie C. Whittington Dec 21 1885 - Apr 18 1931
Ambers M. 1865 - Jun 30 1957 Age 92
Ambers Jesse Lee Aug 6 1903 - Feb 12 1985 Ambers Devona "Dee" May 1 1910 - Jan 22 1973 Star
Ambers Edith Aug 9 1903 - Oct 3 1985
Ambers Bryan Apr 24 1897 - Dec 9 1988
M. Ambers and wife Marie [?Mamie] Ambers on steps at Whittington home in Mt Ida, 6 January 1929.
Row 7
Irons George Alfred Jr. Feb 12 1923 - Jan 27 1935 He was he sunshine of our home
Irons Edwin Jan 4 1923 - Jan 27 1923 s/o G.A.
Irons George A. (Alfred) Aug 25 1893 - Nov 1 1977 m. Nov 4 1917 Irons Verda D. (Dick) Jan 11 1898 - Mar 17 1994
Irons George Leo Sep 14 1918 Irons Gladys M. (Mae) Dec 26 1919 - Dec 11 1939 m. Mar 11 1939 and died Aug 16, 2007 ADDITION (buried beside Leo and Gladys): Duncan Judith Kay Feb 8, 1952 - Jul 17 2007 (daughter of Leo and Gladys)
W.A.W footstone
Whittington Joe W. 1853 - 1875
Whittington Clara H. 1844 - 1859
Whittington Ada E. 1837 - 1849
Whittington Sara C. 1842 - 1846
Elder Morris A. Mar 25 1891 - Oct 26 1964 Elder Della S. Jan 25 1893 - Apr 8 1991
Row 8
Sheffield Billie May 10 1907 - Feb 11 1994 Gross FHM
Woodring Pearl E. Edwards Apr 12 1902 - Mar 27 1950
Whittington Granvillie Jun 2 1808 - April 21 1887 age 79 years Mason emblem Cohaset, Mass. Whittington Cordelia 1810 - 1892 Boston, Mass.
Whittington William Guy 1917 - 1984 Cpl US Army WWII Whittington Arthur B. 1882 - 1949
Whittington Lillie M. 1888 - 1981 Whittington Donie 1881 - 1881 d/o Wm & L.A.
Whittington Laura Hopper 1857 - 1895
Ambers Theodosia Whittington Sep 8 1874 - Mar 21 1899
Edwards Cordelia Whittington Sep 29 1876 - May 14 1938
Whittington Annie Caldwell 1871 - 1965
Caldwell Willie 1899 - 1900
Caldwell Lois 1912 - 1914
Caldwell Wm Fred 1875 - 1914
Wingfield Ralph G. 1915 - 1936
Wingfield Lora E. Graham Feb 10 1893 - May 26 1987
Wingfield Samuel Jodie Nov 1 1892 - Mar 20 1936
Garrett Robert Lee 1903 - 1959
Gray Ada Ailene Jan 1908 - Sep 1900 Gray William A. 1904 - 1956 Mason
Wingfield J.D. Dr. Nov 3 1917 - Jan 4 1957 Wingfield Clodie Jun 24 1927 - May 7 1957 Wingfield Joe D. Dr. Aug 30 1865 - Jan 12 1930 Gone but not forgotten
Transcribed June 2000 by Olwyn during visit to cemetery.
MORELAND, WHITT LLOYD
Home AUSTIN, Texas
Service Number 1083876
Rank E2
U.S. Marine Corps
Component Reserve
Killed in Action
Death Record 510529
REMEMBERING ARKANSAS : New Englander lived, and kept, Arkansas' story by Tom W. Dillard
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette 11 January 2004
When I was growing up, the Whittington family was among the most prominent in rural Montgomery County. The Whittingtons go back practically to the founding of Salem, the county seat, later renamed Mount Ida. But, when I was a lad, Richard "Dick" Whittington was known to practically everyone in the county as its only pharmacist. Dick died a few years ago, leaving a nice endowment to the Heritage House Museum in Mount Ida. Dick was a fascinating person, and someday I will write about this quiet, unassuming man who contributed so much to his community. (For example, as a young Army medic, he was a member of the team sent to arrest Japanese strongman Hideki Tojo at the end of World War II, and he revived the tyrant after Tojo shot himself.)
Today I want to write about Hiram Abiff Whittington, who, along with his younger brother, Granville, brought the Whittington family to frontier Arkansas from long-settled Massachusetts. Hiram was born in January 1805, in Boston, the son of a middle-class family with deep Puritan roots. At the age of 15, Hiram apprenticed as a printer, ultimately training further under Alden Spooner of New York, who mentored William E. Woodruff, the first printer and journalist in the Arkansas Territory. Woodruff offered Whittington a printing job, and on Christmas Day 1826 the 21-year-old made his way into Little Rock, still a bit shocked by the five days it took to travel from Arkansas Post. Hiram worked with Woodruff for a few years, then he journeyed to Dwight Mission, the Cherokee settlement near modern Russellville, where he sought to become editor of a planned tribal newspaper. When this did not come to pass, he moved to Hot Springs in 1832 where he engaged in the grocery business, served as postmaster, won election to several public offices, helped develop the whetstone industry and became something of a land speculator. He died in May 1890 and was buried in a small family cemetery. Whittington Avenue in Hot Springs is named for him.
Students of Arkansas history owe Hiram's younger brother Granville Whittington a special thanks, because he preserved the early letters his brother wrote back home telling of the wonders of frontier Arkansas. Hiram himself also deserves special recognition for carefully preserving the early copies of the Arkansas Gazette, which is an indispensable source for historians. Hiram's early letters do not portend good things for this Yankee immigrant. He complains about the heat, the insects - especially ticks, partisan politics, drunkenness and the local women. In his first letter from Arkansas Territory, he referred to "this little rock on the bank of a dirty river." Little Rock was less than a decade old in 1827 when Hiram wrote his brother: "The town, and I believe the whole territory, is inhabited by the dregs of Kentucky, Georgia and Louisiana, but principally from the former, and a more drunken, good-for-nothing set of fellows never got together." Hiram did not find local women to his liking, even complaining that he had to undress in front of them when he traveled and boarded with settlers: "I did not take my pantaloons off, however, until I had got between the sheets." He found frontier women to be far too natural for his New England tastes, noting especially that "if the girls feel a tick biting them at a party, and even if they are on the floor dancing, they immediately stop and unpin and scratch themselves until they find it." Naturally, he went back to Boston to find a wife, whom he married in 1836. She died after 15 years and the birth of six children. Hiram never remarried.
Though Hiram comes across as a bit fussy and critical in his early letters, over time he became fond of Arkansas. He built a large house in Hot Springs, which was often filled with family and friends. Intellectually curious despite his lack of formal education, Hiram compiled a large library in his home. He gave land for St. Mary's Catholic Church and First Presbyterian Church. By the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Hiram was writing letters referring to "the fanatical vandals of the North." His son William served in the Confederate Army, surviving the battles of Elk Horn Tavern, Corinth and the losing effort to defend Atlanta. Hiram's interesting contributions to documenting Arkansas history did not become apparent until long after his death in 1890. His collection of Arkansas Gazette newspapers covered 60 years, and they were crucial to compiling a full set for microfilming. His letters, compiled and bound by his bookbinder brother, Granville, lay in an attic in Granville's Mount Ida home until 1913, when they were discovered there as the building was being demolished. The Whittington letters have been compiled, annotated and published as a paperback book by the Garland County Historical Society, 222 McMahan Dr., Hot Springs 71913. The cost, including postage, is $28. Tom W. Dillard was the curator of the Butler Center at the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock, in 2004
Observations of Arkansas: The 1824-1863 Letters of Hiram Abiff Whittington.
In 1913, as workmen dismantled a pioneer home in Montgomery County, a neatly-bound volume of letters was discovered in the attic that would prove to be of great historical value. The intriguing volume primarily contained letters between Granville Whittington in Boston and Hiram Whittington, his older adventurous brother - from Arkansas Territory between 1827 and 1834 - which have become significant historical documents. These descriptive letters humanize their time period in Arkansas describing life in the territory as observed by Hiram.
Dr. John L. Ferguson, state historian and long-time director of the Arkansas History Commission - State Archives, says they are not only highly informative but delightful to read. The letters have been copied in part many times and have often been used as cross-references to this time in Arkansas history, but this is the first complete volume published. The book is in its second printing and was compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane, Wendy Bradley Richter, and Charles W. Cunning. $25 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub400 Hiram Whittington s Letters memorial Whittington Ave., Hot Springs.
Hiram Abiff Whittington 1805 - 1890
Born in Boston, Mass., came to Arkansas in 1826 to be printer for the Arkansas Gazette. In 1832, he moved to Hot Springs and in a two room log cabin established a general store, post office, and lending library. He served as County Clerk, Post Master, Territorial Councilman, State Representative and as a Presidential Appointee. He helped survey the Territory, established a hotel and the whetstone industry. His colorful letters to brother, Granville (1808 -1887) back in Boston, humanize a time in frontier Arkansas and are valuable historical records.
Granville came to Arkansas in 1835, founded Mt. Ida, served as Secretary and also served as State Representative. In an April 1833 letter, Hiram wrote "Dear Brother Granville, it is now middle afternoon, I have no customers, no official business, and what is best of all, no blue devils to trouble me with forboding of future ills. I live in a cabin a bout 10 feet square, with an adjoining room about 7 x 9. The larger room is my store, the smaller is my private apartment, sitting room, Clerk's Office, Post Office, and bed chamber.
The Centennial History of Arkansas. page 863
Hiram A. Whittington was born in Boston, January 14, 1805. He learned the printer's trade, came to Arkansas in December, 1826, and worked on the "Gazette" at Little Rock until June, 1832. He then went to Hot Springs for his health, and in order to make expenses while there started a little store with a capital of $500. In 1836 he married Miss M. E. Bigham and opened a hotel. In 1842 he sold his store and continued in the hotel business until 1849, when he removed to Montgomery County. He was elected representative from that county to the Legislature in 1850, but soon after that returned to Hot Springs.
Mr. Whittington was the first to discover the merits of the Ouachita oil stone. In 1853 he established a whetstone factory there and began shipping his product to the principal cities. They found favor with mechanics and are used by all who handle edgetools. This business was carried on for several years after his death by his son, Alfred Whittington. Father and son kept a file of the Gazette and other newspapers published by William E. Woodruff. These volumes are now in the archives of the Arkansas History Commission and constitute the most complete collection of newspapers in the state.
Otago Witness, 9 January 1863, Page 7
A good story is told of a Bostonian's first appearance in polite society in Arkansas. The company was engaged at dancing, and the loveliest female present occupied a chair near the window without a partner. Stepping up to the lady, with palpitating heart he exclaimed, 'Will you do me the honour to grace me with your company for the next set?' Her lustrous eyes shone with unwonted brilliancy, her pearly teeth, glistened, her snowy bosom rose and fell with joyful rapture, as she replied 'Yes, sir-ree ! for I've sot, and sot, and sot, till I've 'bout took root!'