James Ford was born in Alabama. He moved to Arkansas from DeSoto County, Mississippi, and became the father of seven children. On April 29, 1852, James Ford registered eighty acres of land in Prairie County, Arkansas, and lived there until his demise in 1854. Mrs. Annie Belle Ford Jackson of Ward, Arkansas, a descendent of James Ford, related the origins of this small family plot.
"In those days people used their land to start a cemetery for family and friends. There were other Fords, as well as Thompsons and Tarkingtons, buried here but I don't know their given names."
Before her death, Mrs. Annie Bell Ford Jackson was successful in getting the old location recognized once again as a cemetery site. The only marker on this site is for Mrs. Jackson's veteran grandfather.
