Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Joy Arkansas

Photo By Gerald Torrence

This Cemetery is also known as: - None known

Legal description: Pending

GPS Location: 597081-3907036

Arkansas Archeological Survey site #: 3WH0630

Number of Marked Graves: About 15

Number of Unmarked Graves: Unknown

The last complete survey of this cemetery was: October 5, 2000 By Leroy Blair

There has been Obituaries that were printed in the newspaper posted since the last survey was made.

Current status of cemetery: This cemetery is no longer in use.

Point of contact for cemetery. No known contact person.



This cemetery was listed originally in 1970 as “Good Springs” by Cloie and Leister Presley of the White County Historical Society

who recorded the following: “Leave Highway 36 at Joy and go east down the mountain on the road that connects with the road by

Morris School… Overgrown and only a few graves cleaned at the edge of the cemetery. Several unmarked graves indicated.” The

Presleys listed the cemetery as “Good Springs” and noted parenthetically in their material “(Georgia Ridge).” The school at Georgia

Ridge had been known as “Sweet Springs”. Elton English of Mt. Pisgah, whose grandfather is buried here and ther attended a

school beside the cemetery in the early 1900s, said the correct name of the cemetery is Pleasant Ridge. “My father, Andrew

Jackson English, attended Pleasant Ridge School,” he said. “It was built in 1900 and located south of the Pleasant Ridge

Cemetery. All the children in the surrounding area came there until World War One interfered. The teacher was drafted into the

Army in 1917, and the students had to finish the term at Joy.” (See English’s book “

Honing the Nugget

” or at the White County

Public Library in Searcy. Also, for a perspective of how the English family lived in Georgia, read

The Cold Sassy Tree

and its

sequel

Leaving Cold Sassy

by Olive Ann Burns. The English family lived at Maysville, Georgia, just two miles from the community

and characters in these books.)

The cemetery list was updated October 5, 2000, by Historical Society member Leroy Blair. He reported that he found five funeral

home markers that are unreadable. He also counted 20 graves that were marked with rocks and nothing else. “There are also

some that are not marked at all – just depressions or mounds,” he said. “It is hard to tell how many due to the heavy amount of

grass and weeds. It is fenced with two strands of barbed wire and is badly in need of mowing.” Shortly after Blair’s survey, Gerald

Torrence visited the cemetery for the Historical Society and took the above photograph. At the same time he found graves for

Earnest English and Robert English that were not on the original list. Following were Blair’s directions for reaching the cemetery:

“The cemetery is off a private road about one-quarter mile from where the blacktop ends on Georgia Ridge Road. Turn left on that

road. It has a gate (red in color) that is closed some of the time. The cemetery is down this road about 200 yards on the right.”

Following is a list of known burials in this cemetery.

Cole, J.A. – May 2, 1878 – August 18, 1902 - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Cooper, Georgia Irene – October 15, 1948 – June 30, 2001 – Wife of Clayton Cooper - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

English, Earnest – No other information - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

English, Hiram Jefferson – December 17, 1845 – August 9,1908 – (Co. A, 11 Ga. Cav. C.S.A.) – Husband of Laura A. - Pleasant Ridge

Cemetery – (Obit)

English, Lena – March 23, 1921 – March 28, 1922 - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

English, Robert – Died 1927 – Daniel (FM) - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery



Ford, Alma – Died March 13, 2012 – Age 77 years. - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery – (Obit)

J.H.B. – Big rock marker - at extreme north end - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Neal, Virgie – January 4, 1901 – ?, 1905 – Carved on rock near William Meredith Neal - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Neal, William Meredith – 1839 – 1890 – Baptist minister – Co. C, 21st Ark. Mil. C.S.A. - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Pollard, Nellie – May 24, 1902 – October 24, 1903 - Daughter of B.F. & M.J. Pollard - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Rice, C.J. – February 8, 1898 – July 6, 1898 – Stone broken - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Rice, S.M. – “Departed this life March 30, age 35 years, 15 days” – No other information – Stone broken - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Rice, W.C. – May 30, 1894 – August 7, 1898 – Stone broken - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

Rice, William H. – May 8, 1841 – October 27, 1902 – (Co. D. 22

nd

Ga. Inf. C.S.A.) – Husband of Nancy E. Rice - Pleasant Ridge

Cemetery

Sparkman, George A. – Died September 21, 1967 – Age 37 years – (Unmarked) – Pleasant Ridge Cemetery, Joy AR – (Obit September

22, 1967 paper)

Watkins, Dan – 1889 – 192 - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery 5

Wood, Benton E. – August 11, 1925 – August 11, 1925 - Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

***************************************************************************************

Legend: Copyright-Aug.23, 2016-Paul V. Isbell-Webmaster:

Most of the cemetery information listed was collected by Leroy “Lee” Blair Former member of the White

County Historical Society Board of Directors. Now working at the White County Historical Society office on

the square in Searcy. WCHS P. O. Box 537 Searcy, Ark. 72145.



If you have any additions or corrections to the burial listing please contact the Historical Society. Phone 501-

278-5010 or Email me at

lblblair74@gmail.com

or wchs1962@gmail.com

I will be posting more burials later. The Searcy Daily Citizen donated all their Micro Film and Ledgers dating

back to 1953. After reviewing them, if I find a death of a person that we do not have I will to add to the

cemetery listings.

There are some graves listed as unmarked that may have had a tombstone set since the listing was made.

I may have missed some graves when I prepared the listing. Some cemeteries are very hard to get an

accurate listing due to how some graves are scattered

The following Abbreviations are used in the listings

.

FM-Funeral home marker DS-Double tombstone TS-Triple tombstone

(Obit)-means that the Historical Society has, or has access to the Obituary for this person.