Heffington Community Cemetery

Bradford, Arkansas

This cemetery is located about 100 yards in the field behind 1080 and 1100 Jackson County Road 302.  It was visited on February 15, 2006, by Leroy Blair of Clay, a member of the board of directors of the White County Historical Society who filed the following report:

I had been told that an old cemetery was located not far from the Smith Cemetery west of Bradford.  But I had not been able to get access to it or find out a name for it. On February 15, 2006 my wife Ellen and I were visiting in that area. As we were going down the road we saw an elderly lady out in her yard very close to where I knew the cemetery was located. We stopped and talked to her. She said that the cemetery was back in the field behind her house and her son’s house that is nearby. She said we could drive through the gate in front of her son’s house and drive back to the cemetery. She said it was in very poor condition. She said she did not know a name for it but she thought her son might. While I was at the cemetery her son came home and joined us. He said he was told that the cemetery was known as the Westmoreland Cemetery. As we were on our way back to Bradford I saw an old gentleman who had originally told me about the cemetery several years ago.  I stopped and ask him if he knew a name for it. He said that when he was young it was called the Heffington Community Cemetery. He also said that the cemetery was much larger when he was young. He said that a lot of rocks that once marked graves had been removed over the years and the ground farmed over.

There is an old fence around it. The cemetery is overgrown to the point that it is very hard to see what is there. There are also from 25 to 30 graves marked with rocks. A lot of them appear to be children.  I was able to find the following marked graves.

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

Name Birth Date Death Date Remarks
Abington, Janis D. September 4, 1946 October 4, 198
Goad, Estie June 30, 1889 June 31, 1909 daughter of T.H. and Ella Goad.
Hodge, Alexander August 16, 1880 March 2, 1900 son of A.L. and A.E. Hodge - stone is broken
Hodge, Robert December 21, 1881 December 31, 1881 son of A.L. and A.E. Hodge - stone is broken
Kempson, Harmon H. August 15, 1898 January 30, 1899 son of L.S. and M.E. Kempson - stone is broken
Ransom, Gracie April 19, 1886 September 30, 1904 wife of Ira Ransom
Rotzel, Jackie April 13, 1891 March 28, 1892 son of H.A. and S.P. Rotzel - stone is broken
Tidwell, Katie March 29, 1854 July 10, 1895 stone is broken
Tidwell, Luther June 6, 1852 September 7, 1924 0 stone is off its base
(I was unable to locate the following graves, which I found on an old list for this cemetery.)
Roetzel, Willie R. May 14, 1886 October 14, 1893
Tidwell, Johnny L. November 12, 1878 January 2, 1879
Tidwell, May December 29, 1891 June 7, 1885