--photos by Leroy Blair, 2002
This cemetery was recorded for the first time by Leroy Blair of the White County Historical Society in April 2002. He said he had first learned of its existence about a year earlier from Mrs. Jim White of Center Hill. According to Blair, "She said a relative told her about it when they were at the Leggett Cemetery at Sunnyvale, where some of her relatives are buried. I have looked for it for a year but could never locate it. At the April meeting of the Historical Society, former president Eddie Best gave me a letter from Howard Hensley of Springfield, Missouri, who stated that his uncle Arthur Hensley of Providence knew the location of the slave cemetery. I called Arthur Hensley and he took me to the location on April 24, 2002. To get to the cemetery, go to the Leggett Cemetery. There is a fence that goes down the hill behind the Leggett Cemetery. If you follow this fence for nearly three-fourths of a mile you will find the Slave Cemetery in the woods on the left of the fence. We found three rock-covered graves and three sunken areas that are probably graves. Arthur Hensley said that he had visited the site about 15 years earlier and found 18 graves marked with field rocks. But since that time there has been some logging work in the woods. He thinks that the rocks got moved during the logging operation. There is no way to find the names or dates of who is buried there."
If you have additional information on this cemetery, contact the White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 537, Searcy, AR 72145.