--photo by Leroy Blair
When the Floyd Homemakers Extension Club listed Pleasant Grove Cemetery in 1968, it mentioned at the bottom of the list that "a Negro cemetery is located on the N.J. Stroud property which is west of Pleasant Grove Cemetery." The same club listed its one marked grave:
Mary Jane Kindle (wife of Mack Kindle) – August 4, 1869 – July 1, 1901
Pleasant Grove Cemetery, also known as Old Robinson Cemetery, is located between Harmony and Floyd in Section 26, Township 7 North, Range 9 West. It is about a half-mile off the paved highway.
Leroy Blair of the White County Historical Society visited the Stroud Property Black Cemetery with his wife Ellen March 12, 2001. Following is his report:
"To get to the cemetery from Floyd take Highway 31 South about one mile to Donald Choate Road then turn left and go about 1¼ miles to Friendship Lane. Turn right and go about a half-mile and the road with turn to the left. Don’t turn – but go straight to a double gate. Go through that gate. Just inside the pasture is another gate on the right. Go through it and go about 200 yards to a farm pond. The cemetery is in a clump of trees about 50 yards below the pond. The cemetery is fairly clean due to the cattle grazing.
"I found the base for one stone and a piece of a stone with the date 1901 on I – nothing else. This was probably the stone for Mary Jane Kindle (wife of Mack Kindle) on the old list. Mr. Phil Stroud, who owns the property, said he had also found parts of the stone. I counted 37 graves marked with rocks. I did not see any unmarked graves but there could be some because there are a lot of leaves on the ground. It is hard to see how they could have dug a grave there. The rock seems to be only a few inches under the ground.
"While I was listing the Pleasant Grove Cemetery I met an older man at the cemetery who was visiting from Alabama. His name was Ted Bennett, and he said he had grown up in the Floyd area. Back in the early 1900s, he said, the cemetery was called Floyd Colored Cemetery. He did not know how old it is but could not remember anyone being buried there since he was born."
If you have additional information on this cemetery, please contact the White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 537, Searcy, AR 72145.