It takes me forever to drive anywhere in Arkansas because I have to take the scenic route. And when I come upon an old cemetery, I pull over and take pictures. There are so many angels in the fields of the Arkansas Delta.
Just outside the city of Wilson, this small cemetery has always drawn my eye toward the cotton field. Finally, I stopped, walked through the field, and took a closer look.
The grave marker reads: Robert C. McFadden 1/26/1843 ~ 12/26/1884; Margurite L. McFadden 11/29/1840 ~ 11/15/1904; Servants of God Well Done. I don’t know the history of the McFaddens, but I’m sure someone in the area could enlighten me?
These small family graves provide such a contrast between how things have changed and how things stay the same. That’s Producers Rice Mill in the distance. Rice farming is a huge business in Arkansas, but you probably already knew that.
This next angel in the field statue is stunning and quite a surprise sitting 100 yards off Highway 149, two miles from Earle, Arkansas. Like many small Delta towns, the population of Earle (2,336 in 2013) is in decline mode, yet this statue will remain and remain. I find that comforting.
This angel in the field watches over the grave of George Washington Berry, the only grave in this small cemetery located on a ten-foot tall Indian mound. George Washington Berry (12/25/1864 ~ 8/30/1928) was a former slave who eventually became one of Crittenden County’s eight largest landowners. He owned over 1,000 acres at the time of his death, pastored at a local Baptist church, owned a commissary and a cotton gin.
Here’s another beautiful cemetery just outside Earle. Gibson Bayou Church and Cemetery. I love the soybean field in the background with an irrigation pivot and combine. Life goes on.
“Remember me as you walk by.
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, soon you must be.
So walk on by but think of me.”
(sign at Gibson Bayou Cemetery)
I can’t help but wonder about the people buried in these cemeteries. And I feel connected to them by simply stopping and spending a few moments with them.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
[tweetthis]Angels in the fields of the #Arkansas #Delta. #historic #cemeteries @onlyinark @ArFB #cottonfieldcemeteries [/tweetthis]
Musical Pairing:
Leann Rimes, Amazing Grace
These lonely sites made me cry a little. I didn’t know we had Angels in the Fields. Thank you for showing us.
Lovely! Thank you!
Cemetery visits with our grandmother in Girard, Kansas, was very important to her. She drove a little black Chevy coupe and would drive my sisters and me around the cemetery pointing out graves of our long ago deceased relatives. She had a story to tell about each family.
She hoped we would put flowers on these ancestors graves on Memorial or “Decoration Day”. The “headstone” inscriptions were unique.
Thanks for the memory…
Thank you, Barbara. As young people, we don’t quite grasp the whole ancestry thing. At least, I didn’t. I enjoyed your memory.
Sorry I’m trying to contact Barbara thompson.
Oh, I know her!
Are you Barbara Green from Girard Ks.?
Are you Barbara Green from Girard KS.
I’ve always been drawn to cemeteries. I have explored many including those you included here. Look forward to your next post.
Thanks, Mark. I remember that you have an old cemetery near your house. I have pictures of it somewhere.
Love all your cemetery stories – and all the rest of your stories. And I especially love the ‘out of the way’ places. We should do like Gayle and Oprah and take a ‘back roads’ trip some day. We love so many of the same kinds of things. 🙂
We’d probably be more Thelma and Louise:)
Thank you so much for sharing & taking me back to sweet memories. I too love old cemeteries.
Thank you, Timmie Lynn!
This post was so touching. I loved reading about “the other Barbara’s”. memories.
I did too:)
That quote! From the sign at Gibson Bayou? Wow. I wonder if it’s attributed to someone? Googling it now. Love your shares.
Yes, the quote is on a huge sign big enough to read from the highway. Makes you think.
Love that you stop and take these pictures. George Washington Berry must have been loved and respected to warrant that large angel monument. But even so, time takes away those who knew him when he walked those fields.
Yes, I thought so too. Makes a person realize how quick life is and how most of the things we worry over will be forgotten in short time.
My great grand parents and grandparents are buried at the Gibson Bayou Cemetery. Along with other relatives.
I love the small rural cemeteries!
When I was a kid, we used to go to my mother’s mountain birthplace for Decoration Day ( what we now call Memorial Day) to clean the graveyards. This was in the vicinity of Petit Jean State Park. The family maintained 3 family cemeteries.My grandmother knew most of those people and knew every single rock in the ground as some folks did not have big granite grave makers, but a simple smooth rock instead. Probably because of that I love to travel the backroads instead of the interstate. I have always told my husband that I could just stop at all of those country churches and their cemetery. I think it would be fun to take some paper and a charcoal pencil to do some rubbings. Not sure what I would do with them though. Would that be disrespectful? Hey, I went to a yard sale and bought a framed picture of an old lady feeding her chickens. It broke my heart that anybody would sell the family picture of Aunt Ethel. I adopted her and she now lives with me.
I’ve visited the McFadden Cemetery and photographed it a few times, as well as other unnamed cemeteries in the delta. Thanks for posting this.