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Submitted: 5/3/09 • Approved: 5/3/11 • Last Updated: 8/5/12 • R187896-G0-S3
LOCATION: Nelson Cemetery is on Baxter CR 1075, just off Baxter CR 57 in Buford. There is a sign affixed to a tree and a white vinyl fence along the road side of the cemetery. It is also easy to find and you can drive right to it.
COORDINATES:Lat: 36.24462N Long. 92.41415W
A few years after the Civil War, William Nelson and his second wife, Amelia H. "Dena" Carter Nelson, along with his seven children and around 20 other families moved by ox-wagon, buggy, and horseback from Mississippi to Arkansas. The William Nelson family settled near Buford. A family cemetery was started near their home, but there have not been any burials there since the mid-1880's.
For years, the cemetery was in a field around a quarter of a mile south of the Buford-Shady Grove Road (CR 57). When the farm was divided into residential lots, a street (CR 1075) was cut in front of the cemetery. A number of years ago, some descendants of the William Nelson family cleaned up the small cemetery, placed a small sign for the cemetery, and erected a white vinyl fence across the front (east side) of the cemetery. Since then, the under brush and brambles have once again covered the cemetery.
There are only two gravestones in the cemetery. One of the gravestones is intact, and the other one with the names of four young Nelson children is broken into three segments. The Nelson chldren are buried in adjacent cairns that have become somewhat broken over the years. It appears that there may have been more than the four cairns. One unmarked grave is near the children's graves. With the overgrown condition of the cemetery, it is hard to ascertain if there are other unmarked graves in the cemetery.
William Nelson is buried in the nearby Fairview Cemetery, and his grave is marked by a tall gravestone that serves as the focal point of that cemetery. Some Nelson family descendants think Amelia H. "Dena" Carter Nelson is probably buried in an unmarked grave near her four children since she is not buried in the Fairview Cemetery.
(The picture of the cemetery and the pictures of the gravestones in the Nelson Cemetery were taken April 27, 2009.)
Contributed on 5/3/09 by maxparnell
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Record #: 187896