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Submitted: 7/17/10 • Approved: 7/25/10 • Last Updated: 8/11/12 • R344908-G0-S3
Newton Cemetery is located on Highway 164, approximately two miles east of the community of Hagarville in Johnson County, Arkansas.
The Minnow Creek 4-H leaders, Jeff and Greta Marlow, were responsible for installation of the fence, and the Dale Rowbotham family donated the gate.
Faye and Rubel Tate are the principal leaders of the group that takes care of the cemetery
Photograph by C Patton.
The historical information below is provided courtesy of Deborah Overbey debbieoverbey@centurytel.net .
Ebenezer Newton, William Milton Harvey Newton and his wife, Laura Hester Lee, and other members of their large extended family, settled in the Little Piney Valley, in what was then Pope Co., but is now eastern Johnson County, Arkansas. There are indications that the Newtons and other pioneer families settled on and later purchased portions of Col. Charles Hickeys original land claim, (ca 1830-33.) Ebenezer Newton's preemption land entry states that he was a resident of a parcel of land in Section 14 Township 10 North Range 22 West by November 1834. This date is supported by the earliest Johnson County tax list showing the Newtons and allied families as taxpayers for that year. An early frontier cemetery is located on that land entry. Ebenezer Newton died about 1865 but no marker has been found for his grave, in Newton Cemetery or in any other cemetery in the area. In 1872, William Milton Harvey Newton, brother of Ebenezer, purchased a portion of Ebenezer's estate in Section 14 from Robert Blair Johnson. The deed gives Wm. M. H. Newton "a certain lot of land 100 feet square . . . where lie burried [sic] his children and friends for a burying ground for himself children & c . . ." One of Wm. M. H. Newton's and one of Ebenezer's sons, as well as other family members are known to be buried at Newton Cemetery. Cairns and rock-lined plots are the style of the earliest burials in this cemetery. The estimated dates of these graves, the early date of the land claim, Col. Hickey's involvement with the earliest state militia in the county and the prominence of the Newton family in Perry Twp. and Johnson County, make Newton Cemetery a potential candidate for the National Register of Historic Places.
Newton Cemetery had been neglected for many years and was overgrown with spirea (bridal wreath) and briars. Large trees had grown up inside the cemetery and within several graves. All-terrain vehicles had been ridden through the cemetery and had caused damage to several graves. Reports were made of commercial markers being tossed over a nearby embankment. Illegal dumping and littering had occurred within the cemetery. Several community members, many of whom are Newton descendants, were determined to bring Newton Cemetery out of its unkempt state and take the action necessary to preserve this historic burial ground as an outdoor cultural museum for future generations. In October 1998, they met with Tammie Dillon and Randy Jeffrey, representatives of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
More than thirty community and 4-H volunteers and Newton family members worked to reclaim the Newton Cemetery. Following approved guidelines, volunteers removed trees, cut brush, and disposed of litter. After more than one hundred cumulative hours of work, the cemetery emerged from more than fifty years of overgrowth. Future plans include formation of a non-profit cemetery association, creating a detailed site map and application to the National Register. A bank account has been set up to receive contributions for maintenance and fencing. Each year following the initial reclamation, descendants meet to prepare the cemetery for "Decoration Day." For more information contact: Faye Tate, treasurer or Debra Overbey.
Contributed on 7/17/10 by 1lesstime
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Record #: 344908