All My Ancestors

Hubbo had a conference to attend in Rogers, Arkansas over Fall Break.  Knowing that I can always use an opportunity to prowl around ancestral remains in Benton and Washington Counties, I tagged along.

On Thursday, we drove out to Butler Creek Cemetery in Sulphur Springs, AR.  To get there, we had to go through Missouri.  Actually, as our pal at the hotel said, “Why would you do that?”  We evidently didn’t have to go that way, but it’s what all our various mapping programs said.  And it was scenic.

There was this barn, that I initially thought was built of logs, but upon closer inspection, appears to be just roughly hewn wood.

We stopped and ate at a cafe in Noel, Missouri and also admired the view from the gas station.

We chose to try to ignore the conversation in the next booth about the website showing how many people had been killed by a former president.  And also the person sitting in the back smoking.  Can you still smoke in restaurants?

The church and the cemetery could have been anywhere–what I imagine New England looking like in the fall.  I felt like a certified leaf-peeper.

The land for the church and cemetery had been donated by a John C. Givens (1806-1885).  There were cattle in the field back behind the trees and they evidently were trying to persuade us to come feed them based on their mooing.

We had a good time despite it being a cold, misty day.  That might even have added to the day.  The cemetery is old.  The 3rd great-aunt I have buried there died in 1898.  I actually had just found out that she was buried here–I blogged about her in an earlier post and another descendant wrote to tell me where she and some of her family were buried.

I think it’s fairly safe to assume this marker was placed long after her death in 1898.  There is an old crumbling concrete footing around her grave, but the stone looks much newer.  There are no dates on the stone nor are any other names included.  She was Mary Esta Ball and married to John W. Shelman.  Another interesting thing to notice is that the surnames on the four stones from these family members are spelled two different ways–sometimes with two “ls” and sometimes with only one.

Two of Mary’s six sons are buried nearby:  William John Nelson (1864-1943), according to my California correspondent, and George Washington (1873-1923).

You can barely note that the surnames are spelled differently–William’s is Shelman and George’s is Shellman.

Also buried nearby is a young man who is probably the son of one of these men, but I don’t know the story yet.  Perhaps another contact with Diana will help me know more about John William Shelman.