SAU Research Station - Arkansas Archeological Survey

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Important Past Projects

Gone to A Better Land:
The Archeology of an Early Twentieth African-American Cemetery

The Cedar Grove Cemetery (state site number 3LA97) was located in Lafayette County in southwestern Arkansas. Eighty individuals who were interned between 1900 and 1915 were excavated by a team of archeologist, bioarcheologist and osteologist in June of 1982--two years following the excavation of the prehistoric portion of the site.


	In situ tombstone of Minnie Wilkerson after initial site discovery, June 1980. AAS 803845. Click on image to enlarge.

This long-forgotten cemetery had been buried under 1.2 m (almost 4 feet) of river deposits dating from the great flood of 1927.

Cedar Grove is important in several dimensions. First, it established a firm precedent for elevating historic cemeteries for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under criteria D--the potential to yield important information about the past. Dr. Jerome Rose, (project principle investigator) and Hester Davis (then Arkansas State Archeologist) argued that Cedar Grove should be considered eligible for inclusion on the National Register as its archeological excavation could provide information demography and mortuary practices for a segment of the population (i.e., African-Americans) who had been largely ignored in historical documentation.

Secondly, Cedar Grove established a efficient and thorough set of methods by which to quickly excavate, analyze and rebury the dead when the relocation of a historic-period cemetery is required. All of the historic-period burials excavated at Cedar Grove were reintered within 24 hours of of their excavation as per the agreement between the New Orleans District of the USACE and the elders of the Cedar Grove Baptist Church.

The data from the archeological excavations of the Cedar Grove cemetery has helped us to flesh out what the daily lives of those interred at Cedar Grove were like--the lives of men and women many of whom were born into slavery, but striving to create lives in the postbellum world. Data from the excavated remains tell us about work loads, nutrition, disease and health and the general quality of life.

Tombstones identify a number of those buried at Cedar Grove cemetery:

Felix Brown: born October 1868 in Arkansas; both parents also born in Arkansas. IN 1893 married Rachel who was born in Arkansas in 1870 also of Arkansas parents; their children include Carrie (1894), EDna (1897) and Singum (1899).

Cage Bryant: born 1848 in either North Carolina or Virginia; both parents born in Virginia. Listed in F. W. Armor's will (found in Lafayette County WIll Record B:212-213). First wife Celia born in Kentucky in 1845, their children: Jonas (1868) and Creasy (1870). Married a second time in 1888 to Mary, born in Arkansas in 1865; her father was born in Arkansas and her mother in Virginia; their children: Bettie (1892), John (1895), Louisa (1897), Modicue (1899). Also two other children, probably by Celia: Amilie (1884) and Buzzy (1887). Bryant was the first minister of the Cedar Grove Church and cut the logs for the church building.

William S. Campbell: born October 1854 in Louisiana; both parents wer born in Alabama. In 1865 married Sarah, who was born in Arkansas in 1865: their children include Ella (1899), THomas (1890), Rosa (12893), Annie (1895) and Robert (1899).

George Clark: born December 1849 in Arkansas; both parents also born in Arkansas. In 1830 married Lttie (Liddie) who was born in 1847 in Mississippi whose father was from Georgia and whose mother was from Alabama. They had seven children...but by 1900 all of the children had left home.

King Clark: born December 1865 in Arkansas; both parents also from Arkansas. In 1890 married Queen who was born in Arkansas in 1872 to Arkansas parents. Their children include Susie (1890), Bertha (1892), Moses (1895).

Torrance Clark: born November 1875 in Arkansas; both parents also from Arkansas. In 1896 married Mary, who was born in Arkansas in 1865 to Arkansas parents. In 1900 two stepchildren lived with them: Joshua Lawless (1889) and Lettie Richardson (1892).

George Collins, Sr.: born Jaunary 1857 in Arkansas; both parents also from Arkansas. IN 1877 married Amanda who was born in Texas in 1861. Their children include Dorcas (1880), Rose (1882), Ella (1884), Malissa (1886), Nattie (1889), George (1892), Lonnie (1894), McKinley (1896) and Pink (1899).

Alex Conner: born in Louisiana in January 1854; both parents also born in Louisiana. In 1885 married LOu, who was born in Louisiana in 1865 to Louisiana parents. Their children include Paralie (1886), Della (1883), Joseph (1892 and Willie (1894).