Arkansas Cemeteries

Leemon Community Cemetery

Monroe County, Arkansas

A few days ago, I explored the border between Lee and Monroe counties and located the old and lost LEEMON community.

Someone recently inquired about the location of a Monroe County community named LEEMON.
It is not shown on any current map of Monroe County or Lee County, Arkansas.
It is not listed as a Post Office, past or present.
It is not listed or mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey.
However, way in the back of my memory I recalled hearing two old men discussing that community in my hearing some months ago.
I went to Brinkley and contacted these friends and they assured me such a community had existed 70 or so years ago and furnished a word description of the location.

I verified the directions in the field yesterday, 13 Aug 2001. Also, I located a lady who said she came upon
the burning schoolhouse around 15 years ago.

Yes, Virginia, there is (or, was) a LEEMON about 7 miles east of Brinkley, on a rock road which is an extension of Arkansas 238. The community was located just east of the Pleasant Valley Community, less than a mile east of Pleasant Valley Gardens Cemetery. There are virtually no physical remains of the community of 4 or 5
houses near the old Leemon school house. In fact, the school house was apparently the only space actually named Leemon. Nearby, there is a small fenced and mowed cemetery less than 1/4 mile from the bank of Big
Creek.

The schoolhouse apparently sat in Lee County, which it occurred to me, accounts for the name. The school was on the county line of LEE and MONROE counties--hence, LEEMON!

The marked graves in the little cemetery carried the names FORBESS, SPARKS and WHEELER. The old patriarch appears to have been J.P. FORBESS, born 05 Nov 1858, died 13 Apr 1900. His grave is marked by a fallen Woodmen of the World monument.

On Sunday, 20 Aug 2001, I revisited the unnamed LEEMON area cemetery to record the burial information there. These are the records:

J.P. FORBESS, 05 Nov 1858 - 13 Apr 1900.

His grave is marked by a fallen Woodmen of the World monument. This grave is in line with, and 30
feet inside, the gate.

To the right of the first grave is a pile of broken stone with two fragments which are engraved but almost completely obliterated. No first name is legible. It is a FORBESS stone which may read: E?HSA, July . . .
, . . . ught.

To the left of the J.N. FORBESS stone, there is a flat marker which reads:
Annie Rhoda FORBESS RIDDLE WHEELER
1869 - 1961.

The remaining stones are in one row, at the rear of the cemetery, reading left to right:

James Daniel WHEELER
U S Navy
World War II
Oct 22, 1914 - Jan 13, 1993
- - -
Mrs Mabel WHEELER
Feb 24, 1892 - Dec 24, 1965
“Gone To Be An Angel”
- - -
J.N. WHEELER
Oct 3, 1887 - Dec 4, 1973
- - -
J.S. WHEELER
Jun 12, 1861 - Apr 27, 1935
- - -
W.N. SPARKS
Jul 16, 1869 - Jul 24, 1924
- - -
Mrs J.S. WHEELER
Mar 29, 1868 - Apr 27, 1906
“Asleep In Jesus”
- - -
H.J. WHEELER
Nov 16, 1902 - Apr 22, 1905
- - -
End of list of all marked graves in this cemetery.

The burial ground is about 80 feet square, fenced with chain link fencing, with a double gate, one leaf of which is missing.

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