Arkansas Cemeteries - Newton Family Cemetery, Union County, Arkansas

Arkansas Cemeteries

NEWTON FAMILY CEMETERY, Est. 1857

Union County, Arkansas

March 31, 2004, Submitted by Janice Holzer

Updated February 25, 2006

*See below the info pertaining to the demise of this Cemetery.

Newton Family Cemetery located just southeast of El Dorado; about 400 ft. off of Hwy. 82 East (about 2 miles from the the junction of Hwy. 82 and Hwy. 167 south).. DAR inventoried this cemetery many years ago.

Until the fall of 2003, it was almost impossible to get to this little cemetery without crawling on all fours, through a heavy undergrowth of vines, bushes, briars, etc. The cemetery was completely hidden in the jungle of plant growth. Someone clear-cut the surrounding (approx. 5 to 7 acres) area where the cemetery is located. You can still see in the photos the growth of vines, trees, etc. at the cemetery. There once was a single strand of large cable, looped between wooden post, surrounding the little cemetery. There are roses growing in with all the tangle of vines and bushes. There are three graves with two large obelisk tombstones for the two males & a smaller standard type tombstone for the female. These tombstones are in excellent condition, but there are plenty of saplings & vines all around them. They are surrounded by four old wooden post, connected by a steel cable. The post have rotted & the "cabled - off" area (about 14' x 14')is sagging. I did take photos & will be glad to share with descendants of this family.

There are only 3 graves visible. William Baker Newton who has the smaller WOW headstone, in the middle; Harrell Newton who has the largest obelisk (*you can see pink chalk on his obelisk which I used in order to try to get a better photo of it); the third small stone belongs to Penelope Newton, a 2 yr. old child.

*Due to recent info sent to me by descendant's of the Newton family, it has come to my attention, that there is another cemetery located a few miles southeast of this one, in the Hillsboro area, the Green Newton Family Cemetery. Some of the folks listed here and mentioned above (without markers) are most likely buried at the other Green Newton Family Cemetery, which is located on private property in the Hillsboro area. If I am able to eventually acquire more information, it will be posted.

* February 2006: It is with great sadness, that I bring news of the destruction of this cemetery. The 3 monuments have been moved to Woodlawn Cemetery in El Dorado. They are now located in the southwest corner of Woodlawn facing, Mosby Street. I am posting pictures of the monuments in their new location and the current view of what was the cemetery. The larger obelisk had a fair amount of damage done to it in the relocation process. The smaller headstone for the child was broken off even with the ground and re-implanted in the dirt. All the original bases for these three monuments were left behind at the old cemetery, so they were reinstalled in/on the bare dirt. One of the Newton descendants told me that he has the original receipts for the purchase of these monuments. They were bought and shipped up the river from New Orleans. Had it not been for the vigilance of a passer-by, who alerted me of what was happening to the old cemetery, I would not have known. It did take some effort on my part and that of others to find out where the monuments had been re-located to.

Before cemetery pictures from April 2005: L to R: Harrell Newton, Wm. Baker Newton, Penelope Newton obscured by green leaves.

February 2006 View of what was the Newton Family Cemetery. The original bases for the monuments were left behind.

New location: Woodlawn Cemetery, El Dorado, February 2006. White on large obelisk, Harrell Newton's tombstone, is damage done in the move, exposing the white marble below. Back view.

GEORGE BUCHANAN 1883 to 1923

ELIZABETH JANE NEWTON 6-8-1813 to 11-2-1860

Md: 2-28-1830 *wife of Green Newton

ROBERT D. NEWTON 1846 to 1916 "Our brother & sister with him"

SUSAN ELIZABETH (Marrable) NEWTON 7-27-1848 to 10-11-1895 *wf/of Robert D. Newton

HARRELL NEWTON 9-1-1818 to 7-20-1866 "Father"

(Before: April 2005 Closeup of Harrell Newton's large obelisk. Pink chalk used to enhance writing so it would show on photo.) Closeup view of the Harrell Newton obelisk & damage done during move. Woodlawn Cemetery

WM. BAKER NEWTON 1855 to 11-18-1924 (WOW marker)

* W.B. Newton md: Pearl Parnell 1906, Book P-18, Union Co., AR

(Before April 2005 Closeup of Wm. Baker Newton's WOW marker.)

PENELOPE NEWTON 10-17-1855 to 4-17-1857

(Before April 2005 Child, Penelope Newton headstone. Was broken off at base to move to new location and stuck in dirt, which comes to just below the death date, at new location.)

EMILY G. TATUM 8-1-1831 to 11-2-1860 Age 17 yrs 1 mo 7 dys

daug/of GREEN & JANE NEWTON. Wife of JOHN B. TATUM

* The above is evidently wrong. Her correct age should have been 29 yrs old. Emily married John B. Tatum in 1846, Book A-003B, Union County,AR

* Penelope Newton md: Obadiah Newton 1863, Book B-282, Union County, Ar.

*The marriage dates & spouse names were added by me.

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