Kings Prairie Township
S4-T25N-R27W
It is in a woods quite a distance north of FR 2020.
Cemetery photographed by Jay Trace and Jack Fly in the spring of 2011.
Visit Cemetery Files
Yard Shot
Yard Shot
Outline of Cemetery
Jack Fly and I recently went to the above-mentioned cemetery, with the help of the landowner, and took pictures of the stones there. Jack also dowsed the area looking for unmarked graves and we found 25+. One was the premature stillborn sister of Bernice Wallen that Mr. Long told us about.
A good 20-22 graves lined the north edge of the cemetery, stretching outside the fenceline. They were lined up two deep, and we believe these to be the Civil War soldiers that were mentioned on the MOBARRY site.
The following was a response from Frankie Meyer regarding Carlin-Wallen Cemetery -
I am thrilled that you have been researching the Carlin-Wallen cemetery!!! At the time I visited it with the Longs, Billy mentioned that several graves were outside the fence line.
The info about there being some Civil War soldiers of both sides buried there came from Maxine Carlin Linebarger, a cousin of Bernice Wallen. Maxine had been told the info by Bernice.
The cemetery was started by Amos and Amanda (Brewster) Carlin. Amos was raised on a farm near Shinston, Virginia, in an area that became West Virginia during the Civil War. As a young man, he moved near a brother and his family in Illinois. That is where he married Amanda Brewster. The two, plus one of Amanda's brothers George Washington Brewster and his family) left Illinois and arrived in Barry County in the 1840s. My great-great grandparents (Asa and Mariah Carlin) arrived in the 1850s. Asa was one of Amos's brothers. Asa and his family settled three or four miles farther west in an area that is now part of southern edge of the New Site community. They lived near the road that led to Jolly. During the war, George Brewster and his family became so frightened of all the turmoil, they returned to Illinois.
Amos and Amanda were not slave owners and supported the right for blacks to be free. According to Bernice, Amos and Amanda let several black families live on part of their farm. The black families lived in some rough buildings on a corner of the property. When Maxine told me this info, she pointed to the west indicating that the black settlement was in that area.
The two first burials in the cemetery were of Amos and Amanda's children who died before the war.
When Southern troops approached the homes, the common thing for Northern-supporter families to do was hide in the woods to prevent being killed. At one point during the war, Amanda and Amos spotted some Southern troops approaching their home, so they tried to hide in the woods. They grabbed their children. Amos carried some of the older ones, and Amanda carried the littlest ones. Amanda was pregnant at the time. The fright and strain of the events caused Amanda to die. She was buried next to her two children in the cemetery.
Troops from both sides constantly traveled up and down Barry County along the Old Wire Roadand back and forth to Jolly. If some died along the way, they may have checked with the local people to see about cemeteries. Also, families in that area were mixed in loyalty. Some of the burials might be of the neighbor's sons who died while serving in the war.
Amos built a rail fence around the cemetery and put wooden crosses that marked the graves of his children and wife. He also planted a lilac bush next to their graves. After the Civil War, Amos sold the farm to the Wallen family and moved west to the adjacent county of Newton. As the years rolled by, the rail fence and wooden crosses fell apart. During some drought years, the lilac died.
The area where Amos and his kids moved is on the west side of the community of Racine. The railroad ran through the town so it was a place at the time with a lot of growth potential.
The LDS church has a copy of notes that Bernice Wallen made about the cemetery. I found the notes while researching in Salt Lake City a few years ago. She scribbled the notes in the margin of what looks like a small farm almanac. She only mentions the graves of the people she knew of specifically and the location of those graves. I remember that some were family, and some were neighbors and their children who I don't think were related.
You could go online to the LDS family history site and type in Wallen Cemetery or Bernice Wallen, or Barry County. I am not sure how LDS would have it indexed. You could order microfilm of the notes at a local LDS family history center and then make a copy of them.
I am so excited that you are photographing and studying the site!!! During a couple of Carlin reunions that we used to have at Monett, a line of Amos's descendants was there and I made arrangements for them to visit the cemetery.
Frankie Carlin Meyer
P.S. Call numbers for Bernice Wallen diary are: 929.273 A1 no. 397 FHL FAM HIST Book Available
From what I understand, most mall Family History centers in the LDS churches have consolidated to the bigger cities. Joplin has one. Perhaps if someone is near one, they might be able to order this and help us identify who is buried in Carlin-Wallen Cemetery.
Jay Trace
Note from Frankie Meyer
The cemetery was originally part of the farm of Amos and Amanda Carlin, who moved to the area around 1841.
The first graves in the cemetery were of their two infant children. The infants were named Manda Jane and Robert. Another early grave was of Amos's wife, Amanda, who died in 1864. The three were buried in a field on their farm, and their graves were marked with fieldstone.
Amos remarried and he and his wife moved to Newton County near Racine. The farm was sold to the Ernest Wallen family. Their are several graves of members of the Wallen family who died between 1870 and 1990, five of these graves have stones that are engraved with their names. One I specifically remember is Bernice Wallen. Another grave, which has an engraved stone, is that of an employee of the Long family who died in 1993. There were also three slabs markers that were about 6 X 12 X 2. These had been laid against a tree and had no inscriptions. Bernice Wallen (who owned the farm at one time) had said that there were about 20 Civil War soldiers (both Union and Confederate) buried in the cemetery, so those slabs are probably some of their stones.
The main part of the cemetery, as well as the lane leading to it, is well maintained by the current owners. Some of the cemetery is believed to also extend into a brushy area.
The Wallen farm is now owned by Marilyn and Billy Joe Long and their family. Anyone wanting to visit the cemetery should contact the family and get permission before entering their farm.