Lewis Johnson
Family Cemetery
copyright © 1999, 2000
by Debra C. Blackard
Located
in the Garret Community, Pittsburg Township, Johnson Co., AR, Sec. 29 -
T9N - R22W, this small cemetery is part of Lewis JOHNSON's orignial preemption
land entry, (patent issued in 1844.) It is the burial place of Penninah
JOHNSON, wife of Lewis,
the family of John T. JOHNSON, Sarah M. Johnson CAROTHERS,
the daughter of Lavinia Jane Johnson BLACKARD,
and at least six of Hannah Susan Johnson FARMER's children. (A Johnson
Co. cemetery location index and some maps
inaccurately place this cemetery in Sec. 20. But in fact, the north boundary
of the cemetery is the line between Sections 20 and 29.) Permission of
the landowner is necessary before visiting the cemetery.
Unkempt and
overgrown with honeysuckle vines and ornamentals gone wild, the cemetery
was invisible to all except the few who remembered its existence. With
the removal of underbrush, it emerged as a prime example of the transitional
cemetery often found in the Upland South. Marked burials range from 1858
to 1955. The majority of graves are indicated by native fieldstone, several
with stone copings. There are seven commercial tombstones in this cemetery.
Penninah JOHNSON's grave is surrounded by a
native stone, brick, and mortar structure and covered with a single stone,
approximately five feet by nine feet by six inches thick. The inscription
on this stone appears to have been professionally incised.
INVENTORY
OF LEWIS JOHNSON FAMILY CEMETERY