Where our Grandmother lies at rest since 1894
Denning Cemetery at the left yellow pin, about two miles from the A.H. Jones farm, at the right
Denning Cemetery
Local residents, an elderly man and wife, visiting the same day as I, related that the property had been heavily overgrown for many, many years until recently when it was cleared and is now cared for by volunteers. The lady described the place as "wooly" for so long she was afraid to even step inside the grounds for many years. Wooly I assumed to mean wild, perhaps brambles, brush, snakes and other small creatures. The lady's husband walked the cemetery while his wife and I chatted and soon after but ten or fifteen minutes he signalled success. He had found all three of the graves for me. It seemed uncanny at the time to step so far back in family history and walk up to that grave and say some prayers of thanks. It was a nice long visit and very profound for me personally.
Three Jones Graves
The rusted Iron marker in the foreground is Martha Moulder Jones, next is her first-born, Thomas A. Jefferson Jones and the third headstone directly in the picture center, behind the iron marker in the picture is Elizabeth Johnson Jones, first wife of our Grandfather. Left alone and surely seldom visited since the Jones family left Arkansas in 1912.
1850-1894
The internet provides a wealth of resources regarding old cemeteries and Denning cemetery was easily found long before making the trip to Harrison. The following was copied from a list grave transcriptions compiled by some kind soul sometime in the 1970's at this website:
Denning Cemetery
66. Jones, Elizabeth A. - d. 18 Mar. 1879 - 29 y. 5 m. 13 d. wife/ A. H.
67. Jones, Martha E. - 28 July 1850 -wife/ A. H., Metal mkr.glass front 12/1979
68. Jones, Thomas J. - 4 Dec. 1880 - 5 Sept. 1881 son/ A. H. & M.
The "12/1979"notation after Martha's marker entry, obviously the month and year the information was transcribed, is the only validation that this is truly our Grandmother's grave for since then the clear glass protective cover obviously placed to protect some written or printed text with the details of the grave was no longer installed on the face of the marker. It was easy to see where it had once been placed but the day I found the grave the glass had dislodged itself from the marker and had fallen to the ground still as a solid piece My last visit in 2006 found pieces of glass strewn around the marker perhaps as a result of vandalism. Had the glass not been present nothing would have given any proof of where Martha was laid to rest when Dad was thirteen years old. The foresight of the person documenting the cemetery has turned out to be extremely important. It could have taken many more years to really track down any other evidence if ever it could be found.
Thomas A. Jefferson Jones
December 4, 1880- September 5, 1881
Nine months old
Elizabeth Johnson Jones
1849-1879
First wife of A.H. Jones
Mother of Mary Lou, Esther Almira & Samuel Alfred Jones
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