"The number one thing that interest me in cemeteries is the sense that you're walking into an area filled with stories if you can just extract them."  Abby Burnett, author and cemetery researcher, quoted in "Silent Storytellers", PBS (AETN) documentery.

On my last post I wrote about visiting the Richard Hill Cemetery so I could find and photograph the headstone of  Deny Hill, a three year old girl murdered in 1871. The headstone put up by her father, Richard Hill, tells her tragic story.

The headstone names the two murderers of the little girl, who dumped her body in a creek so they could rob her fathers home while the family was out looking for her. But what happened to the killers, "Chinouth" and "Forbush"? (Their names are variously spelled as "Cheneworth" or "Chenoweth" and "Faubus" or "Farbish"). Were they caught and brought to justice? As one might expect, this tragic story was big news in Franklin County and the surrounding area. Was there a newspaper account of the tragedy? As a matter of fact there was. The Fort Smith paper in Sebastion County reported in the writing style of the day "of a deed of almost unparalleled atrociousness." Here is the story as written in the Fort Smith Weekly New Era of December 1, 1871 (re-printed from their Tri-Weekly of Nov. 20, 1871).

                                                             A TALE OF HORROR 

A FOUR YEAR OLD GIRL VIOLATED AND BRUTALLY MURDERED - BY TWO YOUNG FIENDS - SICKENING  DETAILS - SWIFT JUSTICE OVERTAKES THE SCOUNDRELS.            

By yesterday's mail, we recieved from Capt. Chas. K. Berry, Sheriff of Franklin county in this State with information of a deed of almost unparalleled atrociousness commited in that county a few days ago, being no less than the foul abuse and cruel murder of a little four-year-old girl and the subsequent speedy death of the bestial fiends.             

Says our correspondent:                                                                                                                                 

Mr. Richard Hill, a very excelent and worthy citizen, living on Mulberry Creek had in his employ, as farm hands, two young men, aged about eighteen, named Joseph Farbish and William Chenoweth. On the 22nd last, these men returned to the home of Mr. Hill from their work at noon as usual. After dinner Chenoweth feigned sickness and went to bed, while Farbish went to chop wood near the house.

Soon after a little daughter of Mr. Hill's, four years old, went out to the wood-pile and commenced to chat with Farbish. Presently the latter picked the child up and started off with her towards the creek; where he was soon joined by Chenoweth, and after proceeding some distance from the house, they horribly outraged the poor little child and after cruelly murdering her, threw the body into a deep pool of the creek.

When the child was missed by its anxious parents, the father and some nieghbors at once commenced a diligent search. But it was not until the next morning that the party, having been joined by Mr. Allison Hill, an old back woodsman, and keeping up a strict search along the creek, discovered in the water what proved to be the hands of the little child, stretched heavenward, as is imploring for help. When the body was raised from its watery grave, the face of the murdered child was so much bruised as hardly to resemble that of a human being. Its neck was also broken.

Strange to say Farbish and Chenoweth still kept about Hill's premises, for the purpose, it is supposed, to rob the house ere leaving for parts unknown. In this however, they were foiled. On the return of the party they were immediately arrested and taken before a Justice of the Peace for preliminary examination. Evidence pointing very strongly to them as the parties guilty of the awful crime, they were commited for trial and sent under guard to the jail at Ozark.

On the way Farbish made a full confession of the deed with all its sickening details, and when, some time afterwards the prisoners attempted to make their escape, the guard succeeded in shooting them and leaving them dead in the road.

A coroner's jury was sent out from Ozark at the instance [sic] of the guard, who came to town for that purpose and surrendered themselves to the Sheriff, Capt. Berry. The latter discharged them, on their own personal recognizance.

This sad affair and terrible fate of the poor girl has created the greatest excitement and indignation in Franklin county and everybody acknowledges that simple shooting was too good for the hellish fiends. 

( I want to thank Abby Burnett author and cemetery reseacher, who kindly sent me her transcription of the Fort Smith Weekly New Era which she obtained from the University of Arkansas, Mullins Library.)

Is this the end of the story? Maybe not.  I got this Coroner's Inquist Report from a book at our local library.

"An inquisition taken the 24th day of  November 1871 in said county nine miles north of Ozark before G.C. Alden Justice of the Peace and acting Coroner of said county upon the view of the dead bodies of William Cheneworth and Joseph Faubush by the oaths of T.D. Berry, S.B. Felker, J. D. Berry, J.H. Adams, John Nichols, Barnard Norton, Richard Hood, Benjamin Pendergrass, Joseph Kimberling, Andrew James, T.J. Childers, and A.B. Barnett good and lawful Jurors who being in due form sworn say that the said Cheneworth and Faubush came to their death by gunshot wounds at the hands of Eli Murry, Richard Hill, Fletcher Stanley, J.S. Kelly and Clay Anderson who were guarding them as persons charged with murder that from the evedence produced it appears that they were about to affect an escape and that the killing was justifyable."

(Cheneworth and Faubush were buried where they were shot, near Joab Roger's home. A grove of pine trees mark the spot. This information from Jesse McLaughlin.) From the book Inquests in Franklin County Arkansas, (Virginia McPhail 1995) 

By this coroners report Richard Hill, ( I assume the murdered girls father ), was one of the guards taking the accused killers to the Ozark jail to stand trail. Which of the several  guards actually shot the prisoners as they tried to "affect an escape"? The report dosen't say, but either way Richard Hill got his revenge. He saw the "fiends", who killed his little girl, themselves put to death on a lonely dirt road in Arkansas. And he then put up a monument to his little girl so that future generations would remember the tragic events. 

And they do. When we first arrived at the Hill Cemetery there was a young family with two young children already there. I asked them if they were related to the Hill family and did they mind if we looked around. They said they were not related in anyway to the owners of the cemetery, but this was their second visit to see the Deny Hill headstone. Their young children seemed to know all about what was written on the headstone. Other people also seem to know and remember the sad story of little Deny Hill. Remember the photograph I took of  her headstone with the shiny red pebble at the base?

   Leaving small stones at a gravesite is a Jewish custom to express rememberance. But this custom has been taken up by people of other faiths. In the Jewish custom, when a person leaves a small stone at a gravesite, it is a way to continually build a monument to memory and that stone is a signal to those who come after them that they were there and that the souls buried there have not been forgotten. Even the smallest pebble says it all.

I enjoy visiting old cemeteries. When you enter an old cemetery it's like walking into the past. Sometimes the old headstones can tell us interesting stories if we just do a little reasearch (which I like to do). About three months ago our local PBS station (AETN), ran a documentery about exploring the history, culture, and importance of preserving Arkansas's cemeteries. The documentery was called Silent Storytellers. One of the people interviewed made the comment that cemeteries are like history books and headstones are like pages and if one gets destroyed, we lose a piece of  history. Some of the cemeteries shown were within driving distance so I decided to take a few Sunday drives whenever I could and explore some of them. I wanted to start by visiting an old cemetery located in Franklin County deep in the Ozark National Forest. Scenic State Highway 23 bisects this part of the Ozarks. This 19 mile long section of highway, nicknamed the "Pig Trail", passes through a picturesque section of the Ozark National Forest. Along its hairpin turns, the historic road passes scenic mountain views and the popular Mulberry River. Named for its popularity as a short cut to Fayetteville for games of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, the Pig Trail is one of the most historic roads in the Ozarks. It begins at the southern boundary of the National Forest, just north of  the town of Ozark and ends at the small town of Brashears. Long before it became a popular route for Razorback fans, the Pig Trail was a winding pathway through the valleys and rolling hills of the Ozarks. It existed long before the Civil War and may have started as an Indian or fur trapper trail. Franklin County was established in 1837 and several years before that white settlers (mostly from Tennessee), came to start farms along the Mulberry River. Along with their farms they also established family cemeteries. Some of these cemeteries can still be found nestled deep in the forest. The particular cemetery I wanted to find would prove to be elusive.

  My starting point in Barling, Ark (bottom left) to Ozark (middle right) where the Pig Trail (Hwy 23) heads north thru the Ozark National Forest. I was looking for a cemetery near Cass (top right) close to the popular Redding Campground. (Click on map to enlarge)

My two sons, Chris and Nathan, like to go on these drives with their old dad. This is about the only time we have to bond and for me catch up on their lives since they have both moved out on their own. Chris knows this area pretty well because he likes to camp and canoe along this part of the Mulberry River. If he wasn't with me I'd probably get lost. Our first Sunday drive was this past fall. The leaves were just changing to their bright colors and they were predicting rain later in the day. We drove for miles in the Ozark forest trying to find the cemetery shown in the AETN documentery. We had to get off the Pig Trail (Hwy 23) and turn right onto Hwy 215 shortly after we passed the small town of Cass. We were supposed to look on our right for a "footpath" in the forest right after the Redding campground but never could find it. We even asked the locals but still had no luck. The scenery was beautiful though and we had some good father/sons conversations. Finally we gave up looking and started for home. We were now heading back thru Chris' old camping grounds and he remembered an old cemetery near by. Chris directed us off  Hwy 23 and had us turn onto Shores Lake Road. He explained that when he and his friends camped around Shores Lake and the Mulberry River, they came across an old cemetery. After going several miles on a winding dirt road, he lead us to the old Campbell Cemetery. When we walked into the cemetery it started to rain. The Ozark Forest is so thick in this area that it's canopy kept us dry while we stood under an old tree. When it stopped raining we walked around and  I took a few pictures.

Gate to the Campbell Cemetery. Headstones in Campbell Cemetery. Headstone for Rachel Campbell. Died Dec. 16, 1907, Age 78 Headstone for Minnie E. Ford  Dec.8,1886-Jan.7,1898 and Mary E. Ford  Dec.19,1889- Jan.7,1898. Children of  L.B. & L.E. Ford. Their daughters died on the same day and they used the same headstone. I'm sure there is a story there.

After we left the Campbell Cemetery, Chris said there was another one a few miles further up Shores Lake Road. We didn't have time to stop, but as we drove by I saw it was called the Brewer Cemetery. I made a double take. I told Chris that the cemetery was started by relatives of his Grandmother Nita. I told my sons that it looked like we had another Sunday drive in our future. We had to come back later in the month and take pictures of the Brewer Cemetery, one of our own old family cemeteries.

 We did stop for a few minutes to take some pictures at a bluff overlooking the Shores Lake recreational area. My sons, Nathan (left) and Chris.

A couple of weeks after this Sunday drive Chris and I made another trip into the Ozark National Forest to try find the "footpath" that would lead us to the elusive cemetery I was seeking. Within the cemetery was a headstone that told a tragic story. A story of murder and revenge. More in my next post.

The Arkansas River Valley and Northwest Arkansas had record snowfall today. And we will have record freezing temperatures tomorrow morning. Fort Smith in the River Valley where we live got about 6 inches of snow. In Northwest Arkansas they got anywhere from 18 to 24 inches.Tempertures in the morning in NW Arkansas will be from -10 to -4 degrees. In the River Valley about -1 to +5 degrees.

I'm ready for wam weather. I've already put a cold brewski out on my back patio hoping for an early spring. Didn't the groundhog say spring is just around the corner? I think that groundhog will be the first on my list to be bar-b-qued this summer. Teri put all that snow to good use and made snow ice cream. Grandkids loved it.

My snow covered car on our driveway. No school today so neighbor kids used the small hill in front of our house to go sledding.  Funny thing is, Thursday will be +5degrees for a low, but by Valentines Day it will be about 60 degrees. That will warm hearts for sure.