The Benton County Daily Record
Bentonville, AR
By Annette Beard Times Editor
March 7, 2009

PEA RIDGE - Two of three headstones recovered from a house north of Pea Ridge came from the Stoney Point Cemetery in the southeast area of Rogers - more than 15 miles from the point of recovery.

Brambles and briars weave over the vinca which cover broken headstones, wooden crosses and field stones apparently set up as footstones. The dark gray base of an obelisk tombstone is starkly contrasted by the white square on the top, caused by the tower being broken off the base.
That stone is intact. The name is clearly seen. Carved in the stone is the name of a young girl - Thelma Williams, born in 1905 and died in 1907. Her name is on the records for the cemetery.

Another shows breaks on the top and bottom, but what can be seen is Wolf, Jan. 25, 1912. That name also matches with cemetery records.

A third stone, showing the bas-relief of an open Bible has the words: "In God We Trust" and "Holy Bible" carved on it. No name is visible. No partial tombstone was found among the ones in the cemetery to match that stone.

Monte Harris, with the Rogers Historical Museum, discovered the Williams record in a name index at the museum.
"I'm just so glad we were able to find it so easily and quickly," Harris said. "We're trying to learn when they were damaged and who did it."

Harris found the one name that was completely legible - Williams - in the index for "Cemeteries of Benton County, Arkansas, Vol. II, Fall 1974." That book has 22 names listed for people buried at Stoney Point, which is off Stoney Point Road, running east of South Old Wire Road, south of New Hope Road. The records were created by Reed and Maudine Rand in 1972 when they wrote down the legible names on all tombstones in the cemetery.

"We have the complete cemetery survey," Harris said, explaining that volunteers explored all the cemeteries in the county to record the words and names on the tombstones. "There are hundreds of cemeteries in Benton County. This is the most complete list."

"Stoney Point has been a point of discussion for quite some time," Harris said, adding that she and former County Judge Gary Black had discussed it just this past December.
A descendant from someone buried there contacted Harris several years ago saying state law had been broken concerning the care of the cemetery which, although bordered on the south by a white iron fence and on the west and north by a barbed wire fence, is not maintained.

The earliest burial date, from the records, appears to be 1880 for James Atkisson, son of M.E. and J.G. The last known burial was in 1930, that of Susan Whittle.
For now, the three headstones remain in the Pea Ridge Police Department as evidence recovered from a residence during the arrest and search of that residence.