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Home in Union County, Arkansas
I have no significant details of the activities of the Cabanisses,
Busseys, or Hearins after their 1840/41 arrival at Champagnolle
Landing near the present day community of Calion, Arkansas. What
little I do know comes from my grandfather, Bonnie Cason Cabaniss
(b. 1904, d. 1963 ) showing me what he said was Elijah's
homesite and working with some notes that his daughter (Betty
Jean Cabaniss) made as much as 40 years ago.
About 1961 or 1962 my grandfather,
one of Elijah's grandsons, took my father and me "way back
in the woods" to show us what he said was Elijah's homesite.
The route was pretty simple:
Leaving El Dorado, we traveled east on highway 82 (a.k.a.
the Strong Highway), turning right on HiBank Road. HiBank road
was followed for several miles until we turned left onto a dirt
road which became progressively more washed out as we continued
our travel for one or two miles. Then my grandfather stopped
the truck, saying the rest of the trip was to be on foot, at
which we began a walk into the brush for about a quarter of a
mile. On this Union County
map, the large purple arrow identifies the spot of the Cabaniss
homestead.
It was a good thing my grandfather
proclaimed our arrival, for I would have continued walking, unaware
I was walking through what was once a homestead. The thick, heavy
brush hid everything. There was no home, only a pile of old bricks
which my grandfather said were from the home. There was, however,
a cemetery generously shaded by two of the largest magnolia trees
I have ever seen, before or since. The deep shade under those
magnolia trees, aided by about a twelve inch thick carpet of
old and decaying magnolia tree leaves, kept the brush at bay.
I looked at some of the dates on the tombstones and saw they
were old, but made no notes.
That day we spent only thirty minutes
there...thoughts of that cemetery have been with me ever since.
Sometime in the late sixties/early
seventies I returned, just to see if I could find it. Then, in
1976, when I became interested in the Cabaniss genealogy, I visited
the cemetery again, this time with pencil, paper, and
camera. As I turned off HiBank Road, I stopped at a shack to
confirm my location, asking if a cemetery was nearby, explaining
some of the buried were my ancestors. The man confirmed the cemetery's
location, adding, "You sure have waited an awfully long
time to find your people." How embarrassingly true. I photographed
all the stones and copied down the inscriptions. The stones were
weather-worn and some were deeply stained. The magnolias' shade
was still deep and generous, and the thick carpet of magnolia
leaves still aided in keeping the brush at bay.
A day or so later, I visited the
local library and found this cemetery listed in a local area
genealogy book as the Bussey-Hearin Cemetery. The book listed
the same number of stones that I had seen, but some of the dates
and names were not the same as what I had seen. In the table
below, I've listed the ten tombstones that were there on August 20, 1976.
Family members have remarked that they believe that some tombstones
are missing.
| Name: |
Inscription, if any: |
Born: |
Died: |
| Maude |
Daughter of James D.
and Georgia Moore |
May 7, 1883 |
October 23, 1891 |
| Ann E. |
Consort of H. Bussey
aged 48 |
|
May 28, 1860 |
| N.B. Jones |
|
April 28, 1849 |
November 17, 1886 |
| Seborn Robins |
|
January 8, 1827 |
March 18, 1894 |
| Jno. E. Hearin |
|
November 11, 1836 |
February 15, 1898 |
| Rhoda C. |
Wife of J. Hearin |
May 8, 1807 |
December 11, 1851 |
| Tomie |
Son of Dr. T.F. and
Julia Nolan |
January 20, 1858 |
October 1, 1858 |
| Hezekiah Bussey |
|
April 8, 1780 |
April 7, 1848 |
| Hezekih (sic) B. |
Son of E. and
H.A. Cabaniss |
May 7, 1847 |
December 23, 1847 |
| Joicy |
Wife of E. Cabaniss
Aged 48
Baptised (sic)
2nd Sunday
June 1828 |
|
Mar 5, 1845 |
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Union County, Arkansas?
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