VBCCC McElwee Traditional Cache

The McElwee Cemetery Story Helen Hutto, an elderly lady in her 90’s who lives in the Clinton area told me the story of the 2 graves which she and her grandmother would occasionally decorate with flowers.

Sometime, soon after the end of the Civil War, the 11 year old daughter of a former slave family who lived & worked on the farm of Mrs Hutto’s great grandfather, John Robinson McElwee (1825 - abt. 1880), was the playmate of Mrs Hutto’s grandmother, Martha McElwee (1855 - 1940). The girl died of some sickness, was buried on the farm, and Martha McElwee (later Morgan) decorated the girl’s grave as long as she was physically able.

Then, in 1921, a new highway was built through the area and the highway laborers brought their families along who camped on the McElwee farm for several months. One of the children, a small boy of about 2 or 3 years old, took sick and died, and the parents of the boy asked Mrs Hutto’s grandfather, John Perminter Morgan (1861 - 1933) if they could bury the child on the farm. He agreed and suggested they bury the child beside the girl’s grave.

Because they couldn’t read, the parents asked Mr Morgan if he would read some Bible verses over the grave, which he agreed to do. When it came time for the burial the whole Morgan family and all of the highway workers and their families were there … Mr Morgan then read some scripture passages, said a eulegy for the boy, said a prayer, and led everyone in the singing of some old time spirituals. From that point on until the highway workers & families broke camp and moved away, they called John Morgan “Our Preacher”.

Where I came into this story was in early 2003, when someone (apparently from the highway department) removed the field stones that marked the graves, probably because the graves were on the right of way only about 25 feet off of the pavement. Mrs Hutto, knowing of my interest in old graveyard restoration, asked me if there was anything I could do to preserve the graves. I contacted the Arkansas State Highway Department in June of 2003 and requested a waiver of the rules regarding placement of things on the right of way, received that waiver in early July, and by the end of that month had made those grave markers. In August of 2003 I did an archealogical survey of the site, completed all of the paperwork with scale drawings, maps, photographs, etc., and registered it with the Arkansas Archealogical Survey and with the State History Commission . . . The tiny graveyard is now officially Arkansas State Cemetery Site 3VB265.

Writing a good log will not make you a better cacher, but it might give you more respect from other cachers.