The Washburn Cemetery is a small cemetery near the homestead of Rev. Cephas Washburn in what used to be the town of Norristown and now is part of Russellville. Rev. Washburn was a missionary to the Cherokee Indians after arriving in Arkansas c. 1819. One of his sons was Edward Payson Washbourne, creator of one of the Western frontier’s most memorable and humorous genre scenes, The Arkansas Traveler.
Washburn Home
View of Cemetery with Home in the Background
The Arkansas Traveler
The cemetery is very small and has only three graves:
- Abigail Woodward Washburn (wife of Rev. Cephus Washburn);
- Abigail Maria Washburn Langford (daughter of Abigail and Cephas Washburn); and
- Harry Cephas Washburn (son of Henry Earl Alfred Washburn and grandson of Abigail and Cephas Washburn).
The cemetery, unfortunately, is largely unmaintained, although it is just off the side of Old Post Road near the Russellville Soccer Fields Complex and the entrance to Old Post Park.
The geocache is not within the old walls of the cemetery but is hidden just off the parking area nearby. You will be searching for a bison tube hidden in a typical manner for the surroundings. Good luck!