SUMMARY

Freeman Cemetery located in Little River County near Alleene, Arkansas, is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion A with local significance for its association with the early settlement of the Alleene area. The cemetery is the final resting place for the Freeman family and particularly William Madison Freeman, who was the first Sheriff of Little River County in 1867. The original Freeman plantation surrounded the cemetery, and the first courthouse and jail of Little River County were on the Freeman farm. Also, the first court session ever held in Little River County was held on the front porch of William Madison Freeman’s home in 1867. The Freeman Cemetery is also being nominated under Criteria Consideration: D as a cemetery.

ELABORATION

Town and County History

Little River County Arkansas, was organized in accordance with an Act of the Legislature approved March 5, 1867, out of territory taken from the counties of Hempstead and Sevier, and took its name from the Little River, which forms most of the county’s northern boundary. Little River County, in the southwestern corner of Arkansas, is bounded north by Sevier and Howard Counties, east by Hempstead, south by Lafayette County, Arkansas, and Bowie County, Texas, and west in 1890 by the Indian Territory. The area of the county is about 600 square miles.

The temporary seat of justice, where the county was organized, was fixed by the Act at the house of William M. Freeman. The first six county officials were appointed by the governor of Arkansas to serve until 1868, when an election could be held. Sheriff W.M. Freeman was one of these six officials. His family settled in southwest Arkansas about 1850 after moving from Tennessee to Louisiana and then to Arkansas.

The land was first obtained by William M. Freeman on a land grant in 1853. It was deeded to John D. Freeman, his son, in 1873, and in 1957, the farm was still in the John D. Freeman Trust.

The first courthouse and jail in the county were on the Freeman farm, which was located about two miles south of present-day Alleene. The courthouse was a single log room about 20 by 26 feet. There was a small jail made of hewn logs with very small windows in the side. Bars for the windows were made of seasoned white oak pegs.

During William Freeman’s tenure as sheriff, from 1867-1868, he often served as the arresting officer and trail judge. The first session of court ever held in Little River County was held on the front porch of his home.

In 1892, with the coming of the railroad, the town of Alleene was surveyed and laid out by Ben F. Lawrence on land belonging to him. The survey was filed on August 20, 1896. The original town was, and still is, composed of 15 blocks. Lawrence donated ten acres to the railroad company and named the new station Lawrenceville. The railroad company objected to the name of the station and renamed it Alleene. During the first few years if existence, the new town had three name changes: Mineola, Lawrenceville and Alleene.

There was a settlement and Post Office known as Mineola, located two miles from the present site of Alleene, settled prior to the Civil War, thus the original name of the new town was changed to Lawrenceville. As discussed above, the second name of the new town was rejected. The name “Alleene” was offered, in honor of the railroad conductor’s daughter, Alleena.

The first general store was established in 1893, by W.W. Wright. Due to the abundance of virgin timber covering the land, sawmills were built and quickly put into operation. The timber industry provided the main source of income for Alleene residents as long as the timber lasted, for many decades.

Among the early settlers of Burke Township, which includes, Alleene, were the Allens, Andersons, Bankstons, Burkes, Conatsers, Dillards, Freemans, Lawrences, Millers, Mongomerys, Scarboroughs, Seastrunks, and Wards.

Chester (Chet) Lauck, Lum of the Lum & Abner radio celebrity, was born in Alleene.

Cemetery History

The cemetery consists of many of the Freeman family, who moved into Sevier County (now Little River County) in 1858. At the time of the Freeman’s arrival, Little River County was not yet in existence. It was formed out of Sevier County in 1867.

Freeman Cemetery began as a family cemetery in the mid 1850s on the Freeman plantation. It continues to serve the Freeman family and extended family as a burial ground, and it also serves the Alleene community in the same capacity. This cemetery contains the graves of several veterans of the Civil War and World War II.

The site for the cemetery was chosen on account of the deep ravine running along the southern and western boundary which would insure that water would not stand in the graves. In examining the property deeds and old plat maps of this area, you can see that the parcels of land owned by William M. Freeman met at one specific location. This is the two acres which he chose for the site of the cemetery.

The first marked burial (1855) in the Freeman Cemetery is that of the infant child of Matilda Bradshaw (Aunt Mary), a slave. Aunt Mary was later laid to rest next to her child.

Grandsons of William M. Freeman, Curry B. and Alva Freeman, along with other family members, decided that concrete would help preserve ancestral grave sites. They, along with several townspeople, poured concrete over approximately 16 Freeman graves. This concrete work was done in the early 1950s. Curry B. Freeman’s grave (1984) is also covered in concrete, and adjoins the 15 graves originally covered by concrete. Additionally, four graves in the Wright plot are covered with a bed of concrete.

In 1984, Curry B. Freeman left $40,000.00 of his estate in Trust for the use and benefit of the Freeman Cemetery. He said “I am creating this charitable trust due to my desire to benefit the public in general who choose to utilize the Freeman (Public) Cemetery.” He directed that the income be paid semi-annually to the Alleene Community Center of Alleene, Little River County, or another organization, church or entity that will perform the perpetual care of the cemetery. The cemetery Trust is currently in the hands of the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council, Texarkana, Texas.

SELECTED BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THOSE BURIED IN THE FREEMAN PUBLIC CEMETERY

Black FamilyEMALINE VICTORIA “EMMA” FREEMAN BLACK (01/28/1870 – 09/30/1903)
Born in Alleene, Little River County, Arkansas, to William Madison and Mary Ann Crowley Freeman. She married George Henry Black on September 2, 1886, in Blue Ridge, Falls County, Texas. After the death of her father, in 1885, she traveled to Reagan, Falls County, Texas, to spend time with friends. While there, she met and fell in love with George Henry Black. They married and remained in Falls County for three years before moving to Arkansas. They lived in her grandmother’s home while building on land which Emma had inherited from the Freeman holdings. She and George had five children: Addie Adelia Black, Oscar Henry Black, Olive Ethel Black, Della Elizabeth Black, and Annie Emma Black.

Emaline died September 30, 1903, in Foreman, Little River County, Arkansas

GEORGE HENRY BLACK (02/12/1862 – date unknown)
He was born in Greene County, Alabama, to George Lemuel Black and Miranda A. Harlan. He married Emaline Freeman on September 2, 1886, in Blue Ridge, Falls County, Texas. They had the five children listed above under his wife’s name.

Dollarhide FamilyDANIEL SIMPSON DOLLARHIDE (dates unknown)
He was the husband of Mary Elizabeth Freeman. They married on October 15, 1878, in Rocky Comfort, Little River County, Arkansas.

MARY ELIZABETH “ELIZA” FREEMAN DOLLARHIDE (03/08/1861 – 12/14/1895)
She was born March 8, 1861, in Mineola, Sevier County, Arkansas, to William Madison and Mary Ann Crowley Freeman. She married Daniel Simpson Dollarhide on October 15, 1878, in Rocky Comfort, Little River County, Arkansas. They had four children: Edna Dollarhide, William Dollarhide, Ersking Dollarhide, Mattie Dollarhide, and Augustus Dollarhide

She died on December 14, 1895, in Foreman, Little River County, Arkansas.

Freeman FamilyCURRY BRYAN FREEMAN (09/20/1898 - 06/14/1984)
The 11th child of John D. and Mecha Wright Freeman, he was born on the Freeman plantation, located two miles south of Alleene, Arkansas. In 1917, Curry received his teacher’s license examination and returned to Goodwin School to teach. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1921, and worked in various banks until the early months of 1942, when he enlisted in the U. S. Army and completed four years of service. After graduating from the Infantry School and the Adjutant General’s School, he returned to Chicago to resume his banking career, which lasted until his retirement in 1962. While visiting Evanston, Illinois, he suffered a massive heart attack, and died on June 14, 1984.

In his will, he left $40,000 in Trust for the use and benefit of the Freeman Cemetery. This money was to be paid semi-annually to the Alleene Community Center of Alleene, or another organization, church or entity that will perform the perpetual care of the cemetery.

JESSIE M. FREEMAN (01/12/1886 – 08/14/1909)
He was born January 12, 1886, to John D. and Mecha Catherine Wright Freeman, Sr., in Foreman, Little River County, Arkansas. He finished grammar school in the City Public Schools, Greenville, Hunt County, Texas, on May 16, 1902, and was promoted to the High School Department. He had finished one year at Springfield, Missouri, Business College. He died August 14, 1909, as the result of a saw mill accident. A Woodman of the World memorial was placed on his grave.

JOHN D. FREEMAN, SR. (11/09/1855 – 11/22/1915)
He was born November 9, 1855, in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, to William Madison and Mary Ann Crowley Freeman. On August 17, 1876, he married Mecha Catherine Wright Freeman in Little River County, Arkansas. He died on November 22, 1915, in Little River County, Arkansas. He died in an accident in Ashdown, Arkansas. The Arkansas Gazette reported:
"Fighting Fire, He Falls to Death-J.D. Freeman Takes Fatal Plunge Through Courthouse Skylight at Ashdown---John D. Freeman, 50, fell through a skylight of the Little River county courthouse today and died in 20 minutes. Fire broke out in the building and Mr. Freeman, with others, went to the roof in an effort to extinguish the flames. Dropping about 18 to 20 feet, his body struck a chair, throwing his head against the floor with force. The skull was crushed. The fire was in the dome of the building and did less than $1000 damage, covered by insurance. A defective flue was given as the cause."

The Little River News, dated December 1, 1915, stated:
"John D. Freeman was one of Little River county’s oldest and most substantial citizens and a man of sterling qualities. There was no man more loved and honored by his fellow men. He was modest, unassuming, yet a man who stood out solid as a rock for the right always. He lived his life here and leaves a heritage of life’s deeds untarnished and clean, one full of usefulness to the very end. As his lifeless body was carried into his home, his team stood hitched and ready at the gate to have carried him to his farm and work. He died in harness."

The following children of John D. and Mecha Catherine Wright Freeman are also buried in Freeman Cemetery:
ANDREW HARRISON FREEMAN (02/28/1882 – 11/9/1885)
ANNIE E. FREEMAN (09/24/1877 – 02/20/1897)
CARRIE A. FREEMAN (02/14/1890 – 02/24/1897)

MARY ANN “POLLY” CROWLEY FREEMAN (01/12/1828 – 12/20/1912)
The wife of William Madison Freeman, she was born on January 12, 1828, in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, to William Miller Crowley and Jincy Ann Long. She married W. M. Freeman on February 13, 1842, in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. Around the mid 1850s, the couple moved to Arkansas and she spent the remainder of her life in their frontier home near Alleene, Arkansas. She and her husband had 11 children. A semi-invalid for much of her married life, she lived to be past 84 years old, living her later years in the home of her daughter, Theodocia Wright, in Alleene. Mary Ann Freeman died December 20, 1912, in Little River County, Arkansas. She is buried in Freeman Cemetery next to her husband.

WILLIAM MADISON FREEMAN (05/22/1821 – 11/02/1885)
He was born in Greene County, Alabama, to Edward Freeman and Elizabeth ‘Betsy” Stevens Freeman. Around 20 years of age, he and his brother went to Texas. He later married Mary Ann Crowley on February 13, 1842, in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. In summary, he and family, along with a number of slaves, moved from Tennessee, then to Louisiana, finally settled in southwest Arkansas on a large plantation in Burke Township, near the Alleene Community around 1855.

During 1859, he entered homestead claims for two tracts of land in Sevier County, (present-day Little River County) Arkansas, through the Federal Land Office in Camden, Ouachita County, Arkansas.

In the 1860 census taken July 3, in Red River Township, W. M. Freeman owned real estate worth $3,000 and a personal estate worth $400. William M. Freeman and his wife had eleven children. They were: Jincy Ann Freeman Love (1843-1900, Buried in Freeman Cemetery); Edward W. Freeman (1847-1847); Thomas Stewart Freeman (1849-1889); Elizabeth Freeman Burke (1851-1883); Franklin Pierce Freeman (1852-1928); John D. Freeman, Sr., (1855-1915, Buried in Freeman Cemetery); William Augustus Freeman (1858-1936); Mary Elizabeth Freeman Dollarhide (1861-1895, Buried in Freeman Cemetery); Theodocia Madellia Freeman Wright (1864-1935, Buried in Freeman Cemetery); Mary A.D. Freeman (1869-1870); and Emaline Victoria Freeman Black (1870-1903, Buried in Freeman Cemetery).

William Freeman was the first sheriff of Little River County, from 1867-1868. He built the county’s first jail and courtroom at his plantation, south of Alleene, then called Mineola. The first term of Little River County court was organized and held on his plantation on November 26, 1867. During his tenure as sheriff, he often served as arresting officer and trail judge. William Freeman also served as Little River County Judge in 1883 and Justice of the Peace in 1885.

William Madison Freeman operated a large plantation in Little River County and was a planter. He died November 2, 1885, in Little River County, Arkansas. A Master Mason emblem is on his tombstone.

Love FamilyHENRY T. LOVE (07/21/1859 – 1885)
He was born in 1838, in Mississippi, and married Jincy Ann Freeman on July 21, 1859, in Sevier County, Arkansas. They had the seven children listed under Jincy’s name. His grave is marked as a veteran: Sgt. H.T. Love, Co. E 19 Ark Inf. C.S.A.

JINCY ANN FREEMAN LOVE (12/27/1843 – 03/09/1900)
She was born December 27, 1843, in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, to William Madison and Mary Ann Crowley Freeman. She married Henry T. Love on July 21, 1859, in Sevier County, Arkansas. They had the following children: Henry A. Love, Mary Ann Love, John H. Love, Josephine Love, Susan J. Love, Jenns E. Love, and Zeb Love

She died on March 9, 1900, in Little River County, Arkansas.

Wright FamilyCURRY WILLARD WRIGHT (07/09/1860 – 02/12/1943)
He was born on July 9, 1860, to James Monroe and Amelia Mills Wright. He married Theodocia Madellia Freeman on November 29, 1882, in Little River County. He died on February 2, 1943, in Little River County, Arkansas.

MARTHA R. PIERCE WRIGHT (1845 – 12/14/1914)
She was born in 1845, to Robert Bartlett Pearce of Knox County, Kentucky, and Jincy Cason of Screven County, Georgia. Martha and Richard Frazier Wright were married on April 18, 1864. They had the following seven children: Ozie A. Wright (08/05/1865 – 04/05/1876); Ada Wright (12/28/1867 – 01/16/1886) Kate Wright (01/15/1870 – 08/12/1953); Ettie Wright (1872 – unknown); Robert James “Bob” Wright (12/17/1874 – 01/03/1954); Eddie Florence Wright (09/1880 – 01/01/1957); and Lucy Wright (11/16//1882 – 01/05/1968).

Martha Wright died on December 14, 1914.

RICHARD FRAZIER WRIGHT (07/03/1844 – 02/17/1915)
He was born on July 3, 1844, in Sevier County, Arkansas, to James Walker Wright of North Carolina and Rebecca Julia Ward Wright of Wilson County, Tennessee. He married Martha R. Pierce on April 18, 1864. Richard Frazier was the 8th of 12 children. He was a large land holder and farmer in Little River County. He served during the Civil War in Company K Whitfield’s 1st Texas Calvary in the Confederate States of America.

Richard Wright died on February 1, 1915, in Little River County, Arkansas.

THEODOCIA MADELLIA “DELLA” FREEMAN WRIGHT (09/30/1864 – 1936)
Born in Little River County, Arkansas to William Madison and Mary Ann Crowley Freeman, she married Curry Willard Wright on November 29, 1882, in Little River County, Arkansas. They had four children: Addie Wright (08/23/1883 – 09/24/1884), Emma Wright (11/06/1886 – 04/17/1896), Frank F. Wright (08/13/1890), and Fred C. Wright Sr. (06/11/1895 – 11/01/1970).

She died on November 1, 1935, in Foreman, Little River County, Arkansas.

Her obituary stated:
"Death again has entered our county and claimed one of its beloved pioneer women, when Mrs. Della Wright, wife of C.W. Wright, died at the family residence in Alleene, Friday night, after an illness extending over a period of many months. Mrs. Wright, who was 72 years of age, was loved by young and old alike, and will be greatly missed in her community. She was a kind and loving wife and mother, a devout Christian, have [sic] joined the Baptist church in 1884 and serving the church and her Savior faithfully. Surviving are her husband and one son, Fred Wright, and three grandsons of Ashdown, one brother, Gus Freeman of Shreveport, to whom the News joins with other friends in extending sympathy in their bereavement. She was a sister of the late J.D. Freeman Sr. of this city."

The following children all have their names on one marker. It is unknown when they were born or when they died. All six children were born to Ida Ann Lawrence and George Washington Wright, and died in Little River County, Arkansas.
ADDIE WRIGHT
DELLA WRIGHT
FRANCES WRIGHT
JOHNNY WRIGHT
MECHA WRIGHT
TOMMY WRIGHT

SIGNIFICANCE

The Freeman Cemetery is the final resting place of several important pioneers in the history of Little River County, Arkansas. Deeply nestled in the rural woodlands of Arkansas, this rural Arkansas cemetery contains various markers and monuments which are typical of the late-19th to mid-20th centuries.

The Freeman Cemetery is ineligible for National Register listing because the overall historic integrity of the cemetery has been compromised by the construction of the two concrete beds in the cemetery—a smaller one over portions of the Wright Family plot, and the larger one over the Freeman Family plot. Unfortunately, the concrete does not reflect the Period of Significance of the cemetery. Additionally, the two beds of concrete obscure the original design and materials of construction, decoration and landscaping of the Freeman Cemetery during its Period of Significance, and diminish the cemetery’s authentic historic character.

Freeman Cemetery located in Little River County near Alleene, Arkansas, is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion A with local significance for its association with the early settlement of the Alleene area. The Freeman Cemetery is also being nominated under Criteria Consideration: D as a cemetery.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beasley, Bill. Little River County, Special Sesquicentennial Edition. Copyright 1975.

Goodspeed Publishing Company. Biographical & Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. 1890

Keeney, Vivian V., Stella Shelton, and Robbie Jones. Alleene, A Storehouse of Memories. 1981

Little River News, articles: January 31, 1934; November 6, 1935; November 13, 1935; December 1, 1915.

The DeQueen Bee, May 24, 2007

White, Katherine Freeman, Freeman-Wright-Bird-Mills and Allie Families. Copyright 2000.