Lonoke County Museum helping Lonoke city cemetery identify unmarked graves

LONOKE COUNTY, Ark. – A cemetery is a place to visit to remember those of the past, but in one Lonoke resting place there are hundreds of people many visitors may not know are there.

That could soon change thanks to a new project with the Lonoke County Museum.

Walking through the Lonoke County Museum, you see history in action through objects and showcases, as well as on paper with century old newspapers.

A century and more’s worth of records, stories and maybe secrets of the past are safely watched over by Lonoke County Museum director Sherryl Miller.

The watchful eye, attention to detail, and love for preserving the past led the museum to a new project.

People with the Lonoke Cemetery wanted to put flags on veteran’s graves Memorial Day and came to Miller in an effort to get an updated list.

“I found lots of veterans that were not listed in the cemetery as being buried there,” Miller said.

So, they started back, way back, to the late 1800s, combing through delicate newspaper obituaries.

“He’s looking at every one of these obits, and seeing where they’re buried, and looking on here and seeing if they’re in here,” Miller said.

What makes this history detective work harder, is when they find people who are buried in the cemetery according to newspapers, but they can’t find the headstones, as nearly 300 are in unmarked graves.

“We know they’re there, but we don’t know exactly where they’re buried,” Miller said.

They’re asking for everyone’s help to dig deep in your own memory files for any possible clues as to where a relative or friend was buried.

“Everybody needs to be remembered, we have lots of merchants, veterans, everyday people, could be somebody’s grandmother or grandfather,” Miller said.

They have the newspapers starting in 1872 and they’re working their way through the decades.

“You lose your past you lose your future, no one will know, you’ve got to leave a trail,” Miller said.

If you know of anyone buried there who doesn’t have a headstone or have any information, please contact the Lonoke County Museum.

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