Sometime in the early 1900s, a resident of Vaden named Moses Lentz passed away. Lentz had been a house slave in the days before the Emancipation Proclamation but had lived out the latter part of life as a citizen like any other.
While it’s impossible to know, there were probably family and friends gathered to mourn the passing and they were probably pleased when a stone was erected to mark Lentz’s grave.
Time passed. Sometime around 1930 or 1940, a farmer apparently decided that the spot set aside for the Vaden Cemetery would be fertile ground. An older resident of the community recalled that the farmer removed all the headstones, leaving all the graves - including that of Moses Lentz – unmarked.
While Lentz still doesn’t have a marker on his gravesite, his name is among those that now appear on a memorial wall. The marker was officially dedicated this week at the Vaden Cemetery.
Deacon William Wright led the group in “I’m on the Battlefield” and Delton Simpson led them in the Lord’s Prayer. Bishop Pigg thanked those who helped with the project and cited the fact that Vaden is a “good community.”
“I’m grateful and I’m thanking God for blessing me to be a part of the Vaden Community,” Pigg said. “This will go down in history as a memorial to us as a community.”
Versie Allen, a member of the Vaden Cemetery Association, said they’d come up with the idea of the memorial stone and making other improvements to the cemetery and had never considered that it might be too big an undertaking.
“We just set out to do it,” she said.
The group gathered written and oral histories in order to compile the list of names and discovered there were literally dozens of graves without markers.
Allen said a fence has been erected around the cemetery and the next step is to complete a clearing project. Anyone who has not donated toward the cause may do so by mailing a check to the Vaden Cemetery Project, in care of Allen at 257 Pigg Loop, Arkadelphia, AR 71923.
The names included on the monument are: Aaron Allen, Adelaide Allen, Artenus Pigg Allen, Charity Allen, Claude Allen, Ed Allen, Mary Price Allen, Mattrew Allen, Tavey Allen, Terron Allen, Alex Bondon, Ella Bragg, Fannie Bragg, Eve Anne Bragg, Michael Carroll, Flavis Carter, Hattie Simpson Carton, James E. Carter, John H. Carter, Savannah Carter, Sevalla Carter, Viola Clay, Abner Cleaver, Ed Cleaver, Martha Cleaver, Will Clemens, Mary Lee Coleman, Ben Dailey, Bertha Simpson Dickerson, Bully Dixson, Stelly Ellis, Zelma Osborne Ellis, Clenzie Dickerson General, Infant Johnson, Otis Jones, Jim Jones, Roberta Lentz Jones, Lee Alice King, Henry Knight, Leona Knight, Alfred Richard Lentz, Carrie Lentz, Harriet Lentz, Jim Lentz, Johnny Lentz, Moses Lentz, Nellie Portee Lentz, Zelma Lentz, Dave Malone, Green Mitchell, Lizzie Mitchell, Nace Mitchell, Geney Moore, Ola Moore, Louise Moore, Hannah Moore, Will Osborne, Zelmer Ellis Osborne, Alice Pigg, Annie Lee Pigg, Berta Pigg, Dora Pigg, Hollis Pigg, Lawrence Pigg, Mary Lee Pigg, Beula Portee, Martha Portee, Roxie Scott, Andy Simpson, Charlie Simpson, Gertrude Simpson, two Infant Simpson sons, Emily Smith, Emma Smith, Frank Smith, Lou Smith, Will Smith, Josephine Thomas, Mandy Thomas, Mary Walker, Will Walker, Dora Simpson Williams, Eliza Williams, Eula Williams, Earl Dan Wilson, L.B. Wilson, Lire Lewis Wilson, Lucille Wilson, Nancy Wilson and Zerle Wilson.
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Sometime in the early 1900s, a resident of Vaden named Moses Lentz passed away. Lentz had been a house slave in the days before the Emancipation Proclamation but had lived out the latter part of life as a citizen like any other.
While it’s impossible to know, there were probably family and friends gathered to mourn the passing and they were probably pleased when a stone was erected to mark Lentz’s grave.
Time passed. Sometime around 1930 or 1940, a farmer apparently decided that the spot set aside for the Vaden Cemetery would be fertile ground. An older resident of the community recalled that the farmer removed all the headstones, leaving all the graves - including that of Moses Lentz – unmarked.
While Lentz still doesn’t have a marker on his gravesite, his name is among those that now appear on a memorial wall. The marker was officially dedicated this week at the Vaden Cemetery.
Deacon William Wright led the group in “I’m on the Battlefield” and Delton Simpson led them in the Lord’s Prayer. Bishop Pigg thanked those who helped with the project and cited the fact that Vaden is a “good community.”
“I’m grateful and I’m thanking God for blessing me to be a part of the Vaden Community,” Pigg said. “This will go down in history as a memorial to us as a community.”
Versie Allen, a member of the Vaden Cemetery Association, said they’d come up with the idea of the memorial stone and making other improvements to the cemetery and had never considered that it might be too big an undertaking.
“We just set out to do it,” she said.
The group gathered written and oral histories in order to compile the list of names and discovered there were literally dozens of graves without markers.
Allen said a fence has been erected around the cemetery and the next step is to complete a clearing project. Anyone who has not donated toward the cause may do so by mailing a check to the Vaden Cemetery Project, in care of Allen at 257 Pigg Loop, Arkadelphia, AR 71923.
The names included on the monument are: Aaron Allen, Adelaide Allen, Artenus Pigg Allen, Charity Allen, Claude Allen, Ed Allen, Mary Price Allen, Mattrew Allen, Tavey Allen, Terron Allen, Alex Bondon, Ella Bragg, Fannie Bragg, Eve Anne Bragg, Michael Carroll, Flavis Carter, Hattie Simpson Carton, James E. Carter, John H. Carter, Savannah Carter, Sevalla Carter, Viola Clay, Abner Cleaver, Ed Cleaver, Martha Cleaver, Will Clemens, Mary Lee Coleman, Ben Dailey, Bertha Simpson Dickerson, Bully Dixson, Stelly Ellis, Zelma Osborne Ellis, Clenzie Dickerson General, Infant Johnson, Otis Jones, Jim Jones, Roberta Lentz Jones, Lee Alice King, Henry Knight, Leona Knight, Alfred Richard Lentz, Carrie Lentz, Harriet Lentz, Jim Lentz, Johnny Lentz, Moses Lentz, Nellie Portee Lentz, Zelma Lentz, Dave Malone, Green Mitchell, Lizzie Mitchell, Nace Mitchell, Geney Moore, Ola Moore, Louise Moore, Hannah Moore, Will Osborne, Zelmer Ellis Osborne, Alice Pigg, Annie Lee Pigg, Berta Pigg, Dora Pigg, Hollis Pigg, Lawrence Pigg, Mary Lee Pigg, Beula Portee, Martha Portee, Roxie Scott, Andy Simpson, Charlie Simpson, Gertrude Simpson, two Infant Simpson sons, Emily Smith, Emma Smith, Frank Smith, Lou Smith, Will Smith, Josephine Thomas, Mandy Thomas, Mary Walker, Will Walker, Dora Simpson Williams, Eliza Williams, Eula Williams, Earl Dan Wilson, L.B. Wilson, Lire Lewis Wilson, Lucille Wilson, Nancy Wilson and Zerle Wilson.
