CLOAR CEMETERY

EARLE, CRITTENDEN COUNTY, ARKANSAS

Located north of Earle, Arkansas on Hwy. 149, about 3 miles. Turn right on a gravel road to the “Harris Brothers” farm and their red farm shop on north side of gravel road. The cemetery is on private land. It is not kept clean. The Cloar family first sold the land to Jerry Sparks, later Jimmie and Billie Harris bought the land from Mr. Sparks.

Survey made Nov. 22, 1993 by Janis Lancaster and Joe Wood.

Original document typed by Pauline Miller

Earlier transcriptions by Pat Isabel Brown

(Information provided by Janis Lancaster and from information at Crittenden County Library, Marion, Arkansas - 2001. Additional information has been added for John and Martha Franklin, grandparents of Rev. D. G. Daniels)

ATKINS, Eva – born March 12, 1892 – died April 6, 1918 Gone But Not Forgotten (her maiden name was Martin. She was the first wife of Tom Atkins. – The 1900 census of Crittenden County, Tyronza Twp, shows Eva Martin, born Mar 1892, along with her two brothers; Wesley Martin, born Jul 1886, and Alvin Martin, born Jun 1889, living as boarders in the household of Charles Wesley and Eva Cloar. The children had been born in Arkansas, their father in Iowa, and their mother in Illinois. Wesley and Alvin Martin were farm laborers.)

CLOAR, Bessie – born Nov. 22, 1910 – died March 22, 1912

CLOAR, Charles Wesley – born March 15, 1864 – died Nov. 28, 1928 (This is a double stone, they are parents of Carroll Cloar, the well known artist.)

CLOAR, Eva J. – born Oct. 28, 1880 – died Dec. 2, 1928 (Double stone with Charles Wesley Cloar, maiden name David)

**CLOAR, Marjorie – born March 30, 1920 – died June 23, 1912 (daughter of C. W. and E. J. Cloar – the birth and death dates appear to be reversed.)**

DAVID, James Carroll – born July 7, 1846 – died May 4, 1908 Aged 61 yrs, 9 mos, 27 days - His Many Virtues Form The Monument To His Memory (father of Eva J. Cloar, husband of Rhoda Richards)

DAVID, John – born Dec. 25, 1888 – died Nov. 22, 1921 (brother of Julia Eva Cloar)

DAVID, Rhoda – born Jan. 6, 1851 – Died July 21, 1909 (maiden name was Richards, daughter of John and Lucinda Richards. She was wife of James Carroll David)

FRANKLIN, John William – born Nov. 11, 1861 – died Mar. 25, 1939 (He was a Missionary Baptist Minister. His parents were Calvin Monroe Franklin and Mary Cantrell. Siblings were Amozar, Jess and Harvey Lee who was a Church of Christ Minister )

FRANKLIN, Martha Lou – born Dec. 19, 1868 – died July 5, 1936 (wife of John William Franklin. Her name was Martha Louise Ragland, daughter of Clarence Walter Ragland. These were the parents of Willie Franklin, Mrs. (Willie) Charles Cloar, and the grandparents of Rev. D. G. Daniels)

FULLWOOD, May M. – born May 28, 1884 – died November 21, 1928 A Tender Mother, A Faithful Friend.

HUMPHREY, Della – died April 22, 1918, age 43 (think her maiden name was Martin. She was wife of J. T. Humphrey. They were parents of Lethia Madden, Maxine Harris, Velma Hood, Clyde Humphrey, and others. A grandson of hers lives in Earle, Ark., Jack Humphrey)

MARTIN, J. W. – born 1886 – died Oct. 1918 (He was a brother of Eva (Martin) Mrs. Tom Atkins -- this would be J. Wesley Martin, born Jul 1886, who was listed with his sister, Eva, and brother, Alvin, in the C. W. and Eva Cloar household during the 1900 census of Crittenden County. )

It is believed there are others buried in this cemetery with no markers.

The following excerpt was taken from

“A History of Crittenden County, Arkansas” by Margaret Woolfolk

Early Cloar Cemetery

According to the Cloar family records, one of the first cleared sites in present day Earle----about 12 acres -- was that farmed by Thomas Jefferson Cloar, who acquired his holdings in the early 1860's after coming to Arkansas from North Carolina by way of Tennessee. Cloar built a log cabin on his land and he and his wife, Amanda Aycock, lived there until her death March 18, 1864. They were the parents of 11 boys and two girls, most of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Cloar was buried in a graveyard which was on the site of the present high school campus near Barton Street at Fourth Street. Her husband, who died later in 1864, was buried in the same graveyard.

Excerpt from “History of Earle”, written by Mrs. T. J. Cloar, Sr.

This history appeared in the “Earle Epic”

In the early 1860’s what we now call Earle was a dense forest, inhabited by wolves, panthers, wild cats, wild turkeys, wild hogs, “coon”, opossums, deer, rabbits and squirrels. It was owned by Thomas Jefferson Cloar. He and his wife, Amanda Aycock, had thirteen children, eleven boys and two girls. Most of them died in infancy or at an early age. Thomas J. Cloar cleared almost twelve acres of ground and built a log house for his family from the trees on his land. Amanda Aycock Cloar died March 18, 1864, when Charles Wesley Cloar was three days old. She was buried in a graveyard, as it was called then, on the new school grounds across from the Assembly of God Church. Then they put their graveyards on high ground because of high water.

Virgin timber stretched for miles and was the main industry then. The land had to be cleared, there was no drainage and water stood everywhere. Thomas J. Cloar decided this land was too low to farm so he sold the land and bought higher land three miles North of Earle. He came from North Carolina to Union City, Tennessee and from there to Arkansas. In 1864 [1880], he got his hand cut in his one horse drawn cotton gin on his farm. Blood poisoning set in causing his death. He was buried by the side of his wife, Amanda. His son Charles Wesley Cloar, age twelve, another son; John F. Cloar, age twenty and James J. Cloar, age nineteen inherited the land.

About 1900, Charles Wesley Cloar built a store; a post office was added to the store since it was hard for people to get their mail from Earle. The post office was called “Cloar” and from the post office, “Cloar” was put on the map.

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Last updated Saturday, July 12, 2008