To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Arkansas Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Arkansas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 5/4/13 • Approved: 11/11/13 • Last Updated: 12/1/17 • R873320-G0-S3
*Town and County History Before white settlers came to the area in 1820, Native Americans occupied this county. The main tribe located in Woodruff County was the Quapaws. Other Native American tribes include Osage, Caddo, Chickasaw, and Cherokee. According to local legend, the Chickasaw Indians built a settlement of tepees and log huts on a high bluff overlooking the White River. The site was used by the Indians as a river crossing and also marked an important trail between the tribes. This crossing was called Chickasaw Crossing. Therefore, before the establishment of Augusta, this spot was known as Chickasaw Crossing. This prime location sits atop the highest point on the east bank of the White River from Batesville to its mouth.
Pioneers began to settle in the area around 1820. In 1846, Thomas Hough moved to Chickasaw Crossing from Maryland. Hough acquired the Chickasaw Crossing property shortly thereafter. In March 1848, Hough had the town surveyed and renamed in honor of his favorite cousin, Miss Augusta Cald of Virginia.
Woodruff County was created by vote in the State Convention of 1861, and organized in 1862. Organization of the county was not completed until 1865, after the Civil War. Woodruff County was named after William E. Woodruff, editor of the first paper, the Arkansas Gazette, published in Arkansas, which was started in 1819. Augusta was made the county seat of the new county.
Cemetery History The Augusta Memorial Park Historic Section rests upon land, which had been used as a cemetery by Native American and early white settlers. Hough officially created Crescent Hill in 1852, a five-acre cemetery. In 1867, Thomas and Fannie Hough sold Crescent Hill to the City of Augusta. The original cemetery description is as follows: Commencing at the SE corner of NW quarter of the SE quarter of Section 25, Township 8 North, Range 4 West, thence due South 38 Links, thence East 5 Chains, and 50 Links, thence North 9 Chains, 9 Links and 28/100, thence West 5 Chains and 50 Links, thence South to the Point of Beginning.
Later, W. E. Ferguson, a prominent politician in Augusta, sold adjoining land to the City of Augusta for the expansion of Crescent Hill. In 1905, he sold 4.75 acres. In 1924 he sold 6.0 acres. In 1969, the heirs of W. E. Ferguson sold 4.3 acres. In 1930, the City of Augusta renamed Crescent Hill to the Augusta Memorial Park. Thus, this how the original five-acre Crescent Hill Cemetery grew in to the now current 20.05 acre Augusta Memorial Park. However, the original five-acres is the historic section of the Augusta Memorial Park being nominated.
Contributed on 5/4/13 by hawkinsdonna48
Email This Contributor
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 873320