Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 03/04/98
SUMMARY
The Davies Cemetery, also called the Lake Hall Cemetery, is approximately two-and-one-half miles south of Arkansas Highway 144 on the east side of Lake Chicot, near the city of Lake Village. The cemetery is approximately forty-by-forty feet square and situated approximately forty-three feet from the roadside. In winter, the foliage dies down, making the site and the ornamental iron fence surrounding it more visible. The fence remains standing on three sides, but is toppled on the southern side of the cemetery.
The Davies Cemetery contains thirteen marked graves. These burials took place more than sixty-nine years ago. Fredrick Walter Davies, who died on August 31, 1921 was the last person buried in the cemetery. All graves in the cemetery are built slightly above ground and are constructed of brick and mortar, presumably, because this area in Chicot County is susceptible to flooding. Most graves and monuments show extensive damage from the elements or from vandalism.
ELABORATION
Davies Cemetery is located approximately two-and-a-half miles south of Arkansas Highway 144 at Connery Bayou, on Lake Hall Road near the city of Lake Village. The cemetery is the burial place of the Honorable Anthony Harpin Davies and his wife, Mildred Pollard Gaines Davies. Also buried in the cemetery are six of their eight children, two children from Davies’ first marriage to Emily Aldridge, one grandchild, and two Gaines cousins. The cemetery is approximately forty-by-forty feet square and situated approximately forty-three feet from the roadside.
Most of the marble grave markers are approximately four feet by two-and-a-half feet by three inches in dimension and have been moved or have fallen. Marble foot markers, as evidenced by c. 1929 photographs accompanied these headstones. They are now missing or hidden under the foliage and plant debris. The large headstones are similar to each other in style. Inscriptions on all markers bear the name of the deceased, birth and death dates, and frequently, the relationship to family members. A recessed, circular area is carved near the top of these stones with relief carvings of either a hand pointing upward, lambs, cherubs, or other motifs. These older markers date from the late 1830s through the 1880s. The marker for Anthony Harpin Davies, and his wife, Mildred Pollard Gaines Davies is different. It is a four-sided monument, inscribed on three sides. The inscriptions of birthplace and death dates for Anthony H. Davies and Mildred P. Davies are found on the north and south sides of the square base. Also included on the east side of monument base are the names of their eight children. An obelisk that once stood atop the marker was toppled and now is partially hidden under the foliage. The monument for Walter Davies (1929) is a large, rectangular grey granite marker. The marker of Frances Walker (Davies) Fry (1870), is a small, quarter-round headstone is made of white marble with raise lettering.
All graves in the cemetery are built slightly above ground and are constructed of brick and mortar, presumably, because this area in Chicot County is susceptible to flooding. Most of the graves are cracked or damaged. The iron casket of Frances Walker (Davies) Fry is exposed, showing signs of vandalism or damage from the elements, with a large hole broken open in the foot of the casket.
Surrounding the cemetery, the original ornamental iron fence has a design punctuated by lyre, palm leaves (flabelliform) and sun motifs. Large, ornamental iron posts anchor each of its four sides. The fence remains standing on three of its four sides. Its southern side is toppled.
Chicot County, the tenth county in Arkansas Territory, was created in October 25, 1823 from territory taken from Arkansas County. At this time, Villemont on the Mississippi River at Point Chicot was selected for the county seat. Villemont remained the county seat until 1833, when erosion forced the county seat to be moved to the town Columbia. Again, in around 1855 erosion caused the county seat to be moved to Lake Village.
Many landowners along the Mississippi River were immigrants from areas such as Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and the New England states. White settlers settled in the territory, as the Native Americans in Arkansas were removed from their lands. This was the case with the Davies and Gaines families. Both families had members in the Arkansas legislature, pursued business and commerce in the state and amassed large plantations in southeast Arkansas during the early 19th century.
Anthony H. Davies first came to Arkansas in 1829 or 1830 and acquired property on the east side of Old River Lake (now Lake Chicot) in 1832, by a deed of trust between him, a Harry Latting, and John Ingles. Davies was an attorney in Little Rock, having studied law with Albert Pike, and then moved to and resided at Point Chicot from 1832 until November 1836. He settled the Plantation at Old River Lake, called Lakehall, (1836) of which he increased to encompass the majority of land situated between Whiskey Chute and the oxbow lake. He owned one-hundred and sixty slaves at this time. By the 1890's, the portions of Lakehall Plantation had been divided and sold from the Davies, but the largest percentage was still owned by A. H. Davies’ descendants. Davies was a resident of Chicot County for thirty years.
Davies left his home in Derby, Connecticut in 1810 at the age of twelve. He was in the company of American soldiers for a time in his youth, was employed as a bookkeeper in Nashville for a company named Flower & Co., and then traveled to St. Louis where he entered the employment of Chateau, a fur trader and merchant. He was an attorney in Little Rock before 1831, and after moving to Chicot County before 1832, he became a planter and engaged in merchandising in Little Rock, the town of Columbia in Chicot County, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Davies was a member of the Arkansas Legislature in 1836, 1837, and 1838, and was member of the first state Constitutional Convention.
As a politician Davies was an ardent Whig and participated in the convention to elect William Henry Harrison for President. As of 1938, his descendants still had in their possession a walking cane presented to Davies as a memento of that Presidential convention.
Davies was appointed president of Arkansas’ first two banks, because of his activies as a state representative, lawyer, and merchandiser. These banks were the State Bank of Arkansas at Columbia, and later the Real Estate Bank of Arkansas in Little Rock. Because of a declining economy and a lenient Federal bankruptcy law, the Real estate Bank failed in 1842.
In 1855, Davies and his wife, Mildred Pollard Gaines, mortgaged sections of the Lakehall Plantation to Benjamin P. Gaines and Richard M. Gaines. They agreed to repay the promissory notes each year on the first of January from 1855 to 1860 until they repaid the loan in full. According to Davies family papers, the ten thousand dollars was collected by the Arkansas government to relieve the debts incurred by the Arkansas Bank failures.
Davies was judge of Chicot County from 1850 to 1852, and then again for two terms from 1856 to 1860. The Honorable A. H. Davies’ home at Lakehall Plantation was visited by many notable individuals; Davies family recollections claim that as many as five governors could be found at Lakehall Plantation visiting at one time.
Anthony H. Davies died of flux September 10, 1862, as the first Federal Troops were entering Arkansas. Davies’ wife, Mildred continued to live on the plantation until her death in 1900.
SIGNIFICANCE
The Davies Cemetery is being nominated to the Arkansas Register under Criterion B with local significance for its association with the Honorable Anthony Hairpin Davies. Davies served as Chicot County Judge from 1850 to 1852, and then again for two terms from 1856 to 1860. The cemetery is also the burial place of Davies’ wife, Mildred Pollard Gaines Davies, six of their eight children, two children from Davies first marriage to Emily Aldridge, one grandchild, and two Gaines cousins.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arkansas Gazette
. Obituary for Kenneth H. Hanger. 1967.
Arkansas Territorial Restoration. "Arkansas Political history Year-by-Year." November 3, 1997. http://www.heritage.state.ar.us/atr/dateline.html.
Chicot County Spectator, Chicot County Sesquicentennial Edition 1823-1973, November 14, 1973.
Davies Family Records, 1997.
Davies Bible Records (1833). Robert Geddes Davies. 1929.
Davies Cemetery Records. 1997.
Meninig, D. W. The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History. Vol 2. Continental American, 1800-1867. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1993.
Reaves, Lucy Marion "Glimpses of Yesterday." Arkansas Gazette. March 27, 1938.