White Oak before tornado
White Oak was the location of a school and church as well as this original cemetery. It was on property once owned by Bert Yeargan.
This cemetery was located here before the town of Mena was founded in 1896. Many people buried here predate the town. The oldest marked stone is that of Serrell White b. June 6, 1833, died Oct. 1878. The next earliest marked stone is that of W.R. Barnes b. Aug. 5, 1837 and d. Mar 1886. That is eight years between deaths. There are undoubtedly many stones before and between these dates. The oldest Yeargan stone is that of Margaret Yeargan b. Oct. 1875, d. Oct 4, 1895. There are eight other Yeargans known to be buried here.
This shot is looking to the corner of Eve and Averitt, where the one big tree was left standing, and is the oldest part of the cemetery. All the trees you see here are now gone. The thickest grove of trees was to the right and back of this photo. There are many unmarked graves in the cemetery. I do have a plat, but it does not show the location of who is buried there, only the grave site. The cemetery was "purchased" by a group of local people and trees planted and the cemetery cleaned and maintained by the association. The association continues, but nothing has been done to mark the graves and since most of the older people who knew where the families were buried the graves are now lost. We can determine who is buried here, but not where. Many of the town's most notable people are buried in this cemetery, and so are the paupers (poor). This was designated as the pauper's graveyard.