Honoring the dead Eagle Scout candidate helps restore cemeteries
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The more than 150-year-old Haste and George cemeteries in Siloam Springs have had some welcome visitors as of late. Boy Scouts aplenty have descended on the historic burial sites in an attempt to restore dilapidated graves, clear wayward brush and mark graves that have long existed without identifying markings.
In recent weeks, Matt Wilkinson, a member of Boy Scout Troop 84, has spearheaded a project aimed at cleaning up the two privately-owned cemeteries that are in such close proximity to one another that they appear to be joined.
"I decided four or five months ago to make the restoration of the cemeteries my Eagle Scout project," said Wilkinson, a senior at Siloam Springs High School. "Most people don't even know they are there. It looks like one cemetery but it's actually divided into two - the Haste on the north and the George on the South."
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable within the Boy Scouts of America. In order to obtain the title, members must earn 21 merit badges and complete a mandatory project that proves the Scout in the areas of leadership and community service.
"I first developed the idea from reading an article in the Benton County Daily Record about how Benton County looks for board members and volunteers and also funding for preserving cemeteries," Wilkinson said. "Many are falling into disrepair. They mainly have to be kept up by property owners or family members."
Wilkinson has been an active member of the Boy Scouts since he first enlisted in Tiger Scouts at the age of six. His father, Burt, actively participates in the local troop and serves as an assistant leader in activities.
Located behind Wal-Mart Supercenter near the Progress Avenue extension project, the cemeteries both seem to be full and haven't had a new burial since the late 1970 s, Wilkinson said.
Listed among the cemeteries 100-plus permanent residents are multiple Confederate soldiers and fallen soldiers of both World War I and II.
Prior to Wilkinson's project, many of the graves were unmarked.
"Being a Quaker cemetery with graves dating back to 1864 and earlier, a lot of people couldn't afford to buy headstones," Wilkinson said. "They would have had to go all the way to Fort Smith to buy stones and a lot of people were unable to do that."
Native stones that once marked many of the graves have since been destroyed, moved or lost.
Assisted by several Scout mates, Wilkinson has spent the last four Saturdays clearing brush and refuse from the cemeteries.
During the restoration process, holes throughout the cemetery were filled, unmarked graves were located and marked using materials from Lowes and fences were straightened using equipment donated by Stanley Tools.
"I feel really good about this project and was glad to do it," Wilkinson said. "There's a lot of history here that I really didn't expect to find."
Road crews that were working on the construction of Progress Avenue volunteered to remove four fallen trees that were laying atop the burial sites. West Siloam Springs Recycling donated metal for new signs which were then cut by a welding class at Siloam Springs High School.
"We found 50 unmarked graves," Wilkinson said. "They were all marked with rebar crosses that the welding class helped us make."
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