The Turnbo Manuscripts
by Silas Claiborne Turnbo
1844-1925
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OAKLAND ARK
By S. C. Turnbo
In speaking of Oakland, Capt. J. C. Rea said, "Very soon after the close of the Civil War, I married Miss Catherine Mitchell daughter of James Mitchell who lived on Jimmies Creek., and moved to where Oakland Marion County, Ark. now stands and have made it my permanent home. I bought land from Col. A. D. Arcut and added a homestead to it. Here my first wife died and I married the second time. The only man residing at Oakland when I went there was George Briggs who occupied a log cabin near the spring. The first business man there was Dr. Lewis who sold drugs and goods on a small scale. The next merchant here was Frank Norton, then Noe and Griffin. The first Postmaster at Oakland was Levi Pearson who was a brother of George Pearson the famed steam boat pilot of the early days of the upper White River. The second Postmaster was myself and I soon gave it up and the office went dead for a while." said the old veteral of the Civil War. Continuing he said, "The first interment at Oakland was the dead body of Dr. Arcut who died in 1875 and I assisted to bury his remains twice. When I explain this to you it will not sound so sensational. When Arcut died ground for a cemetery had not been set apart and the family had his remains interred in the door yard. Later on or in 1893 the Methodist Church here built a house of worship and layed off a plot of ground for burial purposes and the family had the doctors remains exhumed and transferred to the new marked cemetery. In disentering the remains we found that the coffin was almost decayed except the bottom of it which was strong enough to bear the weight of the skeleton while raising it from its resting place. The bodies of two small children of Sam Arcuts son of Doctor Arcut were buried here the same day the Doctor’s bones were taken up and reburied. The dead bodies of these children and the remains of the Doctor were the first interments here."
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