Historic Arthur Cemetery is in desperate need of restoration. Located on property in rural Pike Co. Missouri in an area known as "Little Africa" this cemetery dates from the early 1800's through the early 1900's and 18 graves have been located to date. It is also possible the cemetery has several family slave graves as evidenced by squared rocks embedded on end in specific placements.

My name is April Greenman. We are not related by blood to the people in our cemetery, just by heart. So much love, shared for so long, among these founders of Pike County. The cemetery has always been one of my favorite places, and I feel a kinship with them all. One day my husband and I will be buried there. We cleared it as it was very overgrown, did maintenance and repairs on some headstones, kept it cut, and often decorated the graves. My husband and I have been working to clear the overgrowth, clean and apply oil-based protection to several headstones, restoring them to a more suitable condition. Unfortunately, we have come to the end of what our labor alone can do.

Mastin and his family were important figures in Pike County. He was a slave owner, ran (and I believe won) for Sheriff of Pike Co. and also was a politician in other capacities. When he ran for Sheriff, he had a barrel of whisky at the end of what is now our drive. People would stop to hear his platform and would get a ladle of whisky to entice them to vote for him. What a character! Our house is built in what used to be one of Mastin's cotton fields. From what I understand, he owned quite a bit of the land around here and had a mansion down the road. My husband's father originally purchased the adjacent property back in the early 1980s, and we bought the property with the cemetery in 1998. My husband remembers the mansion from his childhood as it was torn down years ago. There are old paths all around this area from slaves walking from field to field and to their homes.

There are babies, young women, old men, Mastin, Bersheba and at least 16 others buried here.

In order to stop the erosion from the road put to the cemetery many years ago we would install a 40’ long block retaining wall along the front of the cemetery, 4 blocks tall tapering down to 2 tall. Another wall, approximately 30’ long, 2 to 3 blocks tall, would be installed along the rear to level out the steep incline somewhat, creating an area for a permanent bench on a concrete pad, which will be installed. A small stairwell will be needed to go up to the cemetery. Fill dirt and gravel will be needed to backfill the retaining wall.

Many of the graves are sinking and need to be filled as well as the historic headstones further cleaned and repaired. Most need to be leveled and some need to be put back in place. A few of the larger, dead trees will have to be removed in order to protect these stones. The road leading to the cemetery is washing out and the drainage ditch needs tree removal and dredging. The road will need a layer of gravel once that is done. We would like to seed or sod the cemetery.

We do have a tractor and will be able to use it to place the large landscaping stones and spread the dirt/gravel. My husband and I are very experienced with construction projects as we have rehabbed several buildings, built two homes and owned a contracting company for several years. We would be installing the wall, leveling the area and pouring the concrete for the sitting area. We would source materials in the most cost effective manner and arrange delivery. Our labor is, of course, free. Any additional labor that may be needed is not calculated here.

Any family members who would like to “adopt a headstone” for repair or replacement would be welcomed to do so. We have local monument companies in Hannibal and Bowling Green, both of whom do beautiful work.

The funds would be spent as follows, in the order shown. Amounts are approximate.

$1,200 – 160 landscape blocks for 40’ front retaining wall of decreasing height

$700 – 100 blocks - 30’ REAR retaining wall, 2 stones high (estimated delivery charge incl. for blocks)

$500 – Prefabricated, concrete, 4 steps

$1,200 - Fill dirt and gravel for wall, gravel for road and fill dirt for collapsing graves

$150 – diesel for tractor, miscellaneous expenses

$600 – Concrete pad and permanent concrete bench for sitting area

Any additional monies would go to repair or replace headstones that are beyond repair