History of Liberty Memorial Cemetery

Liberty Memorial Cemetery was established in 1882 by a community of families in Benton, Arkansas, who sought a dignified and enduring resting place for their loved ones. Nestled along the shores of Northshore Drive, the cemetery has served as a sacred gathering ground for descendants across generations.

For over a century, the cemetery operated through the dedication of local families and community volunteers. In 1989, it was formally incorporated as a nonprofit organization, ensuring its long-term preservation and care for generations to come.

OUR STORY - In the early 1800's Chall and Bill McNeelan moved to the area and acquired a swath of acreage to timber, and established a sawmill.  A Mr. Siddell managed the sawmill commissary. One evening while working, Mr. Saddell was shot and killed during a robbery.  In memory of Mr. Siddell, the community was named Siddell Community - Saline Township, which was later to become, Benton, Arkansas. When the land was timbered, the McNeelans sold 80 acres to A. B. Smith who had moved with his family from Georgia to Arkansas. Community residents Brantley and Trixey Crabtree eventually acquired the land and donated one acre for a cemetery, providing its original name - The Crabtree Cemetery.  The original landowners, the McNeelans, buried a child in the cemetery in 1887, then moved to Oregon. The cemetery acre was renamed Liberty Memorial Cemetery sometime in the early 1970s. In 1989 a group of family members saw the need to provide long-term care and management. They incorporated Liberty Memorial Cemetery as a 501 (c) (13) nonprofit entity. The original Trustees were Maurice E. Lewis, John E. Parker and Larry L. Page. In 2025 Liberty Memorial Cemetery was mapped using GPR sonar technology. 82 unmarked graves were discovered and marked. The substantial number of unmarked graves may be attributed to the previously unregulated open-burial practice, indigent burials, and the Spanish Flu epidemic in the early 1900's during which over 7000 Arkansans died. Today, Liberty Memorial Cemetery is managed by the Board of Trustees all of whom have family members interred there. Any descendant or relative of an interred family member is considered a "Member." Volunteers still serve on the Board of Trustees, pitch in for workdays, tend their own family's graves and donate funds for the ongoing operations during this season of restoration and improvements.