LibertyDecoration05

Once a year all the folks show up on Huckleberry Mountain at the Rogers - Mt. Grove Cemetery,
Liberty Community for decoration. Sonny and Flo organize the old school house - church into a
potluck dinner on the grounds each third Sunday in May. We had 44 (forty-four) folks this year and
it was an exceptionally beautiful day and the grounds were nicely manicured and the church house
cleaned just for the event. The windows were re-installed in the building a few days before, after
repairs and a new security system installed.

After the meal, the annual business meeting among the trustees of the cemetery association
got underway. Some items discussed were marking of reserved cemetery plots, lighting of the
cemetery and exterior of the church house. Also mentioned was painting the building and how we
could get lighting installed. Funds for the cemetery and building were collected at the table near the
gate to the cemetery. And there was discussion as to encouraging folks to permanently endow the
cemetery into the future. Also of note, it was determined that a permanent maintenance trust fund
was set up in 1977 copies to be distributed to all current trustees.

Following, find the photos of the day of those attending the decoration: (click on each picture to see
it in a larger size)

What's in a name? What's in Three Names? Confused, most of us are, at least a little bit when it comes to
the name of the School / Church / Cemetery. Is it Liberty? Is it Rogers? Is it Mt. Grove? Yes, it's all
three. This question seems to come up each year so here is an explanation and some theory, true or not.

First, the oldest document naming the School surfaced in 2005. Lila King found in her possession a small
memento of the school year, way back when. See the picture below: Mountain Grove School 1897-1898.
This souvenir of the year names the school, the teacher, the directors and all the pupils 32 strong.

Second, two photos in possession of Bruce Dickey came from Jimmy Still in Corpus Christi, Texas. His mother,
Lydia Dickey Still Whitwell, kept the photos of her class all these years, their dates, 1912 and 1916. Visible in
one of the photos is the name Liberty School on the hand held chalkboard denoting the class in the
photo. So, the name of the school was changed from Mt. Grove to Liberty fairly early. Sonny Dickey mentions
that the area was always known as the Liberty Community. He should know, he attended school at the one
room schoolhouse when he was a boy.

Thirdly, it is well known that the Rogers Family donated the land for use as a church and school. Osby
Rogers agreed with Sonny Dickey that a survey of the land was in order shortly before his passing, making it
official, what had been a fact for nearly a century. Sonny Dickey took care of getting Don Bland, Surveyor,
Danville, Arkansas, to make a plat of the property on March 26, 2001.

On the sign at the cemetery, on the cemetery map done in May 1978 by Jack King, and on the survey the
name is the same: Rogers - Mt. Grove Cemetery. Jacks map actually says Rogers Cemetery with (Mt.
Grove) in small lettering underneath. That hand drawn map showing all the grave locations, also gives the
location as Huckleberry Mountain, Logan County, Arkansas.

What's in a name? A lot, and we can now see why folks are confused a little bit. So, now you know the rest of
the story. Welcome to the Rogers Mt. Grove Liberty School/Church and Cemetery!

UPDATE May 16, 2005 Sifting through the records of the Logan County Courthouse, the original deed to
the church is found. It's in Deed Book 31 and on page 287 and is from J. W. Rogers and A. E. Rogers for
two acres. The metes and bounds match the survey conducted in 2001 perfectly. Thanks J. W. and A. E.
way back in 1913 to the General Public and all religious denominations. Also found deeded in 1925 are
three acres to School District 91 for three acres, that is in Logan County Deed Book #28, page 269, signed by
A E Rogers and Versia Rogers.