I pass this cemetery quite a bit, and often I am in such a hurry as we modern humans are, so I have never taken the time to stop and look around to visit the dead and see what stories the graves may hold. The cemetery in question is the Bethel Methodist Church Cemetery on Highway 167. At the front of the cemetery is a very old, wood frame church building. The sign on the door states that the Bethel Methodist Church was established in 1865. Im not sure when the actual building was raised but there is abundant evidence that it is at least a century old…considering that a “modern” outhouse has been added to the back and there is rudimentary propane piping for heaters. Also there is wasps, lots of them so be cautious when walking around the old graveyard, but she’s a fine example of old cemeteries with her multiple Woodmen of the World tree markers.

As I was wandering around, a specific stone caught my attention: the grave of Allie Prothro Brown who died in 1940. Her marker appears to be homemade but what is so interesting is that it contains loads of large crystals! I snapped a few pictures but honestly, the pictures do not do it justice! It’s impossible to see just how pretty the monument is in the photos. Especially in the daylight when the sun is shining onto the crystals! I was hoping to turn up some information of the lady whose monument had been made by very loving hands….and I did, but it was a very sad end.

You see, Allie was evidently troubled by something. Something that she did not reveal to anyone but by a private letter that she left for her husband that day she died. Her husband was working for the highway department in Strong, Arkansas when Allie wrote those final words. She then went down to the barn and into the corn crib which was attached. She laid down several burlap sacks to avoid making a mess. And then she shot herself on August 3, 1940. Her husband found her and the letter when he arrived home from work. The contents of the letter were never revealed to the public, so we don’t know what had troubled her so that she felt the need to end her own life. She left behind a 20 year-old son.

What we do know is that Allie was loved and she was missed. And someone, we don’t know who at this late date, spent a great deal of time making that beautiful marker. It’s so pretty you cannot help but to stop and look at it and marvel at the crystals. In the years since it has been placed, it is obvious that some of the crystals have become misplaced and even perhaps taken from the marker, but it’s still there and it still shines like a star! And there she rests, perhaps never knowing how much she was loved. And probably never knowing how many strangers still stop and stare at the grave.

On the afternoon of January 23, 1924, three little boys were doing what little boys did back in 1924: playing in the dirt! Over a period of several days the boys: John and Flood Barr and Max White, had been having a fine old time digging a fort into an embankment near Dubach, Louisiana. Now digging a cave in Louisiana presents a lot of problems, not the least of which is unstable dirt. The boys were having a good time, but unaware of the danger that they were putting themselves into. I suspect that their parents were either unaware of the digging or also unaware of the dangers as well. Being that it was January, the ground is softer in Louisiana, due to the rain. Perhaps had they chosen the summer months to do their digging, things would have ended differently.

Unfortunately, the cave collapsed on top of the boys during their excavations. Articles written about the event do not give us much information but apparently there were adults nearby who were able to start efforts immediately to rescue the boys!

The Barr boys were able to be removed quickly and despite inhaling dirt, they were breathing and relatively unharmed. Max White was further into the cave. He was eventually uncovered but had been crushed by the falling dirt. He was unable to be saved.

Max White is buried at the Hamilton Cemetery in Dubach, Louisiana. This cemetery is sometimes referred to as “Dubach” Cemetery. The story of the cave in was picked up by most papers in the state of Louisiana. Even the French speaking papers of South Louisiana.

And Max is the only family member there. It seems his parents were only briefly living in Dubach for a time. They had been living in Bienville Parish and had returned to live there by the 1930’s census. They are buried at the Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Bienville. As for his siblings, they are buried all over the country in several different states. So he alone is a reminder in Hamilton Cemetery of a tragic evening of over a century ago.