Ozark County native Vincent Anderson will speak at the Ozark County Historium in Gainesville at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 18, to share his latest source of fascination in colorful Ozarks History – old, necked discoid gravestones (plus stories about the people buried under them). The program is free and open to everyone.
Vincent was raised in Mammoth, the son of Sandra and J. R. Anderson. He graduated from Gainesville High School in 1983, served in the Air Force and holds degrees from Arkansas State University. In 2007, he was named ASU-MH alumni of the year. For several years, he has been a reference librarian and historian at the Donald W. Reynolds Library in Mountain Home, Arkansas. He and his wife, Michelle, live in Gassville, Arkansas.
He has extensive knowledge of Ozarks history and has served as a history consultant for the Travel Channel, SyFy Channel and Animal Planet. He was appointed by former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson to serve on the advisory committee of Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park near Fayetteville. His blog is available at OzarksHistory.blogspot.com; to find his channel at YouTube.com, search for "Ozarks' History." Vincent is also the author of the book, "Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice."
A popular speaker for several past programs at the Historium, on April 18, Vincent will speak at the Historium at 10 a.m. and at the weekly meeting of the Gainesville Lions Club at noon.
The search for necked discoids
Watching Vincent, in his "Ozarks History channel" YouTube videos, describe his search for these uniquely shaped graveyard gems, it's easy to imagine hearing the screech of brakes when he spots one while driving by an old cemetery somewhere.
"These are beautiful stones, absolutely beautiful," he says in a video he took of himself after stopping by the Wilds Cemetery near Ash Flat, Arkansas, on impulse. He tells viewers that he was driving through the area and happened to see the date 1861 on the entrance to the cemetery. "When I saw 1861, I'm wondering if the unique tombstone I'm looking for might be here."
A few minutes later, when he finds four sturdy necked discoid gravestones, he's especially interested to see that three of the four graves that have necked discoid headstones are also marked by triangle-shaped footstones.
The distinctly shaped stones at the head and foot of the three graves support two long, flat slabs of stone that lean together to form "something called a comb grave," Vincent says. "Some would call them a pup tent shape."
He explains that the large, flat slabs of native stone were used to cover graves when conditions were such that traditional 6-foot-deep graves could not be dug because the Ozarks ground was too rocky or frozen too hard in winter.
In other videos, recorded at other area cemeteries, Vincent finds more necked discoid headstones; he's found more than 50 in Baxter and Marion counties in Arkansas and Ozark County in Missouri. He points out the stones' identifying characteristics: the shoulders, neck and disc-shaped head of each stone. The shape "links back to Europe," he said, adding that necked discoid headstones have been found in Wales and Scotland, and immigrants from those areas brought the tradition with them when they settled here. "Some say the necked discoids are only found in Tennessee and Illinois," Vincent says on one of the videos. "Not true. They're in northern Arkansas. And in southern Missouri."
Several, but not all, of the distinctive necked-discoid stones Vincent has found mark other graves that are completely covered by stone slabs arranged differently than the "pup tent" shape of comb graves. In his YouTube channel videos, he identifies stacked-stone and stone-table crypts and recognizes the difficult work and craftsmanship that went into creating them.
At the small stone crypt covering an infant's grave, he says, touching his chest, "It kind of hits you in here, doesn't it? . . . Can you feel a connection? What a gift in the Ozarks we have, such heritage. These are pioneers."