There are no markers in the cemetery and no burials since about 1924. Mrs. Buckner relates the story of the Arch community in the early days and gives names of the ones buried in the cemetery as follows:
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"The land for the Arch Cemetery was given by a Mr. Foster. It is one mile East and a
half mile north of Arch, New Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Foster have a child buried here. Mr.
Foster left here and moved to (?) Rencena, NM, near Santa Fe.
Flora Jane Ballew was the daughter of Green and Mary Ann Ballew. She was a twin to (?)Nora and they were born in Gilmer county, Ga., near Ellijay (?), Ga., on August 4, 1875. J. W. Buckner was the son of John and Barbara Buckner, born in Gilmer County, Georgia on November 17, 1872. Our parents migrated from North Carolina to Georgia. My mother passed away in 1890, leaving me and my father to come to East Texas in 1891. J. W. Buckner came to East Texas in 1898 and we were married in November 1898. We came to New Mexico on February 6, 1906. We raised 6 children, having lost one in East Texas. The oldest girl passed away here in 1927. Other children are all married and have homes of their own. Mr. and Mrs. Allie Boulter were old timers here. They came in 1903 and settled on a claim 2 miles east of Arch. They have a small girl buried in the Arch Cemetery. They left here in 1924 and moved to Slaten, Texas and finally landed in Pecos, Texas where they both passed away. Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Hassell came here in 1903 and settled on a claim four miles north east of arch. They have a son, Dock Hassell, buried in Arch Cemetery. They were my neighbors until they passed away, he in March 1936, and she a few years later. Mr. and Mrs. C. A.(?) Coleman were also old timers here. They came in 1906. They have one child buried in the Arch Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Lecklighter came to New Mexico in 1903 and settled on a claim one mile east and one half mile north of Arch. They have one small child buried in the Arch Cemetery. We think they were good people. When we landed in New Mexico, we camped on their place on the road south of their dugout. Next morning at 2 o'clock, it blew up the coldest norther I have ever seen. it blew our tent down and scattered pots and pans and everything everywhere. When daylight came, John went to a house near by and knocked on the door. A man opened it and John told him what a predicament we were in and ask him if he knew where we could get protection until the storm passed. He said, "I don't know where you can get protection" and shut the door. As John came back to the wagon, Mr. Lecklighter was coming to our camp. He said my friend, you went to the wrong place. He said there is a big family of living in a dugout up here and there's room for one more if you can pull against this wind, come ahead. We had three small children. The first man had a 3 room house with only he and his wife living there. The Lecklighters left here and went to Hale Center, Texas where he passed away some years ago. There was a Mrs. Lester buried in the Arch Cemetery. She lived one mile north of Arch. And there is a Mrs. Bostick buried here in the Arch Cemetery. She lived south of here. I didn't know much about here. There may have been others buried there but I don't think there were." |