Mount Olive Confederate soldier honored

By The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Contact)

MOUNT OLIVE — A Memorial Service and Iron Cross Grave Marker Dedication Service honoring Capt. Harvey Baxter Landers were held on Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. in the Old Jeffery Cemetery near Mount Olive.

Landers served in Company H of the 7th Arkansas Infantry, Confederate States of America.

The service was conducted by the Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter No. 135 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Job S. Neill Camp No. 286 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Both groups are from Batesville.

Mary Cooper Miller of Batesville, president of the UDC chapter, welcomed the crowd to the historic cemetery located on the riverbank of the White River north of Mount Olive where many early settlers, including James Jeffery of the Revolutionary War and Jehoida Jeffery of the War of 1812, are buried.

Fern Fike, former chaplain of the UDC chapter, gave the invocation.

Greetings from the Batesville Area Civil War Roundtable and the Izard County Historical Society were given by W. J. “Bud” Cooper of Boswell, a member of the Job S. Neill Camp No. 286, Sons of Confederate Veterans. He welcomed the group and presented a short history of the cemetery.

Capt. M. Ray Jones of Jonesboro, quartermaster in chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, brought greetings from the Arkansas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Waylan Cooper of Little Rock, a member of the Job S. Neill Camp No. 286, Sons of Confederate Veterans, gave the biography of Landers. Born in 1840 in Bedford County, Tenn., Landers moved to Lunenburg, Ark., in 1854. He enlisted in the 7th Regiment of Arkansas Volunteers at Lunenburg in 1861. The group walked to Smithville and enlisted in the 7th Arkansas Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army at Camp Shaver.

Landers saw the flag bearer of his company killed during the Battle of Shiloh. He picked up the flag and carried it for the remainder of the battle. He was elected captain by his comrades for bravery after this two-day battle.

Landers was wounded during the Battle at Chickamauga on Sept. 19, 1863. He was shot through the right elbow, and this injury caused him to be disabled for the rest of his life. He also participated in the Battles of Corinth, Miss.; Perryville, Ky.; and Franklin, Tenn.

After the war, Landers served as postmaster at Lunenburg, taught school and served as a justice of the peace. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He moved to Mount Olive and lived on his White River farm where he died of smallpox in 1908. He was the last person to be buried in the Old Jeffery Cemetery, which was located on his farm.

Linda Carol Cooper of Melbourne, a member of the UDCchapter, introduced descendants of the Landers family attending the service. Lynn Long of Lynn and his sister, Paula Hartline of Batesville, great-grandchildren of Landers, were presented. Greetings were given from LaNeil Fulbright Gephart of Derby, Kan., and her sister Myrl Fulbright Thrash of Hope, great-granddaughters of Landers. Geneva Craig Smith and Robert Cooper, collateral descendants of Landers, were also introduced.

The wife of Landers was Mary Jeffery of Mount Olive. Jeffery collateral descendants attending the service were also recognized. These relatives included Carol Jeffery Cooper and Bonnie Jeffery Phipps of Melbourne, Hayden Jeffery of Mountain View and Boyce “Red” Jeffery of Mount Olive.

As a last gesture of respect to Landers, Honnell called the muster roll for Company H, 7th Arkansas Infantry, Confederate States of America one last time.

An Honorary Sword Salute was performed by Honnell in honor of Landers while the song “Amazing Grace” played. “Taps” sounded after the salute.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans fired a Three Volley Gun Salute in honor of the fallen soldier.

Honnell asked the soldiers and those participating in the service, “Who are you? And who do you represent?” They responded with their name and also with the name, rank, and unit of their Confederate ancestor.

Three Rivers, Pages 123 on 10/12/2008