Old Jont Burial Transcription
Burial of Old Jont
Photos and information courtesy of Brenda Smith
From The History and Tragedies of Hickory County by Nannie Jinkens, et al.
"There is a Negro, "Old Jont", buried in the hollow north and west of the
"Narrows" on Pomme de Terre river. The "Narrows" is east and maybe a
little north of the Harrell Sherman farm. This Negro was the slave of
Mr. Josiah Dent. When he died they started to take him to Walker Ceme-
tery north of Cross Timbers to bury him by his wife and the river was past
fording so they buried him in this hollow which is sometimes called "Jont
Hollow". This is the same hollow that Mr. Jones, an elderly man, lived a
few years ago and died there. The road was impassable for a vehicle so
his body was carried to the top of the hill by some men."
The 1850 Slave Schedule of the Census for Hickory County lists two slaves
for Josiah Dent, a black male age 46 and a black female age 40.
Headstone reads:
Old Jont
Dents Slave
D. 1887
The original fieldstone simply reads "Jont".