Gone, but not forgotten: The sad story of Nancy Hensley

Nancy Melissa Hensley was born in Lebanon in Searcy County, the daughter of John and Mary (Pryor) Hensley. She was courted by Pleasant Fowler, a farmer from Newton County. The young couple wed in Marshal Prairie (now Western Grove) May 19, 1857 and started what they hoped would be a long and prosperous life together.
Nancy was, no doubt, overjoyed when she became pregnant, and even more happy when she gave birth to a boy she named Claud Jerome Fowler, April 10, 1858.
It is unknown if the baby was sickly from the start, or if he caught a fever or some other disease, but he died Sept. 1, 1858, just a few days shy of being five months old. The little lad was laid to rest in what is now known as Western Grove Cemetery.

But his grieving mother could not forget him. Whenever she could, she would go the cemetery and lean against a hollow tree at the foot of his grave. In early December, a freezing rain descended on these hills, but she could not be persuaded to give up her pilgrimage. She again went to her son's grave, leaning against the tree, no doubt crying as the cold rain poured down. She went home, chilled to the bone, and took to her bed. She developed pneumonia and died Dec. 11, 1858.
The hollow tree was cut down and used to make her casket, and she was laid to rest beside her infant son.

Barbara LeRoy is the author of “Which Side Were They On?,” a 302 page book listing biographical sketches of the Newton Countians who were involved in the Civil War, available for sale either in the Bradley House Museum or by purchasing online at www.newtoncountyar.com. The book sells for $33.