Stone Gardens: A historical pioneer of Western Arkansas is buried in a Sugar Grove cemetery that bears his name

Col,. James Logan

The Logan Cemetery in Sugar Grove, Logan County, is the resting place of Colonel James Logan, a man whose influence shaped the region and whose name is commemorated by Logan County. His life--marked by migration, leadership, and family--reflects the broader narrative of early settlement in western Arkansas.

James Logan was born on March 11, 1791, in Kentucky to David Logan and Nancy Thurmond Logan. His father, David Logan Sr., was born on November 27, 1766, in Augusta County, Virginia.

David was the son of James Logan (c. 1725 - c. 1788) and Martha (presumed) Allison (1725 - 1794), both associated with Lincoln County, Kentucky. David Logan married Nancy Thurmond, daughter of John and Molly Dickerson Thurmond of Virginia, sometime after June 15, 1790, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. They had four children, though only three were known to be alive in 1835.

David Logan Sr. was a cousin of General Benjamin Logan, a prominent Kentucky frontiersman. While earlier accounts, particularly from the 1880s, attempted to connect James Logan directly to Daniel Boone, modern research and DNA evidence have disproven this link.

James married Rachel Steele around 1813. Although no formal marriage record exists, the birth of their first child, David P. Logan, in 1814 suggests a marriage around this time.

Rachel’s obituary also mentions two unnamed children who died in infancy, indicating their union likely predated documented records. Together, James and Rachel had nine children who survived to adulthood: Jonathan Logan (1817–1890), Anna Eliza “Annie” Logan Sadler (1819–1880), Nancy Thurmond Logan Whitfield (1821–1880), Benjamin Logan (1824–1852), Jeannette E. Logan Chism (1825–1846), Daniel Boone Logan (1827–1854), James Logan Jr. (1830–1875), and Amanda Rachel Logan Wright (1832–1856).

In 1830, James Logan led a significant move, orchestrating a wagon train from Wayne County, Missouri, to Arkansas. This extensive caravan reportedly stretched over a mile, transporting his extended family, enslaved individuals, livestock, and supplies.

Their initial settlement was near Montana in Pope County, along the Arkansas River.

By 1833, the Logan family relocated south of the river, establishing themselves on a 1,000-acre tract on Sugar Creek. Here, Logan built a mill, a crucial piece of infrastructure for the developing community.

While local folklore, recorded in the 1930s, suggests the millstone originated from Kentucky and had ties to Daniel Boone, these stories lack historical documentation and are considered unsubstantiated.

James Logan's influence extended beyond his personal landholdings. He served in both the Arkansas Territorial Legislature and subsequently the state legislature, representing Crawford and Scott Counties.

His most notable public service began in 1838 when he was appointed U.S. Agent to the Creek Indians. This critical role involved serving as a liaison between the federal government and the Creek Nation, who had been forcibly relocated to what is now Oklahoma. He was reappointed to this position in 1844 and again in 1848, demonstrating sustained trust in his ability to manage these complex relations.

Colonel James Logan died on December 6, 1859, at his home on Sugar Creek in Scott County, Arkansas. He was laid to rest in the Logan Cemetery, located on his former plantation in Sugar Grove.

His wife, Rachel, had passed seven years prior, in 1852, and both are interred alongside several of their children. The cemetery, though modest, holds significant historical value. It once contained field stones marking the graves of enslaved individuals, some reportedly of Native American descent, although many of these markers have since been lost or removed.

His father, David Logan Sr., passed away earlier, on August 11, 1835, at the age of 69, in Crawford County. He is also buried in Logan Cemetery in Sugar Grove with his own headstone. Other family members are included on a large memorial stone erected at an unknown date before 1871.

In 1875, the Arkansas legislature formally honored Colonel James Logan by renaming Sarber County to Logan County.

This lasting tribute ensures his name remains directly associated with the region he helped to shape during Arkansas’s formative years.