Rison in Cleveland County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)

Cash Family Reunions
⎯⎯⎯
Johnny Cash, AKA "William Overton"

Cash Family Reunions Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Wayne Cash, November 8, 2021

1. Cash Family Reunions Marker

Inscription. Cash Family Reunions Johnny Cash often returned to Rison with his siblings and father, Ray Cash, to attend annual family reunions held at the old American Legion Hut, which formerly stood across from the courthouse on Sycamore Street. At the 1970 reunion he gathered the family around him, declaring, “I am proud of my heritage and my people and it is good to be here with you this short time," while together they all sang an old family favorite. "The Uncloudy Day." He had performed this song earlier that year on the “Johnny Cash Show," accompanied by his mother, Carrie Cash. This, he claimed, was the first song he ever sang in public, at age 12, in the Dyess Baptist Church.

Johnny Cash, AKA "William Overton" Johnny Cash's grandfather, Rev. William Henry Cash, and great-grandfather, Rev. John Hubbard Woodson Overton, were well-known Baptist circuit riders who served as ministers for many churches in this region. In 1872 they helped organize the Friendship Baptist Association, which would grow to 35 churches in five counties by 1900. On occasions, Johnny Cash would use the alias “William Overton,"

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a name he proudly put together from their names. Johnny Cash himself was an ordained minister and appeared around the world with the Rev. Billy Graham on his Crusades.

Erected 2021 by Cleveland County Historical Society. (Marker Number 28.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Religion & Religious Structures. In addition, it is included in the Arkansas Heritage series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1970.

Location. 33° 57.523′ N, 92° 11.361′ W. Marker is in Rison, Arkansas, in Cleveland County. It is at the intersection of East Magnolia Street (Arkansas Route 133) and Sycamore Street, on the right when traveling east on East Magnolia Street. Located at the Cleveland County Courthouse. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 101 E Magnolia St, Rison AR 71665, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Arkansas’ Gulf Coastal Plain.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and in the Piney Woods.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

Johnny Cash, AKA "William Overton" Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Wayne Cash, November 2, 2021

2. Johnny Cash, AKA "William Overton" Marker

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 13 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Johnny Cash Day in Arkansas / Johnny Cash 1976 Concert (approx. 0.4 miles away); Cleveland County Court House (approx. 2.7 miles away); Temperance Chapel Cemetery and Site of a Methodist Church South (approx. 5½ miles away); Johnny Cash Birthplace (approx. 7.9 miles away); Crossroads Methodist Church (approx. 8 miles away); Johnny Cash Returns (approx. 9.3 miles away); Shelby's Approach (approx. 12.3 miles away); Cleveland County Battle of Mark's Mill (approx. 12.3 miles away).

View of marker with Courthouse in background. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Wayne Cash, November 8, 2021

3. View of marker with Courthouse in background.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 12, 2021. It was originally submitted on November 12, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,329 times since then and 70 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 12, 2021.

Cash Family Reunions⎯⎯⎯Johnny Cash, AKA "William Overton"

Cash Family Reunions
⎯⎯⎯
Johnny Cash, AKA "William Overton"