Bennett Family Gardens
Balch Springs, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located within the Laurel Oaks Memorial Park cemetery, Bennett Family Gardens is the final resting place for many of eastern Dallas County's early settlers. Hiram Bennett (1796-1888) moved to Texas in 1845 with his family after receiving a land grant as part of the Peters Colony. Arriving with him were two adult sons, William Hardy Bennett (1825-1898) and James Madison Bennett (1821-1883), and their families.Hardy Bennett, along with his wife, Sidney (Manning) Bennett (1827-1910), and their children, settled in what is now Mesquite. Bennett Family Cemetery was established when Hardy and Sidney lost their infant daughter, Terniece C. Bennett, in 1847. She was buried atop a small tree-covered knoll on the family farm, and the grounds were set aside for all of Hardy's descendants.What started as a family burial ground soon extended to other Bennett family lines and neighbors. Among the burials are Citizens of the Republic of Texas, Civil War veterans and members of fraternal organizations, including Woodmen of the World. There are a number of primitive markers that are no longer legible and a few hand-carved stones.In the early 1950s, Laurel Oaks Cemetery purchased the site and additional surrounding land and renamed the historic portion, Bennett Family Gardens. Laurel Oaks Cemetery continues to expand as a perpetual care cemetery in a beautiful park setting, serving families in Balch Springs, Mesquite, Dallas and communities in the surrounding area.Historic Texas Cemetery - 2020
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This burial ground began in 1847 when Hiram Bennett's family—drawn to Texas by a Peters Colony land grant in 1845—lost an infant daughter and laid her on a tree-covered knoll of the family farm. What started as a family plot grew to hold neighbors, Citizens of the Republic of Texas, Civil War veterans, and members of fraternal orders like the Woodmen of the World, many under primitive or hand-carved stones. In the 1950s a perpetual-care cemetery absorbed the historic ground and renamed it Bennett Family Gardens.
Why it matters
It preserves the earliest layer of eastern Dallas County's settlement, where the pioneers who answered the Peters Colony's call to Texas are buried among the community they built.
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Related people
- · Hiram Bennett
- · William Hardy Bennett
- · James Madison Bennett
Related events
- · Peters Colony settlement
Themes & tags
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