Bennett Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Bennett Cemetery in Lavaca County. Now settle in, because this one starts long before there was even a Lavaca County to speak of. Stephen Bennett was born in South Carolina in 1789, and his wife Mary Ann, known to everyone as Polly, came into the world there too, in 1798.

They spent many years in Alabama before Stephen, a veteran of the War of 1812, decided the family was pointed in the wrong direction. About 1841, he and Polly led a wagon train all the way to Washington County in the Republic of Texas. Not the state of Texas, mind you.

The Republic. That's the kind of undertaking that separates the bold from the comfortable. They didn't stay in Washington County long.

They relocated to a part of Gonzales County that would later become Lavaca County, and there Stephen Bennett put down roots and became a successful farmer and prominent citizen. Now here's where the story takes its first quiet, sorrowful turn. The first burial on this site is believed to have taken place in 1846, when Stephen and Polly buried their oldest daughter, Sarah Bennett, who had been born in 1819.

A father and mother, burying their child on their own land. By 1871, other family members, friends, and neighbors had been laid to rest here as well, and the Bennetts made it official. They deeded one acre of their homestead to their seven surviving children for use as a burial ground.

The oldest marked burials are those of Lucy L. Dyer, born 1830 and died 1873, and William M. McMurrey, born 1806 and died 1873.

Two souls, same year, their names now the oldest names you can read on a stone in that place. The Bennett children went on to leave their mark all across Lavaca County, as prominent physicians, cattlemen, soldiers, county officials, Masons, and teachers. That is not a short list.

Stephen himself died in 1874, and Polly followed in 1877. Then came 1884, when the youngest daughter, Mary A. Bennett McCutcheon, passed away, and the family land passed to her two sons, Willis McCutcheon Jr. and B.

B. McCutcheon. They later sold a portion of the land, but when they did, they legally set aside two and a half acres for the cemetery.

They made sure of that. The last known Bennett relative to be buried here was William L. Tolleson, born 1851, died 1915.

And the last known interment on this site took place in 1977. Over the years this ground has gone by more than one name. Pioneer Cemetery.

McCutcheon Cemetery. Sweet Home City Cemetery. Bennett-Tolleson Pioneer Cemetery.

A lot of names for one acre, later two and a half, of Lavaca County soil. But every one of those names points back to the same place, and to the same man and woman who led a wagon train into a young republic and, in 1846, gave the ground its first grave. Some legacies are built in courthouses and churches.

This one was built one burial at a time.

What the marker says

Stephen Bennett (1789-1874), a veteran of the War of 1812, and his wife Mary Ann "Polly" Breazeal Bennett (1798-1877), were born in South Carolina and lived many years in Alabama. They led a wagon train to Washington County in the Republic of Texas about 1841. They soon relocated to a part of Gonzales County which later became Lavaca County. Stephen Bennett became a successful farmer and prominent citizen. The first burial on this site is believed to have taken place in 1846 when Stephen and Polly Bennett buried their oldest daughter, Sarah Bennett (1819-1846). Other family members, friends and neighbors had been buried here by 1871 when the Bennetts deeded one acre of their homestead to their seven surviving children for use as a burial ground. The oldest marked burials are those of Lucy L. Dyer (1830-1873) and William M. McMurrey (1806-1873). The Bennett children left their mark on Lavaca County as prominent physicians, cattlemen, soldiers, county officials, Masons and teachers. After the youngest daughter, Mary A. Bennett McCutcheon, died in 1884, the family land was passed to her two sons, Willis McCutcheon, Jr., and B. B. McCutcheon. They later sold a portion of the family land, legally setting aside two and one-half acres for the cemetery. The last known Bennett relative to be buried here was William L. Tolleson (1851-1915). The last known interment on this site took place in 1977. The graveyard also has been known as Pioneer Cemetery, McCutcheon Cemetery, Sweet Home (City) Cemetery, and Bennett-Tolleson Pioneer Cemetery. (1999) Historic Texas Cemetery medallion. (2002)