Bennett Family Gardens

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Bennett Family Gardens, out there in Dallas County. Now, every cemetery has a beginning, and this one's beginning is as tender as they come. Laurel Oaks Memorial Park, Balch Springs area, eastern Dallas County.

Tucked inside it is a section called Bennett Family Gardens, and what you're walkin through there, whether you know it or not, is some of the oldest settled ground in this part of Texas. It starts with one man: Hiram Bennett, born in 1796, who packed up his family in 1845 and moved to Texas on the strength of a land grant. He came as part of the Peters Colony, and he didn't come alone.

Two grown sons made the journey with him. James Madison Bennett, born 1821. And William Hardy Bennett, born 1825, who went by Hardy.

Both men brought their own families along for the ride. Hardy and his wife Sidney, Sidney Manning Bennett, born 1827, put down roots in what is now Mesquite. They were building something.

A farm, a life, a future. Then, in 1847, they buried their infant daughter. Her name was Terniece C.

Bennett. She was laid to rest atop a small tree-covered knoll on the family farm. And in that grief, Hardy and Sidney did what families do when loss carves out a piece of the earth and makes it sacred, they set the grounds aside.

For their descendants. For what would come after. That is how Bennett Family Cemetery began.

What started as one family's sorrow didn't stay contained for long. Other Bennett family lines came. Then neighbors.

The ground opened itself up, the way good ground tends to do. Among those buried there are Citizens of the Republic of Texas, people who lived under that lone-star flag before statehood ever arrived. Civil War veterans.

Members of fraternal organizations, including the Woodmen of the World. And scattered across the site: primitive markers, no longer legible, and a few hand-carved stones. Quiet.

Worn. Still standing. In the early 1950s, Laurel Oaks Cemetery purchased the site, took in additional surrounding land, and gave that original, historic portion a new name.

Bennett Family Gardens. They've kept expanding ever since, serving families in Balch Springs, Mesquite, Dallas, and the communities all around. But underneath all of it, underneath the perpetual care and the park setting, there's still that knoll.

Still that little girl named Terniece, buried in 1847, who started the whole thing. Some places become sacred on purpose. This one became sacred because a family couldn't do anything else.

What the marker says

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