Dennis Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I heard it, the official marker tells it like this. Back in 1856, Allen and Eliza Ann Dennis made a decision that would outlast them both by a long stretch. They purchased the land surrounding what would become one of Cass County's most enduring gathering places.

Now, at the time, they were among the earliest settlers in that part of the county, and you get the sense they meant to put down roots in a serious way. They did. Eliza Ann Dennis died on January 27, 1873, and was buried right there on the family farm.

Allen Dennis followed in 1880, interred beside his wife. And so the land around those two graves began its long second life. What had been a family farm quietly became a family cemetery.

Then it grew further still, when the E. G. Smith family contributed additional land to enlarge it.

Over three hundred burials now rest in the Dennis Cemetery. Among them, many Cass County pioneers. Members of the Smith, Baughmon, Mason, Bufford, Stiles, and Nelson families.

And a number of unmarked burials, too, names the ground has kept to itself. The cemetery first appeared in county deed records in 1878, when the Dennis family sold the property to D. W.

Webb. That two-acre plot was specifically reserved for burial purposes. Then, in a later deed dated 1890, the records refer to it plainly as the Dennis Graveyard.

A name that speaks for itself. Here's the thing about a place like this. It started with two people and a piece of land they bought in 1856.

It grew into something the whole community claimed. And it's still claimed today, maintained by a cemetery association that formed in 1976. Some roots, it turns out, only go deeper with time.

What the marker says

Allen and Eliza Ann Dennis and their family were among the earliest settlers of this part of Cass County. In 1856 they purchased the land surrounding this site. Eliza Ann Dennis died on January 27, 1873, and was buried on the family farm. Allen Dennis died in 1880 and was interred next to his wife. The land surrounding their graves became a family cemetery, which was later enlarged by a contribution of land from the E. G. Smith family. Among the over three hundred burials in the Dennis Cemetery are those of many Cass County pioneers, including members of the Smith, Baughmon, Mason, Bufford, Stiles, and Nelson families. The graveyard also contains a number of unmarked burials. The Dennis Cemetery first appeared in county deed records in 1878, when the Dennis family sold the property to d. W. Webb. The two-acre plot was reserved for burial purposes, and in a later deed in 1890 it was referred to as the Dennis Graveyard. The Dennis Cemetery serves as a physical reminder of early settlement in Cass County. Still a community burial place, it is maintained by a cemetery association formed in 1976.