Denson Springs Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Anderson County, there's a one-acre plot sitting quiet in a grove of trees, and it's got a story that goes all the way back to when this part of Texas was still being figured out. The area was known as Ioni, named after a nearby Indian village, and early settlers started arrivin in the early 1830s.

The land itself was granted to a man named James Bradshaw in 1835. James held that land until he died in 1844, and when he did, the property passed to his brother William. William Bradshaw packed up his family in Nacogdoches and moved out here in 1849.

Now, William had a daughter named Diana. In 1850, Diana married a man by the name of Kindred Watkins. The next year, 1851, Diana and Kindred welcomed their first child into the world.

A son. And on August 15th of that same year, that little boy was gone. They buried him near their home.

That child's burial was the first. The very first in what would become Denson Springs Cemetery. From that one small grave, the place grew.

The one-acre plot became a family burial ground, and then, as time passed, other settlers of the area were laid to rest there too. The community itself changed its name in 1878, from Ioni to Denson Springs, and the cemetery took that name with it. Veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II are interred there.

Alongside the marked graves, it's believed there are a number of unmarked burials as well. Names we may never know. In 1980, the graveyard was deeded to the Denson Springs Cemetery Association.

And today it sits in that grove of trees, still and patient, a quiet reminder of the pioneers and settlers who came out here first, when this land was new and everything was still being decided. It all started with one family, one loss, and one August day in 1851. Some beginnings you don't plan for.

What the marker says

Early settlers of this area, known as Ioni after a nearby Indian village, began arriving in the early 1830s. The land on which this cemetery is located was granted to James Bradshaw in 1835. When he died in 1844, the property was inherited by his brother, William, who moved here with his family from Nacogdoches in 1849. One of William Bradshaw's daughters, Diana, married Kindred Watkins in 1850. When their first child, a son, was born and died on August 15, 1851, he was buried near their home. The child's burial was the first in what would become Denson Springs Cemetery. Over the years, this one-acre plot became a family burial ground. Later, other settlers of the area were also buried here, and when the name of the community was changed in 1878 to Denson Springs, this site became known as the Denson Springs Cemetery. Besides the marked graves, it is believed there are a number of unmarked burials. Veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II are interred here. The graveyard was deeded to the Denson Springs Cemetery Association in 1980. Set in a grove of trees, it is a quiet reminder of the area's early pioneers and settlers. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986