Freestone County, Texas
Cemeteries



Bennett Family Cemetery
Navarro County, Texas

[Also appears in "History of Freestone County, Vol II" - pg. 44]

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Location:  South side of Navarro County, next to Freestone County.

Directions: East of Streetman near J. P. Robinson Place on Bennett survey. The 
original parcel is about half in Navarro and about half in Freestone County.  
Bennett Cemetery sits on private land near Streetman just barely in Navarro 
County. The county line between Freestone and Navarro was never firm until many
years after the county creation.

Modern Directions:
  From I-45, turn off south of Richland Chambers Lake going eastward to Streetman.
Enter Streetman on State Hwy 75. Turn left after passing most of Streetman onto 
3059. (You be traveling roughly a tad south of the county line on the Freestone 
County side.)  Go 4 miles on 3059 turning left where it "T"s onto 2320.  (You 
will cross into Navarro County after 3/4 of a mile.) After one mile, 2320 bends 
left. You will transition from paved to gravel.  Stay on 2320 till you reach a 
entry way with a barn on the left. The next portion of the trip is on private 
property.  There is an odd fenced area south of the barn that might be 

Background:
Joseph L. Bennett got a land grant for one league in former Robertson County 
that later became on the dividing line of Freestone and Navarro County when 
they were formed from Robertson County.  The house was in Navarro county and 
the barn in Freestone county.  Joseph L. Bennett moved from Montgomery, 
Montgomery County where he lived as late as May 31, 1848 settling on his 
headright survey in Navarro/Freestone County.  Joseph L. Bennett died at his
home in Navarro county and was buried in Bennett Cemetery.  His will was 
probated in Navarro County on October 30, 1848. 

A former land owner, Joe Burleson, bulldozed up all the headstones in 1971 to
increase his pasture land.  He and his wife split up after that. She took 
possession of the house and property.

The current owner of the parcel is Mr La Rue and his wife. Mrs. Burleson. The
only remaining piece of the cemetery is one stone remaining lying against a 
tree.  The best guess as to the cemetery's location is that it lies southeast
of the house there.

Probably last burial there was before 1900. There was probably about 25 marked 
graves originally.  

Oldest Marked Grave: N/A

Oldest Unmarked Grave: 1848

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Unmarked Graves, Known Burials:
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Bennett, Joseph L.           ?-10/??/1848  [Lt. Col. in 2nd Rgt of TX Volunteers 
   in Texas Independence.  Fought at Battle of San Jacinto.  Named colonel of
   regiment of mounted gun men for frontier defense that was to become the Texas
   Rangers.  Served in the Republic of Texas House of Representatives for two 
   terms.]
Bennett, Elizabeth (Seaborn)    ?-?  [w/o Joseph L.; *1*]
Bennett, Seaborn J.             ?-?  [s/o Joseph L. and Elizabeth; *1* listed as
  "Seymour"]

Clark, Joseph C.                ?-? (h/o Julia Ann (Bennett) Clark; 1860 Navarro 
  Co. TX census; *1*)
Clark, Wallace                  ?-? (s/o Joseph C. Clark, appears in 1860 Navarro 
  Co. TX census; *1*) 

Key, Reuben Washington       1839-03/24/1908 [*2*]
   
Steward, Joe                   ?-?  [*1*]

[Estimated to be 25 marked graves originally as per *1*]

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SOURCES: 
*1* = History of Freestone County, Vol II, pg. 44
*2* = Dale W. Key