From Proud Heritage, Vol 1 by DCPA, not currently in print.
My great-grandfather was Hiram Bennett, born May 29, 1796, Georgia, of parents born in South Carolina. In 1820 he married Dosia Dobbs, age 16, born in Georgia in 1805. Prior to July 1st, 1845, he came to Texas as part of the Peters Colony, accompanied by his wife, two married sons with children, two grown single sons, and daughter, Delilah, a widow with three children and three step children, one of whom married Delilah’s brother, William Hardy Bennett.
Hiram first settled at the “Cedar Spring,” near Dallas. This spring was the source of the family’s water. Dosia died soon after arriving in Texas, age 40, and is thought to be buried in Greenwood Cemetery, though the site has not been determined. In 1846 Hiram married Sarah Dougan, by whom he had seven children. He subsequently acquired much larger holdings and lived in various locations in Dallas County. In 1848 he was bonded as a Constable of Precinct 1, and later in the same year was elected Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1.
Four of Hiram’s sons fought in the Civil War. Soon after the close of the war, Hiram and Sarah moved to Arkansas for her health, but in 1879 they returned to Dallas County, and settled in the eastern part of the county near his two older sons. Hiram died July 21, 1888, and is buried in the Bennett Family Cemetery section of Laurel Oaks on Lake June Road.
My Grandparents were Marion M. and Minerva Chapman Bennett, and had six (?) children.
My father was Ester Francis Bennett, born May 22, 1886, in Dallas. On October 10, 1902 he married my mother, Elizabeth Jessie Jett, born October 4, 1885, Lawson, Texas, the daughter of David Houston and Sue Carrie Stark Jett. They had nine children:
Sue Evelyn “Polly” Bennett born April 25, 1906. Ellis Hudgins Bennett born January 16, 1908. Winnie Bennett born February 14, 1910. Hazel Bennett born February 9, 1912. Francis M. Bennett born November 15, 1913. Carrie Lena Bennett born May 20, 1919. Maxine Eva Bennett born February 19, 1923. Mary Ann Bennett born August 15, 1924. David Houston Bennett born January 29, 1931.
My father died September 13, 1959, in Dallas; my mother died January 9, 1957, in Dallas; both are buried in the Bennett Cemetery.
I have two daughters, Debbie and Una Lynn, and still live in Dallas.
By David Houston Bennett, Dallas
