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Georgia native Mycajah Y. Bennett arrived in Texas with his family by 1850, when he is listed in the census for Rusk County. According to family tradition, he and others were clearing trees from this hill when he remarked that upon his death he would like to be buried here, under a particular large tree. When he died in 1856, they honored his request. As other family members and friends died, they were buried near him in what came to be known as Pleasant Hill Cemetery. His is the first known burial, although local history dates the cemetery to 1843, prior to Bennett's ownership of the property. The burial ground was later renamed Bennett Cemetery, and Mycajah's son, Richmond Oliver Bennett, reportedly donated the land for use as a burial ground for the agricultural community of Crecy. Records indicate a Baptist church was at one time located adjacent to the burial ground. A cemetery association formed in 1902 and continues to maintain the cemetery, which has more than 1,500 graves, including those of military veterans and pioneer area settlers. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003 |
