Anderson County

Denson Springs Cemetery

Historical Marker Text

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

location: 6 mi. east of Slocum on SH 294, then .5 mi. north on CR 1220