Historical Marker

Denson Homesite and Cemetery

Historical marker location:
Grapeland vicinity, Texas
( 2.7 miles east of Grapeland on FM 227 right-of-way near intersection with Tyer Cemetery Rd.)
Marker installed: 2001

(0.7 mi. S)

Near this site is evidence of the 19th-century home and burial ground used by the family of John and Mary Ann Denson. John Denson (1815 - c.1861) arrived in this area in 1835 with his parents, Thomas C. and Polly Denson who were Predestination Baptists with Elder Daniel Parker. In 1837 John signed the petition calling for the creation of Houston County. In 1839 he married Mary Ann (Crawford) Houston (1817 - c. 1874), whose first husband was a relative of Sam Houston, according to family tradition. They reared their children in a log house on the banks of Bennett Creek. As family members died, they were buried near the homesite. The last burials took place in 1890. Family records identify 18 burials in the pioneer cemetery. (2001).