Bennett Family Gardens, within Laurel Oaks Memorial Park cemetery, is the final resting place for many of eastern Dallas County's early settlers. Hiram Bennett moved to Texas in 1845 with his family after receiving a land grant as part of the Peters Colony. Arriving with him were his two adult sons, William Hardy Bennett and James Madison Bennett, and their families. Hardy Bennett, his wife Sidney (Manning) Bennett, and their children settled in what is now Mesquite. The Bennett Family Cemetery was established in 1847 when Hardy and Sidney buried their infant daughter, Terniece C. Bennett, atop a small tree-covered knoll on the family farm and set aside the grounds for all of Hardy's descendants. What began as a family burial ground soon extended to other Bennett family lines and neighbors. Those buried there include Citizens of the Republic of Texas, Civil War veterans, and members of fraternal organizations including Woodmen of the World. The cemetery includes a number of primitive markers that are no longer legible and a few hand-carved stones. In the early 1950s, Laurel Oaks Cemetery purchased the site and additional surrounding land and renamed the historic portion Bennett Family Gardens. Laurel Oaks Cemetery continues to expand as a perpetual care cemetery serving families in Balch Springs, Mesquite, Dallas, and surrounding communities.