OLDEST - Cemetery in Dallas County, TX
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 32° 55.399 W 096° 53.536
14S E 697084 N 3644756
This beautiful cemetery, established in 1843, is the oldest in Dallas County, TX.
Waymark Code: WMRFX4
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 06/20/2016
Views: 4
Keenan Cemetery is a three-acre cemetery located on the south side of Valley View Lane. The cemetery was established in 1843 and has approximately 900 burials, with between 100 and 200 unmarked. It is well maintained and has many large trees. Historical markers are located in the cemetery documenting some of its history.
An historical marker for the cemetery reads: Thomas (1808 - 1879) and Sarah McCallister Keenan (1807 - 1872) came to this area as members of the Peters Colony in 1842. When their two-month-old son, John, died on November 11, 1843, they buried him at this site, establishing one of the earliest cemeteries in present-day Dallas County. The large number of early infant graves are testimony to the hardships endured by the area's pioneer settlers. Thomas and Sarah Keenan and many of their descendants are buried here.
The area's first Baptist Church, Union Baptist, was organized in the Keenans' log cabin in 1846 by the Rev. David Myers, who was buried here in 1853. The church, which erected a sanctuary nearby, was closely associated with the cemetery and in a deed executed by John R. West conveying 1.5 acres to the church in 1875 the cemetery was legally set aside. The Farmers Branch (Keenan) Cemetery Association was established in 1938 to maintain the grounds.
The cemetery covers three acres and contains about 600 marked and an estimated 100 - 200 unmarked grave sites. Among the people buried here are many of the area's earliest settlers and their descendants and veterans of conflicts ranging from the Civil War to the Vietnam Conflict.
Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995