Reuben R. Bennett in 1875

Bennetts Came to Sidon in 1869

By SANDY ROE

My father Garvin Bennett owned a stained glass business in Searcy for 30-plus years.  His ggg grandfather’s family came from Perry County, Alabama, to White County around 1869.  They made their home at Sidon, at what was once called Bennett Hollow.  It’s at the base of Georgia Ridge.

 

Reuben R. Bennett was my father’s ancestor that first came to this area.  It has been told in our family that in 1877 he became the first person buried at Mt. Hebron Cemetery but I have since found one other marker that was older.  I have found a connection to almost all of the Bennetts buried at Sidon.  Family story has it that the family dragged the big slab rock that lies over his grave from Sidon to Joy.

 

My aunt, Barbara Martindill, has told me so many stories and has blessed me with a lot of family information that would otherwise be lost.  She told me about the Bennetts deciding to travel to Oklahoma in search of gold.  They had such a rough time that they decided to come home after only a few days in the state.

 

When they got to the edge of White County on the way home, their cattle ran off.  When they got back to Bennett Hollow the cattle were in the fields and had beat them home and were waiting on them.