Submitted by Ben K. Sager
Elisha R. Bennett
St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery, (Lot 44, Grave 4)
De Smet, Kingsbury County, South Dakota.
(1836 - Oct. 13, 1893)
The picture is the gravestone for Elisha R. Bennett, in St. Thomas Cemetery, Desmet, Kingsbury County, SD.
We barely arrived in Desmet when the storm that was following us from Iroquois also arrived. I had stopped at a grocery store to ask directions to the cemetery when it started raining. A customer who was just checking out said he lived about a half mile from the cemetery and he would show us the way. The storm hit with all its fury on the way to the cemetery. Fortunately, the cemetery is on a well drained hill so we were able to drive on the roads in the cemetery. We had driven through one section and had turned back though another section when my wife spotted the stone, right next to the road. She rolled down the window and tried to take a picture; however, the rain was coming down so hard it covered the camera lens and made picture taking impossible. We waited for a while until the rain slowed enough to see the road which was starting to erode under us. We then went back to town to a restaurant where we had dinner. The rain stopped while we were eating and the sun came out. We then went back to the cemetery and secured the pictures. He has a large family stone that is facing west. Then on the east side his military stone is also set about eight or ten inches away from the family stone. Unfortunately, the writing on the military stone is also facing west so that writing can not be seen. I was able to see between the stones and saw the "27th IA" writing on the military one. (I also have a picture of the military stone which I will send in the next email).
We then returned to Huron for the night. (6/29/2010)