The Dennis & Eaker Family History, 1810-2003
and the Dennis Family Cemetery
Iris Eaker Dennis (standing) in 1910 with Rosa Matthews Alford
Of even more interest in Woodruff County history, she was the widow of a direct descendant of John Dennis, born 1810 in Tennessee and was one of the earliest known white settlers in the area near Chickasaw Crossing, now Augusta. John Dennis later married Mary Gray, daughter of Rolla Gray, who came to the area a few years before Dennis.
According to Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas by Goodspeed, Rolla Gray came up the river in a small boat from Indian Bay, or the mouth of Cache River near the present town of Clarendon, sometime between 1822 and 1826. He bought the "right, good will or possession" from a Mr. Hamilton, supposed to have been the first known white arrival in the area. Goodspeed reports, "The sons of Gray, who came and settled with him, were John, Jesse, David, Samuel, and Jacob."
Goodspeed also says, "In 1827, John Dennis, a son-in-law of Rolla Gray, settled about three miles south of Chickasaw Crossing."
The Goodspeed records does not mention Mary Gray, who became the wife of John Dennis. But Mrs. Dennis remembers some of the family stories about her and the Gray family. She says, "Miss Mary and her five brothers lived here in Woodruff County many years. She would go swimming iwth the Indians in White River. One of the brothers was sheriff of this section of the county when the area was still called Chickasaw Crossing. The Grays had a big cedar bugle which they blew to call cattle out of White River bottoms during a flood. The bugle could be heard from Gregory to Augusta."
Iris Eaker's parents were Christopher Edward Eaker and Nannie Robinson Eaker, who were married in 1889. He was born March 8, 1844, in Bolinger County, Missouri, and enlisted in the Confederate Army at the age of eighteen on the 15th of July, 1862. During his three years of service, he was placed on the muster roll as a private three different times. Government papers concerning his company state: "Jeffers Battalion, Missouri Cavalry, appears to have been organized about October 2, 1862. On December 11, 1862, it was reorganized and remustered into service and known as the Eighth Regiment Missouri Cavalry."
It is not known when the Eakers family came to the Augusta area, probably sometime after 1900. Nannie Robinson was Eaker's third wife. He was first married to Miss Douglass, and the couple had two children. Their daughter, Mary Savannah, lived to be 101 years of age, and their son was named Rodney. His second marriage was with a Miss McDaniel, and their children were Maude and Aubrey. His third wife, Nannie Robinson, was born in Tennessee in 1870. She and Christopher had five children. Lexi Lee, Denter Homer, Lois E. Hawkins, Charlie Powell Eaker, born 1903 who married Freddie Paskey in 1939 and lived at Tupelo, Essie Ruth Eaker, born August 19, 1890 and married a Ward, and Iris Eaker, born January 12, 1890 and married Jessie W. Dennis. Christopher Edward Eaker died July 1919 and Nannie Robinson Eaker died August 1907. Both died in Woodruff County and are buried in the New Hope Cemetery in Woodruff County, AR.
Elmo Milton and Percy Dale, sons of Iris and Jessie Dennis
Iris was born at Hickman, Kentucky, January 12, 1890. She spent her chldhood days there and has many happy memories of her "old Kentucky Home." Just after services were over on Sunday, September 4, 1910, Iris and Jessie W. Dennis were married by a Baptist minister in Augusta. Three sons were born of this marriage, and all are deceased. Paul Burnie was born November 5, 1922, served in World War II, and died September 14, 1966. Elmo Milton was born September 19, 1911, and died in 1918, and Percy Dale was born March 17, 1913, and died in 1920.
During the first years of their marriage, Iris and Jesse Dennis lived in a four-room log house just south of the Dennis Cemetery. Fire destroyed the home many years ago. Don Taggart has since built a home on the same site. The "Four-Mile Saloon" was just a few feet from the Dennis home. According to a short history of the area which is given in Cemetery Records of Woodruff County, "It was quite a large gambling house; tempers ran high, and fights often took place. On one occasion a man was horribly cut in a fight and died behind the store." Not long afterward the saloon went out of existence.
At one time, Mrs. Dennis lived in the housing area and walked to the business section for groceries, and to the bank and to her church.
Early Woodruff County records record the following marriages: John Dennis, age 54, to Mary A. Flannery, age 46, March 15, 1856. Jessie A. Dennis, age 25, to Margaret Flannery, age 22, March 14, 1866. Isaac Dennis, age 22, to Melicena Flannery, age 18, March 26, 1866.
Jessie and Margaret Flannery Dennis were the parents of Jessie W. Dennis who married Iris Eaker.
Several of the Dennis family are buried in the Dennis Cemetery close to Don Taggert's home near the Revel road. They include Jessie A., born December 31, 1841, died October 31, 1905; Maggie born April 25, 1844, no death date; Joe, born November 9, 1873, died April 7, 1918; Tom, born about 1889, died 21 years of age; Paul, born in Augusta November 5, 1922, died September 14, 1966; Andrew Jackson, born August 3, 1908, died October 18, 1910; Vollie Gray, born January 3, 1901, died September 24, 1905; and an infant daughter, no dates, but older than Vollie. Also buried there, but with no marker is a little girl who was the daughter of a family from the Ozarks. When the child died near Horseshoe Lake, it was impossible to return by wagon to their Ozark home, and she was buried in the corner of the Dennis Cemetery.
Iris Dennis' two small sons, Percy Dale Dennis, born March 17, 1913 and died 1920 and Elmo Milton Dennis, born September 19, 1911 and died 1918. Another son Paul Burnie Dennis, born November 5, 1922 and died September 14, 1966 are buried in the Dennis Cemetery. They are also listed in the Augusta Memorial Park Cemetery. Her parents are buried in the New Hope Cemetery, along with an infant son. Their daughter, Essie Ruth Eaker Ward, who died December 22, 1975 at the age of 85 years, is buried in the Augusta Memorial Park Cemetery.
According to the Social Security death index, Iris Eaker Dennis died in March of 1987 in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. I have not found a death record for Jesse W. Dennis or where they are buried.
Members of the Jessie A. and Margaret "Maggie" Flannery Dennis family buried in the Augusta Memorial Park Cemetery include John William Dennis, born November 2, 1869, died December 18, 1943; and John M. Dennis, born February 11, 1867, died August 16, 1942.
Names and dates of these family members are from Cemetery Records of Woodruff County, published by Kittrell and Houston.