Pioneer Settler Donated the Site for Pinehurst Cemetery at Deleon Springs

Benjamin P. Upson and family of Rockford, Ill. were among the first settlers of DeLeon Springs. Mr. Upson was called the father of the town and was elected mayor. He also operated a saw mill and the lumber was used to build the first houses for the pioneers. Several years passed before a cemetery was needed in 1895. Mr. Upson donated a plot of land which contained five acres to the town for a cemetery. J. S. Dennis was the first citizen to be buried on November 24, 1895. In 1896, Benjamin Upson died and his request to be buried in DeLeon Springs cemetery, was remembered by his relatives. Jesse Upson, a son, donated another five acres for the cemetery as he wanted his father to be buried on the knoll he considered a much prettier site. George Willicombe, Harry W. Lee, J. D. Pursell, O. R. Kirchof and Fred Taylor were elected by the town as trustees of the cemetery association. Two of the trustees are still living. Mr. Willicombe and Mr. Lee planted the one row of oaks on the north and south boulevard and two rows on the east and west boulevard. Mrs. Bernice Willicombe (Mrs. C. J. Broderick) succeeded in getting the needed amount to fence in the cemetery in 1906. A donation in 1911 for 11 park benches was made by Harry W. Lee. In 1912, W. A. McBride, a surveyor, donated to the cemetery board five blue prints of the four blocks of lots. Pinehurst was the name selected by Mrs. M. S. Francis, organizer of the King's Daughters Circle and Mrs. George Robinson nee Miss Edna Willicombe, president for 25 years, and the cemetery board adopted the name of Pinehurst. In 1927, Mrs. Nancy Keene raised $87 for a water system. This year 35 markers were placed on unmarked graves, and on Cemetery Day recently, there were 36 graves in Pinehurst. Great interest is shown each year by the entire community in caring for the cemetery.