Patrick Hennessy, an Irish immigrant, Union soldier and wagon freighter was killed July 4, 1874, in one of the last Indian uprisings in the U.S.

His three-wagon train hauled supplies south from Wichita, Kan. to the Darlington Indian Agency, then stayed in Buffalo Springs.

They traveled six miles south when he and three other men were killed and scalped, but Hennessy was the only one apparently tied between the wagon wheels, surrounded by sacks of grain, and burned – possibly while still alive.

A party from Buffalo Springs rode to the site, buried the remains of the other three men, and left Hennessy with the burned wagon. Hennessy was buried the next day when Indian Agent John Miles reached the scene. He was buried in a shallow grave scooped out near the trail west of the present Town of Hennessey.

Travelers on the Chisholm Trail added to his grave marker, stone by stone, creating a rustic monument.

When the Town of Hennessey was founded and platted, his grave was moved to a park, west of the town.

Later, Mrs. Annette B. Ehler gave the town a parcel of land for park purposes, and Hennessy’s grave was moved to that location.

She provided an ironwork fence, a musical bell tower, and a massive granite boulder with a bronze plaque to mark the grave.

No one knows why the town is spelled with an extra E, although research shows that the extra E was used by protestants, and those without the E were Catholics, and Patrick Hennessy was Irish, and Catholic.