This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Denton Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/hkB.2ACI/1628 Message Board Post: Descendants of John B. Denton, the pioneer preacher, lawyer and ranger militia captain for whom the city and county are named, can now register on the Internet for his 200th birthday party. The registration site is available from the main Web site at http://www.dentoncounty.com/dentondays/. “We especially would like descendants of John B. Denton to be our honored guests at the Friday opening ceremony, in the Saturday parade, and the Sunday morning re-enactment of the 1901 funeral service when he was re-interred on the courthouse lawn,” said Peggy Capps, chairman of the Denton County Historical commission, which is sponsoring the event. “Descendants have been calling because they’ve heard the news about the birthday celebration, and we hope this will help them plan their visit,” she said. The three-day event begins Friday, July 28, with a giant birthday cake and patriotic music on the lawn of the historic 1896 Courthouse on the Square in downtown Denton. In addition to the parade the next day, a quilt show at the nearby Denton Civic Center, a CASI-sanctioned chili cook-off, period re-enactors, crafts demonstrations, and performances of period music bring the 1840s to life on the courthouse lawn. Legendary Texas singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver caps off the Saturday entertainment later that evening. Local up-and-coming singer-songwriter Gary Kyle and his band will open the show. The festival wraps up Sunday with a historical reenactment of Denton’s final burial in 1901 — he had at least three — accompanied by an old-fashioned gospel quartet at Denton’s gravesite on the courthouse lawn. For more information, call 940-349-2830, or go to www.dentoncounty.com/dentondays on the Internet.