ELI JACKSON CEMETERY 

aka Eli Jackson-Brewster Cemetery)

Hidalgo Co. Cemeteries of Tx

Submitted by Frances Isbell

With Permission  of Hidalgo Co. Historical Commission (2005)

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LOCATION:  From Pharr, go south seven miles to Fay’s Corners, turn east .8 mile on US 281. Then drive south .4 mile across levee. Drive toward  church spire .2 mile east, and drive 500 feet northeast of Jackson Ranch Church.  Cemetery is 400 feet north, against bank of elevated canal.

 SURVEYED: 5 Nov 1976 by Joe Fallin and Dale Swartzmiller for McAllen Genealogical Society. Updated 23 Nov 2003 by Diana Cardenas and Valerie Resto.

 HISTORY:   Nathaniel Jackson (c1800-1865) founded Jackson Ranch in 1857 on the 5535-acre Porcion 71, a Spanish land grant.  He came from Alabama in five covered wagons with his grown family and eleven freedmen. Jackson’s married sons had homes close by. His son Eli (1829-1911) and wife Elizabeth Kerr built their home about 500 yards east of his parents.  Eli was a rancher, and served as Hidalgo County Commissioner 1890-1892.

    In 1866, Dr. William T.G. Brewster, a Connecticut surgeon, married Nathaniel Jackson’s stepdaughter Minerva Singleterry and ranched just east of Eli Jackson. 

  When Nathaniel Jackson died in 1865, his son Eli established a ranch cemetery on his land. Earliest grave, unmarked, is believed to be that of Nathaniel Jackson. As was customary, neighbors such as the Brewsters were allowed to bury there.(There is a separate Brewster Cemetery two miles east.]   In the 20^th century, most of Jackson Ranch has passed into commercial farming.  The cemetery was filled in 1990 and is closed to future burials.  It is maintained by descendants.  Historic Texas Cemetery 2005.